Sports Digest

A round-up of today's other sports stories in brief...

A round-up of today's other sports stories in brief...

Four Irish players off to SA training camp

CRICKET: Four Irish players will be among those attending the second annual ICC winter training camp in South Africa next week. Twenty four players from the six top associate countries will come together for intensive coaching, training and tactical analysis of one-day cricket with top coaches.

On Monday, the players from Ireland, Bermuda, Canada, Kenya, The Netherlands and Scotland will assemble at the high performance centre in Pretoria for a seven-week camp that will aim to boost their form and skills ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies next March.

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ICC's high performance manager Richard Done said: "With the World Cup so close, it is especially important to focus on one-day skills. So, as well as fitness and technical sessions, we will programme a lot of match scenarios to recreate specific situations that players will face during one-day games."

The coaching staff will be led by current Leicestershire and former England Under-19 coach Tim Boon.

The Heritage set to host Seve Trophy

GOLF: The Heritage in Laois is to host the Seve Trophy in 2007 and 2009. Nick Faldo is to be given a taste of captaincy ahead of the 2008 Ryder Cup as next year's match sees the Englishman take over from Colin Montgomerie as captain of the Britain and Ireland side.

Seve Ballesteros is back as captain of Continental Europe, although he and Faldo will not be playing.

"After watching last weekend's event in Ireland I can't wait to return next year as captain . . . especially as many players on both sides will feature in the 2008 Ryder Cup team," said Faldo.

He was originally offered the job for the inaugural match at Sunningdale in 2000, but when he turned down the chance Montgomerie stepped in.

The tournament will again be staged over four days in a series of fourballs, greensomes, foursomes and singles matches.

The Seve Trophy was last staged in Ireland at Druids Glen in 2002. The current score between the teams stands at 3-1 to Britain and Ireland.

China to host worlds

GOLF: Mission Hills Golf Club in China is to host the World Cup in 2007 and 2008, and to host a World Golf Championships event through 2018.

The World Golf Championships-Mission Hills World Cup will be held November 19th-25th, 2007, at the José Maria Olazábal-designed Olazábal Course at Mission Hills Golf Club in China, located just 30 minutes from the Hong Kong border, and will mark the first time the World Golf Championships have visited China.