Sports digest

Today's other stories in brief

Ireland lose in low-key warm-up

CRICKET: Ireland lost by six wickets to a Professional Cricketers XI in a low-key Twenty20 warm-up game at Wormsley Park in Buckinghamshire yesterday, writes Emmet Riordan. Ireland tallied 139 for nine off their 20 overs, with John Mooney's innings of 57 from 43 deliveries proving the highlight. Regan West (21) and Paul Stirling (17) were the other notable contributors. Ireland opener Reinhardt Strydom turned out for the PCA XI and made 24 in a partnership of 49 with Jason Gallian (37) to get them off to a good start in reply. Another guest, West Indian Kieron Pollard, then hit 46 from 26 balls to bring up the victory. Ireland are in line to face Pollard again tomorrow, when they play the Windies.

The Ireland women’s team beat Nottinghamshire by five wickets at Malahide last night to end the first day of the RSA Twenty20 Cup with one win and one loss.

Scarponi takes stages as Menchov maintains lead

CYCLING: Italy's Michele Scarponi won the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia yesterday with Russias Denis Menchov retaining his narrow overall lead. Diquigiovanni rider Scarponi triumphed in a sprint finish following the 182km route from Sulmona in central Italy.

The 29-year-old, who won the sixth stage earlier this month and the Tirreno-Adriatico race in March, looks in fine fettle having returned from an 18-month ban for his involvement in Spain’s Operacion Puerto doping scandal.

Rabobank’s Menchov, who denied involvement in a different doping affair on Wednesday after Austrian investigators contacted his team, remains 26 seconds ahead of Danilo Di Luca in the general classification.

Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti is two minutes behind Menchov in third and 2006 winner Ivan Basso is 3:28 adrift in fourth and needs something special on the slopes of the famous volcano. Last year’s Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre lies just behind Basso in fifth.

American Lance Armstrong is in a creditable 12th position overall but is out of contention 12:17 back.

Irish rider Philip Deignan showed he is recovering from his crash on Wednesday’s 17th stage when he went clear as part of yesterday’s large 25-man break. The move gained significant time on the main bunch, eventually splitting close to the end of the stage. Deignan was in the second part of this split,finishing one minute and 17 seconds back in 21st place. He is 55th overall.

New rugby cup pools announced

RUGBY: The pools for the innaugural British and Irish Cup were unveiled yesterday. A dozen club sides from the English Championship, along with six from the Welsh Principality Premiership and three Scottish sides (including the top two in their Premiership Division one), will compete in four pools of six along with provincial A sides from Munster, Leinster and Ulster.

Fixtures will be played over five weekends during the November tests and RBS Six Nations windows, with the four pool winners progressing to the semi finals and finals on April 24th and May 15th respectively.

POOL A: Exeter Chiefs, Leinster, Cornish Pirates, Newport, Plymouth Albion, The Thistles.

POOL B: Coventry, Bristol Rugby, Heriot’s, Munster, Neath, Nottingham. POOL C: Aberavon, Bedford Blues, Llanelli, London Welsh, Moseley, Ulster.

POOL D: Ayr, Birmingham Solihull, Cardiff, Doncaster Knights, Pontypridd, Rotherham Titans.

King leads at the Tattersalls trials

EQUESTRIAN:After the first day of dressage, Britain's Mary King leads the HSCB FEI World Cup qualifier at the Tattersalls international horse trials in Co Meath on the Portuguese-bred Fernhill Urco, previously owned by event horse producer Carol Gee, writes Margie McLoone.

Twenty-nine of the 56 combinations in the featured class did their dressage yesterday, King taking top spot on a score of 45.2 on her second ride of the day with compatriot Ollie Townend, this year’s Badminton winner, lying second on 48.3. The Army Equitation School’s Capt Geoff Curran, on The Jump Jet, is in third on 49.4 with his winning mount from last year, Kilkishen, set to compete today.

British riders also lead the other three classes with Chloe Newton topping the CCI** on Cast Away II (43.6). In the CCIJ*, Althea Bleekman lies first and third with The Duchess Of Something (41.9) and Coppindell Pizarro (49.8) with Ireland’s Michelle Kenny on Golden Orphan (42.7) second.

Revington to survey his options

HOCKEY: The Irish men's hockey team are bound for Wrexham, Wales, this weekend to play in a double header on Saturday and Sunday, writes Johnny Watterson. The matches should give coach Paul Revington an opportunity to see more players under match conditions ahead of a busy summer, including the Champions Challenge II in Dublin and the European Championships in August.

Michael Watt returns to the squad with Cork’s John Jermyn, Dublin’s Stephen Butler and Ulster’s Geoff McCabe and Timmy Cockram playing in their first international event of 2009.

IRELAND: D Harte (Pembroke), I Walker (YMCA), R Gormley (capt, Pembroke), T Lewis (Pembroke), J Brennan (Glenanne), C Harte (Pembroke), J Jackson (Loughborough), G Shaw (Glenanne), S Butler (Glenanne), D Hobbs (Cork C of I), J Jermyn (Cork C of I), A McConnell (Three Rock Rovers), G McCabe (Banbridge), E Magee (Banbridge), Timmy Cockram (Lisnagarvey), M Darling (Three Rock Rovers), A Sothern (Pembroke), M Watt (Grange).

FIXTURES – Saturday: Wales v Ireland 2.30, Wrexham; Sunday: Wales v Ireland 1.00, Wrexham.