Mattel is launching three Barbie fashion collections.

Vatican to field cricket team, take on Anglican Church

When the fastest bowler Ireland has ever produced marks his run-up on this morning, most of the 10,000 spectators at Malahide Cricket Club will be willing him to fail.

NOT even wind and rain could dampen spirits at the first civil marriage ceremony at Cork City Hall yesterday.

Optical tycoon Gavin Winstanley has become the latest contestant to get the push from BBC1’s 'The Apprentice' – and he admitted he did not see it coming.

THE old cricket verse, At Lord’s, puts it better than we ever could: O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago.

ENGLAND’S quest to regain the Ashes will have to be completed without Kevin Pietersen after he was forced into undergoing surgery on his chronic achilles injury.

ENGLAND face an anxious wait to see whether key batsman Kevin Pietersen will be fit to withstand another battle with Australia in next week’s third Ashes Test.

CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss billed his unbeaten 161 as the best Test hundred of his career after England’s day of two halves against Australia at Lord’s.

ENGLAND are facing an anxious wait to determine whether they face another dilemma over the balance of their side after all-rounder Andrew Flintoff emerged as a doubt for the second Ashes Test.

Ireland failed to pull off another shock today as they succumbed to Sri Lanka by nine runs at Lord’s and were knocked out of the World Twenty20.

IRELAND captain William Porterfield has targeted a famous victory over New Zealand later today despite watching his side slip to an eight-wicket defeat against reigning World Twenty20 champions India at Trent Bridge.

Ireland are pinpointing their clash with Bangladesh as their route to the latter stages of the World Twenty20.

GRAEME SWANN has admitted England’s frustration at being unable to recapture their impressive form of last summer in the current one-day series against India.

LOSSES of more than €1 million were suffered by one of the country’s biggest hotels in 2007 as a result of its venture into hosting entertainment events including Lord of the Dance and Paul Brady and Bonnie Tyler concerts.

COLM Murphy has confirmed Ruby Walsh will take the reins on Brave Inca when he attempts to defend his crown in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle next Tuesday.

Celestial Wave will not travel across the Irish Sea to tackle the Ladbrokes World Hurdle after suffering a late setback.

PERCE ROCK’S team are not worried about the bottomless ground that is set to affect the Anglo Irish Bank Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown today.

AUSTRALIAN selectors yesterday opted for bowling cover ahead of Friday’s second Ashes cricket Test, amid doubts over Glenn McGrath’s ability to get through back-to-back Test matches with a heel problem.

ENGLAND have just three days to come up with some answers after a crushing 277-run loss to Australia in the opening Ashes cricket Test at the Gabba yesterday.

INJURY-HIT Pakistan suffered a fresh blow when coach Bob Woolmer said opening batsman Shoaib Malik was doubtful for the entire Test series against England.

The British government was today accused of being involved in a cover-up over the IRA’s final act of disarmament.

IRELAND’S cricketers will make history next June when they play England in the first one-day international between the two nations in this country.

DAVID GRAVENEY has urged England to avoid a repeat of the errors which blighted their performance in the first npower Test if they are to gain revenge over Australia at Edgbaston.

ENGLAND have named an unchanged squad for the second Ashes Test against Australia starting at Edgbaston on Thursday.

ENGLAND have become the second best Test side in the world by persevering with selections — so to ditch such a policy when beaten once by the best would be premature and could be ultimately damaging.

Ouija Board has wintered well and is back in training with Ed Dunlop to be prepared for a seasonal reappearance in the Vodafone Coronation Cup.

World cricket’s governing body, the ICC, is poised to announce a move from Lord’s, its headquarters since 1909.

THE identities of the soldiers who killed 13 civilians and wounded 14 others on Bloody Sunday are still not clear, the inquiry into the events more than 30 years ago was told yesterday.

The public is to be given a say in the selection of judges in Northern Ireland under wide-ranging reforms to the selection process announced today.

UGANDA’S army overran the headquarters of a rebel group in a cross-border raid and killed at least 120 fighters, including possibly the group’s leader, a military spokesman said yesterday.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect.

A three masted tall ship avoided serious damage today when it struck one of the buttresses of Tower Bridge on the River Thames in London.

The unveiling of the weights for the Martell Cognac Grand National yesterday produced a host of moves in ante-post markets on the world’s greatest steeplechase.

Sir Brian Kerr was today appointed as Northern Ireland’s next Lord Chief Justice.