Sports digest

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Vettel rubbishes speculation linking him with Ferrari

MOTOR SPORT:Sebastian Vettel can see no reason why he would want to quit Red Bull, despite the apparent existence of a get-out clause in his contract.

Speculation has surfaced Vettel has already signed a pre-contract agreement to join Ferrari in 2014, a claim strongly denied by the 24-year-old.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Vettel said: “I know nothing about it. I’ve never signed anything.”

Vettel, who has a contract with Red Bull through to the end of the 2014 season, instead is happy with life at the Milton-Keynes-based team, who have made him champion the last two years.

Although the situation could change over time, for now Vettel told Autosport: “I’ve been wearing a Red Bull helmet for almost my entire career.

“It is difficult to imagine another kind of life if you are so used to it.

“It would be like when you turn 18, 19, and you move out of your family’s home.

“I am very happy where I am right now and I don’t want to move on to anywhere else,” added Vettel.

Balbirnie's century leads Irish chase

CRICKET:Andrew Balbirnie's unbeaten century inspired a brilliant run-chase on the final afternoon of Ireland A's three-day game against Gloucestershire seconds in Bath yesterday to secure a five-wicket victory.

Set a target of 411 in 96 overs after Gloucester declared on their overnight score of 146 for eight, Ireland got off to a strong start with an opening stand of 84 between Ben Ackland (35) and Chris Dougherty (45).

Both fell within six deliveries of each other, while skipper James Shannon departed for six to leave Ireland on 98 for three in the 26th over.

But far from battening down the hatches, Ireland went on the attack in the form of Balbirnie and Stuart Thompson, who added 178 for the fourth wicket before the latter went seven short of his century. Balbirnie was on 82 at that stage, and Ireland still 135 short of their target, but he would pass three figures, sharing partnerships of 79 with John Anderson and 56 with Rory McCann, to finish unbeaten on 148 when the target was reached in the 92nd over.

EMMET RIORDAN

20th straight win for San Antonio Spurs

BASKETBALL:The San Antonio Spurs continued their perfect run in the play-offs, marching to a record-breaking 20th straight win as they fended off Oklahoma City Thunder 120-111 to take firm control of the Western Conference Finals. The top-seeded Spurs surpassed the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers' 19-game winning streak from the regular season into the play-offs, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The 1972 Lakers hold the longest winning streak of 33 games in the regular season.Tony Parker exploded for 34 points and eight assists, sixth man Manu Ginobili netted 20 to follow up his 26-point effort in the series opener, and San Antonio treated their fans to yet another triumph since their last loss on April 11th. Kevin Durant scored 31 points and James Harden put up 30 for the Thunder, who squandered a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game One but played from behind all night in the re-match.

The visitors trailed by as much as 22 points in the third quarter before trimming the deficit to six in the fourth, only for the veteran Spurs to deliver the knockout punch.

Roach ruled out of remainder of England tour

CRICKET:West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach was yesterday ruled out of the remainder of the England tour with shin muscle soreness.

“Kemar has been carrying this soreness for the last two matches, and in view of our upcoming schedule, we would like him to have the time to recover and prevent the onset of more serious injury,” said West Indies team physiotherapist CJ Clark.

A decision on a replacement for Roach has not been made. West Indies trail the three-Test series 2-0 after losing the second match by nine wickets at Trent Bridge on Monday.

Roach, who took six wickets in the first Test and two at Trent Bridge, is the second member of the West Indies pace attack to return home after Shannon Gabriel suffered a back injury.

Ward's Olympic fate may be pushed back to June 11th

BOXING:JOE WARD should know his Olympic fate over the next 12 days when the Tripartite Commission meet to distribute their invitation places for boxers for London 2012. June 3rd has been mentioned as the possible date, although this could be pushed back to June 11th.

Ward, the European champion, was controversially beaten 18-15 by Turkey’s Bahram Muzaffer in the final Olympic qualifier for European male boxers in Turkey in April.

Shockingly, a frame-by-frame analysis of the light-heavyweight bout found Ward hit the target with 32 head shots and one body shot.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association and Pat Hickey of the Olympic Council of Ireland have been working behind the scenes on Ward’s behalf since the controversial defeat.

Meanwhile, the AIBA have confirmed seeding will be in operation for the first time at London 2012, based on world rankings. Katie Taylor (ranked 1), Paddy Barnes (7), Michael Conlan (14), John Joe Nevin (4), Adam Nolan and Darren O’Neill (3) will represent Ireland in the boxing event in London.