A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Friendly with England at Riverview
TENNIS: Home fans can look forward to a pre-Christmas treat with Ireland taking on Britain in a friendly international at David Lloyd Riverview in Donnybrook, Dublin, next Wednesday and Thursday.
The indoor contest will provide both countries with valuable preparation in advance of their opening round Davis Cup ties on February 10th-12th, with Ireland facing Hungary in an away Europe- Africa zone group two fixture, and Britain hosting Slovakia in group one.
The battle between the countries was the brainchild of Ireland Davis Cup team boss Garry Cahill, whose proposal was supported by his British counterpart Leon Smith.
”It’s a massive boost to have this tie before we play Hungary, and it will be an ideal opportunity to blood Sam Barry at adult international,” Cahill said of the promising Limerick 19-year-old.
Barry will be joined on the Ireland team by Conor Niland, James McGee and James Cluskey, while England will consist of 343-ranked Daniel Evans, 346-ranked Alexander Ward and two promising 19-year-olds in Lewis Burton and Ashley Hewitt.
South Africa dismiss Sri Lanka for 180
CRICKET: Graeme Smith scored a half-century but fell late on as South Africa made a confident reply after dismissing Sri Lanka for 180 on the opening day of the first test yesterday. Seam bowler Vernon Philander claimed five wickets for the hosts, who reached 90 for one at the close at Centurion.
South Africa captain Smith looked in fine form as he stroked seven fours in his 61 – his 30th half-century in his 94th test – but played around a full delivery from Dilhara Fernando to be trapped lbw. Opening partner Jacques Rudolph was unbeaten on 27.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers struggled to obtain the same assistance the South Africans did, even though the home attack sprayed the ball around disconcertingly at times.
South Africa’s much-vaunted attack were struggling in helpful conditions as Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews added 65 for the fifth wicket off just 80 balls.
Ford stays with rally championship
RALLYING: Ford has committed itself to two more years in the World Rally Championship, with Norway’s former champion Petter Solberg replacing the departed Mikko Hirvonen at the works team next season.
Ford Europe said yesterday it was extending its participation, with British-based M-Sport continuing to prepare the Fiesta cars.
Solberg (37), champion with Subaru in 2003 and winner of 13 rallies, rejoins Ford after starting his world rally career with the car maker in 1999. He has run his own privately entered Citroen team for the past three seasons.
Solberg takes the place of Hirvonen, who has moved to Citroen as team mate to eight-times champion Sebastien Loeb.
Ford’s other driver will be Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala, now the recognised team leader, who won last month’s final round in Britain.
Lyle and Alliss for Golf Hall of Fame
GOLF: Former British Open and US Masters champion Sandy Lyle and television commentator Peter Alliss – often referred to as the “Voice of Golf” – are to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The announcement was made by World Golf Foundation chairman George O’Grady and World Golf Hall of Fame chief operating officer, Jack Peter, in London.
“This is all very unexpected,” said Alliss (80). “I am delighted, surprised, humbled and honoured to be thought of in this way.”
Schools final win for Maynooth
RUGBY: A try by centre Francis Kabamba was the foundation for Maynooth post-primary’s victory over Coláiste Chill Mhantáin in the Leinster Schools Development Senior Cup final at Lakelands Park yesterday.
The Wicklow boys had first use of the wind, but they were hit with Kabamba’s intercept effort in the 11th minute. Scrum-half Alex Birchell converted and added a penalty just before the break.
Number eight Jamie Murphy, captain Neil Delaney and outhalf Cian Forde were excellent for the winners as they surely built on their lead with two more penalties by Birchell in the face of Cill Mhantáin’s brave defence, led by outhalf Ben Porter.
'Impossible' to decide cause of Wheldon's IndyCar death
MOTOR SPORT: The crash that killed two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was the result of a perfect storm with no single factor pinpointed as the cause of the deadly accident, according to IndyCar officials.
Wheldon died when his open- cockpit car became airborne during a 15-car pile-up at the IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October and slammed into a post holding the catch fencing, sustaining a “non-survivable” head injury.
The cause of death was included in the findings of a two-month investigation into the crash that took the life of one of Britain’s most successful race car drivers and sent several other drivers to hospital.
“While several factors coincided to produce a perfect storm, none of them can be singled out as the sole cause of the accident,” IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard said yesterday. “For this reason it is impossible to determine with certainty that the result would have been any different if one or more of the factors did not exist.”
