These days, that old guff about "the luck of the Irish" has rather a hollow ring to it. Scotland narrowly, but most effectively, deprived Ireland of a place in last year's World Cup; this time around, the hapless Irish have been drawn against the Scots in the opening round of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Emerging Teams' Tournament which will be staged in Zimbabwe next April.

As well as Ireland and Scotland, Denmark, Holland, Kenya and Zimbabwe A will be competing. The tournament, which begins on April 5th, will be run on a round-robin basis, and as in all one-day international matches, games will be limited to 50 overs a side.

Ireland's matches: v Scotland, Thursday April 5th; v Holland, Saturday April 8th; v Kenya, Sunday April 9th; v Denmark, Tuesday April 11th; v Zimbabwe A, Thursday April 13th.

Meanwhile, the a.g.m. of the Irish Cricket Union will be held at the Ballymascanlon House Hotel in Dundalk next Sunday, February 13th.

Out-going president Dermot Monteith will be succeeded by the former Ireland fast bowler, Roy Torrens.