SPORTS DIGEST:CRICKET: Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers scored unbeaten half centuries to take South Africa to 244 for two at the close of the fourth day of the second Test against Australia yesterday.
Kallis, who was dropped first ball by Marcus North at slip off Peter Siddle, made the most of the let-off to share an unbeaten stand of 164 with De Villiers as South Africa chased the 546 they need to win and level the three-match series. After losing openers Hashim Amla (43) and Neil McKenzie (31) to early strikes by Siddle, South Africa recovered with Kallis and De Villiers looking comfortable and maintaining a run-rate of around three per over.
South Africa need to score 302 runs on the final day to win or survive for 90 overs to snatch a draw.
France the opposition in Serpentine double-header
HOCKEY: Irish men's hockey coach Paul Revington has selected his squad to take on France in the upcoming double-header scheduled for March 24th and 25th at Serpentine Avenue (7.0), reports Johnny Watterson.
Ireland, ranked 18th in the world, face the 17th ranked team as part of their preparations for the European Championships. Revington has selected 21 athletes to compete over the two games. However, both John Jermyn and Michael Watt were unavailable for selection because of exam commitments.
France are often considered the ‘bogey’ team. They contributed to Ireland’s relegation at the European Championships in 2007 when Ireland lost 1-0.
However, the Irish regained their confidence in subsequent meetings, winning 4-0 in the recent Olympic Qualifiers and then 5-0 in the Celtic Cup last July.
IRELAND SQUAD: J Brennan (Glenanne); K Burns (Cork C of I); S Butler (Glenanne); P Caruth (Annadale); T Cockram (Lisnagarvey); M Darling (Three Rock Rovers); R Gormley (Pembroke Wanderers); D Harte (Pembroke Wanderers); D Hobbs (Cork C of I); J Jackson (Loughborough); G Lennox (Banbridge); T Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers); P Maguire (Three Rock Rovers); A McConnell (Three Rock Rovers); E Magee (Banbridge); G Shaw (Glenanne); A Sothern (Pembroke Wanderers); K Black (Cookstown); D Harte (Pembroke Wanderers); G McCabe (Banbridge); G Watkins (Monkstown).
March 24th: Ireland v France, Serpentine Avenue 7.00; March 25th Ireland v France, Serpentine Avenue 7.00.
Harrison and Burdis set times
SWIMMING: Irish swimmers Ryan Harrison and Karl Burdis have made the qualifying times for the World Swimming Championship which take place in Rome from July 26th to August 2nd .
Both made the times at the Austin Grand Prix in Texas and they could well be part of a six-strong Irish squad who head to Italy in the summer.
Harrison, who is based at the University of Tennessee, and Burdis, who is at the University of Minnesota, set a total of five new Irish senior records at the meet to guarantee their places for Rome.
Harrison, who hails from Derry, recorded a total of three new Irish senior record times in the 100, 200 and 400 metres freestyle events, his most impressive coming in the 100 free when he recorded a time of 50.29 seconds, cutting half a second off the old record set by Barry Murphy set back in 2006.
Dubliner Burdis established two new Irish senior record times of 56.20 and 2.04.37 in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke respectively.
Strong showing from Roche
CYCLING: Irish professional Nicolas Roche added another strong placing to his 2009 list of results when he placed a fine 13th on yesterday's second stage of Paris-Nice, reports Shane Stokes.
The 24-year-old finished in the same time as the sprint winner Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam), who proved quickest in the mass dash for the line in La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin.
His first cousin and compatriot Dan Martin had a tougher time of it, struggling with a virus that has also affected his Garmin Slipstream team-mate Trent Lowe. The two riders trailed in almost 10 minutes down. Overnight leader Alberto Contador (Astana) was slightly delayed when he was caught behind a crash but did not lose any time due to a UCI rule governing mishaps in the last three kilometres. He continues to lead overall. Roche is 49 seconds back in 69th place overall, while Martin is now 154th.
Former Belgian champion Niko Eeckhout landed a strong result for the An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly Team, finishing seventh on Sunday’s final stage in Three Days of West Flanders event. He placed twelfth overall.
Johnny Dooley dies aged 74
RUGBY:The death has taken place of former Irish international centre Johnny Dooley in Galway.
The 74-year old was the first Connacht player to tour overseas with an Irish side when he travelled to South Africa in 1961. He played 26 times for Connacht in a provincial career which lasted from 1954 to 1963 and he won the first of his three caps against England in 1959.
A versatile sportsman, he was captain and president of Galwegians RFC and also held the same positions in Galway Golf Club.
His funeral will take place tomorrow morning in the Church of Christ the King in Salthill at 11am and he will buried afterwards in the New Cemetery in Bohermore.
Button back behind wheel
MOTOR SPORT: An emotional Jenson Button yesterday spoke of how he feared being cast adrift from Formula One and left with what would have been an empty life.
For the first time in almost four months, Button was back behind the wheel of an F1 car, sending a ripple of surprise through the paddock. With the new Brawn GP car underneath him, Button spent all morning at the top of the timesheets on the first day of the final group test in Barcelona.
