Roche avoids trouble in Switzerland
CYCLING:Irish road race champion Nicolas Roche yesterday held on to 11th place overall in the Tour de Suisse, avoiding a crash which took down a large number of riders metres before the finish in Wettingen, writes Shane Stokes.The 192.2 km stage went to the Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, who swooped through after Mark Cavendish collided with Heinrich Hausser and brought both of then crashing to the tarmac.
Roche opted not to sprint and thus stayed out of trouble and came home in 59th. He remains 18 seconds behind race leader Tony Martin.
Philip Deignan came in eight and a half minutes after the main bunch and ended the day in 102nd on general classification.
Ireland without County trio for World League fixtures
CRICKET:Ireland will be without their frontline County-based players for next week's two one-day games against West Indies 'A' in Belfast and next month's World Cricket League in the Netherlands, writes Emmet Riordan.
Skipper William Porterfield, Niall O’Brien and Boyd Rankin are not named in either squad, with Ireland coach Phil Simmons keen to have the three involved for the two One-Day Internationals against Bangladesh next month.
“The county players have one- and four-day games over the period, so we have to plan without them. It’s always a balancing act with the counties, and we’ve got bigger games ahead. The Bangladesh games are vital in terms of ranking points, and in testing ourselves against teams who are above us at the minute,” said Simmons.
Seamer Peter Connell and left-arm spinner Gary Kidd, who are in the panel for tomorrow’s RSA Challenge against Australia, are left out of the two squads, with Simmons opting recall some fringe players, while also introducing some new faces.
George Dockrell and Nigel Jones return, while left-arm seamer Phil Eaglestone and Clontarf batsman Andrew Poynter come back into the senior squad. Off-spinner all-rounder Albert van der Merwe of The Hills is in line to make his debut against West Indies ‘A’, while Instonians wicketkeeper Rory McCann and Bready and Sussex pace bowler Craig Young are included in the 15-man squad for the World League.
England's Banahan is cited over tackle
RUGBY:Matt Banahan has been cited for an alleged dangerous tackle following England's 15-9 victory over the Australian Barbarians in Gosford yesterday.
The England wing has been charged with a “lifting tackle” on Barbarians centre Berrick Barnes 26 minutes into the game at Bluetongue Stadium. Banahan will face his disciplinary hearing in Sydney.
England have now had a player cited after all three of their matches on the tour of Australia.
