SPORTS DIGEST: The Irish Amateur Boxing Association have named a 15-man squad for next weekend's Four Nations Senior Championships at the National Stadium.
Ten members of the squad won Irish titles at last weekend's National Senior Championship which was effectively acting as a selection process for the Four Nations team.
EU gold medallist Ken Egan, who will captain the team, believes that they have a strong squad as they seek to improve on last season's haul of three gold and two silver in Liverpool.
Irish Squad: 48kg: Jim Moore, Paddy Barnes; 51kg: Conor Ahern, TJ Doheny; 54kg: David Oliver Joyce; 60kg: John Joe Joyce; 64kg: Dermot Hamill; 69kg: Roy Sheahan; 75kg: Darren Sutherland, Edward Healy; 81kg: Ken Egan, Darren O'Neill; 91kg: Ian Tims; 91+kg: Anthony Crampton, Martin Sweeney.
Former Ireland cricket captain Jason Molins will return to play club cricket in Dublin next season in an effort to win his place back in the national side ahead of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, writes James Fitzgerald.
Molins (31), who is based in London, has been playing for a local English club but was dropped from the Ireland team before the InterContinental Cup in Namibia last October due to a protracted period of poor batting form and concerns over his general fitness.
It is now thought that he will return to north Dublin side Phoenix, for whom he previously played, with a view to winning his place back into Adrian Birrell's side.
Jack Doyle has stood down as chairman of the Show Jumpers Club after only a year in the post. Doyle cited increased business commitments as the reason for his departure, which he announced at the Show Jumpers Club annual general meeting in Kill, Co Kildare on Monday night, writes Grania Willis.
Edward Doyle was elected to step into his brother's shoes. The vice-chairman and Club representative on the Show Jumping Association of Ireland selection panel will be elected at the first meeting of the new committee. The overall prizefund for the Guidam Spring Tour has been boosted to €15,000 with the addition of €1,500 to the winner and €500 to the second by the Show Jumpers Club.
Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso suggested yesterday that Renault could have done more to stop him moving to title rivals McLaren in 2007.
"Yes, probably yes," the 25-year-old Spaniard told reporters at the launch of their new R26 car in Monaco when asked if there was anything the team could have done to keep him.
"It's between me and Renault," he added. "It was not more money, it's more (about the) future." Alonso stunned Formula One last month when McLaren, last season's runners-up, announced he would be joining them in a year's time. The Spaniard confirmed it was a three-year deal.
Renault have been dogged by speculation about their commitment to the sport, with rumours last year that they could even pull out at the end of 2006.
Renault president Carlos Ghosn made clear yesterday, however, that the French car maker would stay beyond 2007 if Renault remained competitive and there was a good return on investments.
Renault team president Patrick Faure said Alonso had made his own decision. "He never asked us," said Faure. "If he had asked the question, we probably would have been able to answer him. But we were so involved in 2006, 2007 that we didn't think it was that important to conclude something for 2007 in 2005.
"Frankly, if really he thinks that, then it's a pity he didn't discuss it with us," added the Frenchman.
