Ireland will be without captain William Porterfield and county duo Niall O’Brien and Boyd Rankin for their forthcoming matches against West Indies A and Holland.

Theo Walcott returned to the Arsenal squad for the first time this season following a side strain against Blackburn at Emirates Stadium.

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.

Ireland captain William Porterfield believes his side still have a World Twenty20 shock left in them when they take on Pakistan today.

The Ireland cricket team have qualified for the World Twenty20 Super Eights after beating Bangladesh by six wickets at Trent Bridge.

Niall O’Brien evoked memories of his famous match winning knock against Pakistan in 2007 with a magnificent 62 from 52 balls against South Africa at Southgate.

Ireland completed a perfect Group A campaign of five wins from five matches at the World Cup Qualifying tournament with today’s easy seven-wicket success against Namibia in Johannesburg.

A CONTROVERSIAL own goal by Kyle Naughton and a Peter Halmosi strike handed Hull a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals last night.

Arsenal 3 Everton 1

Andre Botha starred with bat and ball as Ireland overcame a spirited Scotland fightback to take a giant stride towards next year’s ICC World Twenty20 in England.

IRELAND’S hopes of qualifying for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers received a huge boost with the news that the squad’s English-based county cricketers will be available for next month’s qualifiers as well as the upcoming European Championships.

Cricket Ireland have this morning announced their squads for the European Championships which get under way in the Dublin area from July 25-31.

Ireland have announced their squads for the forthcoming T20 clash with Bangladesh 'A' at Eglinton on Friday, and the 50-over clash with the same opposition at Bangor on Sunday.

Ireland have named an unchanged squad for their forthcoming Friends Provident Trophy games this weekend.

HARRY REDKNAPP has tipped Benjani Mwaruwari to become a Fratton Park cult hero after he raced to the top of the Premier League scoring charts at the expense of struggling Wigan.

Bolton 1 Everton 2

John Blain hit a career-best 93 as Scotland and Ireland continued to struggle for supremacy on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup clash in Belfast.

Wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien has called on the Irish Cricket Union to be patient with newly-appointed coach Phil Simmons after Ireland’s latest loss.

CAPTAIN Michael Vaughan backed England to follow up completing their 3-0 Test success over West Indies at Chester-le-Street yesterday with further victory in the forthcoming one-day matches.

Ireland vice-captain Kyle McCallan has urged his team to put aside their poor start to the Friends Provident Trophy and retain the Intercontinental Cup for former coach Adrian Birrell.

Basement boys Ireland crashed to a fourth straight South Conference defeat in the Friends Provident Trophy against Gloucestershire despite captain Trent Johnston taking a hat-trick in Dublin.

Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien is looking forward to another confrontation with Brian Lara after their stormy introduction in 2004.

ANYONE tuning in to Ireland’s Cricket World Cup campaign this week will be seeing a lot of Niall O’Brien.

Ireland have confirmed an unchanged 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup, which starts in the West Indies next month.

Everton 1 Blackburn 0

Fulham 1 Leyton Orient 2

Tonight's Premiership teams

Teams from all today's 3pm kick-offs.

Manchester United 4 Barnet 1

AUSTRALIA are hoping their bowling attack is not a case of out with the old and in with the new when the fourth npower Ashes Test begins at Trent Bridge tomorrow.

Richard Gibson

JUSTIN LANGER believes Australia’s selectors have been left with a headache when they choose the bowling attack for this week’s fourth Ashes Test.

Police today unveiled their plans to tackle the huge influx of traffic expected for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July.

With both Aston Villa and Manchester City still harbouring hopes of taking seventh place in the Barclays Premier League and with it a UEFA Cup spot for next season, this game was far from a meaningless, end-of-season affair.

Birmingham 2 Southampton 1

Norwich v Fulham

Carling Cup results:

Carling Cup latest:

Carling Cup latest:

Carling Cup latest:

Carling Cup latest:

Carling Cup latest:

Carling Cup latest:

Everton v Tottenham Everton: Martyn, Hibbert, Weir, Stubbs, Pistone, Osman, Carsley, Cahill, Gravesen, Kilbane, Bent. Subs: Wright, Watson, Ferguson, McFadden, Yobo. Tottenham: Robinson, Pamarot, King, Naybet, Edman, Davies, Redknapp, Pedro Mendes, Atouba, Keane, Defoe. Subs: Brown, Keller, Ziegler, Silva Sousa, Gardner. Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire)