SPORTS DIGEST

Other sports stories in brief

Springboks agree to Ireland Test

RUGBY:Ireland could take on world champions South Africa in a Test match in the United Arab Emirates later this year. The Springboks have agreed in principle to the exhibition contest, which is set to be played on November 1st. It would be the second Test match at a neutral venue on that day, with the fourth and final match of the 2008 Bledisloe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand due to take place in Hong Kong.

Andy Marinos, manager (national teams) of SA Rugby said: "We are working on such a possibility".

Capirossi ruled out of Dutch MotoGP

MOTOR CYCLING:Suzuki's Italian rider Loris Capirossi was ruled out of tomorrow's Dutch MotoGP race after crashing and suffering a deep gash to his right forearm in practice yesterday.

Capirossi had missed the previous British round with a broken hand.

The team said he would not be replaced for the TT race at Assen.

The crash was nothing to do with his recent hand injury and it was just one of those things that happens in racing," team manager Paul Denning said.

"Unfortunately the bike got on top of him and ripped a sizeable piece of flesh from his right forearm."

Ducati's Australian world champion Casey Stoner was fastest in both of yesterday's practice sessions.

 Fitzgerald  keeps vigil

SAILING:Ireland West skipper Aodhan Fitzgerald was keeping vigil in Wicklow Sailing Club last night as the final outcome of the BMW Round Ireland Race was being decided on the Irish Sea and skies above, writes David Branigan.

Provisionally listed as the overall winner of the 704-mile race, the potential for Eric Lisson's two-times past winner to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat was immense as the Royal Cork YC crew was carried southwards on the ebb tide with a 2.47 am deadline to beat to become the first boat in the history of the event to win such a hat-trick.

Ashore with Fitzgerald and his Galway Bay SC crew, the remains of yesterday's steady stream of finishers that had survived three gales to complete the race, a long-established accomplishment considered almost as good as a winning result.

Earlier in the day, Gareth Thomas and Brian Millea from the Royal Western YC in Plymouth reached Wicklow on their J120 as the first two-handed boat in the race.

Diaz wants  a title war

BOXING:Holder David Diaz wants tomorrow's World Boxing Council lightweight title fight in Las Vegas, against super featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao, to be a "war".

"I want it to be a great fight," Diaz said. "I want it to be a war. I want it to go down as one of the great fights of the year, if not the decade," added the American, who goes into the bout as the underdog.

Pacquiao has won 46 of his 51 fights.

 Dublin baseball festival hits first base

BASEBALL:The Dublin Baseball Festival will take place this weekend at the sport's national facility in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin, in west Dublin. The Irish national team features in an international tournament alongside a "Little League" competition and Major League Baseball's official "Road Show" that introduces children to the fundamentals of baseball.

The tournament marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of the national baseball facility, which was a gift from Irish-American Peter O'Malley, the former owner and president of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The facility incorporates a regulation-sized adult field and international standard Little League field.

President of Baseball Ireland Mike Kindle said: "This festival will prove to be the largest baseball event ever held in Ireland and is further proof that the sport is going from strength to strength.

"The Dublin international tournament will showcase three visiting teams from Britain and assist the Irish national team in their preparations for the European Championships in July. We are also most fortunate to have the MLB "Road Show" as it will give kids the opportunity to experience baseball as it was meant to be - outside in a park and not in front of a telly."

Dougherty in for  Tri-Nations clashes

CRICKET:Ireland Under-19 batsman Chris Dougherty will take the place of Eoin Morgan for next week's Tri-Nations clashes against New Zealand and Scotland in Aberdeen, writes Emmet Riordan.

Middlesex left-hander Morgan had originally been named in coach Phil Simmons's squad, only to change his mind and decide to stay with his county for their championship clash against Northamptonshire.

Ireland play their first official Twenty20 game today, when they face the touring Bangladesh A side at Eglinton in Derry (5.30). World Cup skipper Trent Johnston returns to Ireland colours for the first time since retiring from 50-over cricket after the tour to Bangladesh earlier this year, while Peter Connell is in line to make his debut after impressing in the A game against the tourists during the week.

Meanwhile, World Cup players John Mooney and Kenny Carroll have been named in the Ireland A side to take on Bangladesh in next Tuesday's One-Day clash at Stormont. There are three new faces in the line up, with Lee Nelson, James Shannon and Neil Gill all earning call-ups. North Down's Ryan Haire will captain the side.

England's one-day skipper, Paul Collingwood, has been suspended for four matches after his side failed to meet the required rate in the fourth one-day international against New Zealand at The Oval. The ban starts with Saturday's fifth and final one-day international against New Zealand at Lord's.