Cricket: When Australian Test star Mark Waugh, the latest major cricket star to be imported for a spell with Ireland, lines out against Zimbabwe in next month's two-one day matches at Castle Avenue, he will be returning to the ground where he made something of an impression in the annual three-day game against the MCC way back in 1986.
Brought into the team at the last minute, 21-year-old Waugh, then a young professional at Lord's, hit an undefeated 239 in 270 minutes in the first innings and an unbeaten 101 in 90 minutes in the second.
Waugh's twin brother, the Australian captain Steve, was Ireland's overseas player in 1998. Mark Waugh, now 35, has played in 103 Tests (average 41.72) and 217 one-day internationals (average 38.22) for Australia. He has taken 50 Test and 83 one-day international wickets.
Swimming: Susie O'Neill broke the oldest record in swimming when she went under Mary T Meagher's 200 metre butterfly world record in a new time of two minutes, 05.81 seconds at the Australian Olympic trials in Sydney.
O'Neill took 0.15 seconds off the American great's record of 2:05.96 which had stood since August 13th, 1981.
Rugby: Ireland under-21 international Geordan Murphy has been nominated for the young player of the year award by England's Professional Rugby Players' Association.
The Leicester player, who was recently called up to the Ireland squad for the summer tour of Argentina, the United States and Canada, will know his fate at the PRA awards dinner next week.
Basketball: The Irish senior men made a fine start to their European 2003 Championship qualifying bid in Denmark yesterday with a 57-51 victory over Romania - the favourites to come through the five-team pool.
In a basket-to-basket finish, the Irish showed superb determination and eventually buried the Romanian challenge. Today they face Cyprus, and a win here would put them in prime position for one of the two qualifying berths.
Canoeing: It is somewhat ironic, given the monsoon-like conditions of recent days, but the Irish Open canoe slalom championships, scheduled for the sluice weir on the Liffey on Sunday, have been cancelled because the river is below guide levels. The event, sponsored by the Bull CARA group, may now be postponed until November, because some of the competitors, including Ian Wiley, are now in locked-in training programmes all the way up the Olympics in September.
