Arlene Kelly and Alice Tector have both recovered from injury to be named in Ireland’s squad for their one-day international series against England.

The pair missed last month’s 3-0 ODI defeat by West Indies but have been named in head coach Lloyd Tennant’s 14-player squad for the three-game series which starts in Leicester on 1 September.

Gaby Lewis again captains the squad with Orla Prendergast, fresh from representing Welsh Fire in The Hundred, serving as her deputy.

Aimee Maguire, Sarah Forbes and Ava Canning will all miss out through injury.

Ireland will play a warm-up fixture against an ECB Development XI on 29 August, while three of their squad will feature in an Emerging Ireland side that will play in the ECB Super 4s preceding the series from August 24-28.

Tector will captain what is an under-19 side, while Christina Coulter Reilly and Lara McBride will also feature for that team before joining the senior group for three matches which form part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2025-29 cycle.

Ireland selector Lauren Rowles believes the regular exposure offered to the world’s top sides afforded by the competition will be of benefit to Ireland.

“To have genuine competition for places within a senior squad is important as it drives standards and raises the desire of players to achieve more with every opportunity they get,” she said.

“That’s why the ICC Women’s Championship is so important. It provides a regular programme of fixtures against the world’s best sides, which in turn benefits the development and competitiveness of our players.”

Lawrence Shankland is “too good not to score regularly” and is sure to have a “big influence” at Rangers whether or not he starts games, insists manager Derek McInnes.

Shankland has scored once in five outings since his move to Ibrox and the captain was used as a substitute on Sunday as Rangers beat St Mirren 5-1 for their first win of the season.

The 31-year-old Scotland striker hit 22 goals for Hearts last term working under McInnes.

“When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it,” said McInnes.

“He is too good not to score regularly. He has consistently shown that over a period of time in the Premiership.

“Sometimes people can over emphasise these things. For me, it is a case of letting him play his natural game.

“The best strikers have that instinctive side to their game, where everything looks natural and seamless. I have no doubt he will do well here.”

McInnes chose to start with Ryan Naderi in the Premier Sports Cup victory over St Mirren and the German opened the scoring, while Nico Raskin was skipper.

“I said that when I spoke to Lawrence,” added McInnes. “Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that. He is not going to stamp his feet about it. Having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy.

“You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that.”

Shankland is one of 11 new signings at Rangers and the search is on for another centre forward since Youssef Chermiti is a long-term absentee.

“The priority is at the top end of the pitch,” said McInnes. “Number nines are normally more difficult ones to do, and it wasn’t an area we were looking at before Youseff’s injury.

“We’re hoping we can land on the one that we want and hopefully we can bring them here quickly.”

In 2023, Kyrgios admitted assaulting ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari by pushing her on the pavement during a row in Canberra. The magistrate called the incident “a single act of stupidity or frustration” when sparing him a criminal record.

Then two years ago he publicly distanced himself from controversial influencer Andrew Tate, who is currently fighting extradition to the UK on charges including rape and offences related to sex trafficking.

Kyrgios told the BBC he had “deleted posts, unfollowed him and gone to all lengths to distance” himself from Tate.

The current world number 919 will now step away from public life for the next 28 days to “do the work and come back better.”

The legal process will take many months – and Kyrgios is no fan of tennis’ anti-doping system.

Describing the system as “awful,” he made repeatedly clear his opinion that both Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek received overly lenient bans after their recent high-profile doping cases.

“Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist,” Kyrgios wrote after Sinner accepted a three-month ban for testing positive for clostebol.

But if he does decide he wants to continue his career into his thirties, much will rest on the process of which Kyrgios has been so critical.

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