HANSIE CRONJE, the current South African cricket captain, who has been contracted to play for Ireland in this season's Benson & Hedges Cup campaign, is to be introduced to the media by the Irish Cricket Union in Dublin next Friday afternoon.

He has already been named in Ireland's side to play Middlesex in the opening B&H match at Castle Avenue on this day week. Mike Gatting, at the start of his final season with the county, will captain Middlesex and their 13-man squad also includes England Test players Mark Rampakrash, Phil Tufnell and Angus Fraser.

The Lisburn spinner Neil Doak has cried off and has been replaced in the Ireland squad by Greg Molins of Carlisle.

At a meeting in Dundalk yesterday, the ICU officially decided to make a bid to host the next International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy competition in 2002. The ICU also decided to support efforts to have a Northern Ireland team compete in the next Commonwealth Games, to be staged in Malaysia next year.

South Africa's Western Province will play two matches in Dublin next September. They will play the ICU President's XI on Saturday September 6th, and will meet the Leinster Cricket Union President's XI the following day.