BIRTHDAYS
Frankie Dettori (racing) - champion jockey on three occasions, born 1970.
Carl Hooper (cricket) - former West Indies captain, who also played for Kent and Lancashire, born 1966.
Joe Jordan (soccer) - former Scotland striker, born 1951.
Roman Pavlyuchenko (soccer) - former Tottenham striker, born 1981.
Delon Armitage (rugby union) - Lyon's former England full-back, born 1983.
Martin Skrtel (soccer) - Fenerbahce and Slovakia defender, formerly of Liverpool, born 1984.
Steven Nzonzi (soccer) - Sevilla's French midfielder, formerly of Blackburn and Stoke, born 1988.
Tony Kelly (Gaelic games) – Clare hurler and 2013 Hurler of the Year, born 1993.
ON THIS DAY
1933: The first Test match played in India began. The home side's opponents, England, won the match by nine wickets and went on to win the series. Remarkably, England did not win another series in India until the 1976-77 tour.
1962: Gary Mason, who went on to become British heavyweight boxing champion, was born. He won the British title in 1989 but was killed in a cycling accident in south London on January 6, 2011.
1982: England beat Luxembourg 9-0 in a European Championship qualifier, at the time a record score in the tournament.
2005: Celtic completed the signing of Roy Keane, who had been released from his Manchester United contract.
2007: Armagh’s Brendan McCann and Christopher McAlinden along with Justin Kelly (Tyrone), Ger O'Dwyer (Donegal), Paul McManus (Fermanagh), Pat O'Connell (Monaghan) and Daithi Neary (Cavan) picked up their Nicky Rackard Allstar awards.
2008: Sachin Tendulkar hit an emotional 41st Test hundred as India recorded the fourth-highest chase in Test history to defeat England in Chennai, less than three weeks after the Mumbai attacks halted the tour.
2009: Mick McCarthy made 10 changes to his Wolves side for their match against Manchester United, a 3-0 defeat. In February 2010 the club were given a suspended £25,000 fine by the Premier League for fielding a weakened team.
2010: Monaghan’s Jenny Greenan was named as Ulster’s sole representation on the Ladies GAA Team of the Decade.
2013: Ballinderry defeated Kingdom Kerry Gaels 3-9 to 2-7 in the All-Ireland Club quarter-final.
2014: Ally McCoist resigned as Rangers manager and entered a 12-month notice period on the same day the club and Mike Ashley were accused of breaching several Scottish Football Association rules relating to the shareholder's dual interest in the Light Blues and Newcastle.
2015: World number three Rory McIlroy's domination of the European Tour Golfer of the Year Award continued with a third triumph in four seasons.
QUICK QUIZ
1 Which club did Leicester sign Jamie Vardy from in 2012?
2 New Tyrone chairman Mickey Kerr hails from which club?
3 Steffi Graff is married to which fellow ex-tennis player?
4 Who is the current athletics world record holder for the women's 5000m?
5 Who has the naming rights on Wicklow’s county ground in Aughrim?
(See quiz answers at bottom)
SPORT ON TV
Today (Friday, December 15)
CRICKET: Third day of the third Ashes Test from Perth, Australia v England - BT Sport 1 0200 (Sat).
SOCCER: Championship, Sheffield Wednesday v Wolves - Sky Sports Main Event 1900; Bundesliga, Borussia Monchengladbach v Hamburg - BT Sport 1 1915; Ligue 1, St Etienne v Monaco - eir Sport 1 1930; A-League, Sydney FC v Melbourne City - BT Sport 2 0845.
RUGBY UNION: European Champions Cup, Ulster v Harlequins - BT Sport 2 1900.
DARTS: World Championship - Sky Sports Main Event 2130.
GOLF: Indonesian Masters - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Golf 0600.
SNOOKER: Scottish Open - Eurosport 1 1145 and 1845.
BASKETBALL: NBA, Philadelphia 76ers v Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets v San Antonio Spurs - BT Sport 2 0000 (Sat) and 0230 (Sat).
RACING: From Cheltenham - ITV4 1330.
Tomorrow (Saturday, December 16)
CRICKET: Fourth day of the third Ashes Test from Perth, Australia v England - BT Sport 1 0200 (Sun).
SOCCER: Premier League, Leicester v Crystal Palace - Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League 1130, Manchester City v Tottenham - BT Sport 1 1700; Championship, Cardiff v Hull - Sky Sports Main Event 1715; Scottish Premiership, Aberdeen v Hibernian - BT Sport 1 1200; Serie A, Inter Milan v Udinese and Torino v Napoli - eir Sport 1 1355 and 1655; A-League, Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United followed by Central Coast Mariners v Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix - BT Sport 2 from 0630; Welsh Premier League, Cefn Druids v Bangor City - S4C 1700.
RUGBY UNION: European Champions Cup, Montpellier v Glasgow and Bath v Toulon - Sky Sports Action 1245 and 1715, Leinster v Exeter - BT Sport 2 1445, Racing 92 v Castres - Sky Sports Action, Sky Sports Main Event 1500.
DARTS: World Championship - Sky Sports Main Event 1940.
SWIMMING: European Short Course Championships from Copenhagen - Eurosport 1 1630.
SNOOKER: Scottish Open - Eurosport 1 1245 and 1845.
BOXING: WBO world middleweight title bout, Billie Joe Saunders v David Lemieux - BT Sport 2 0030 (Sun).
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: NFL, Detroit Lions v Chicago Bears - Sky Sports Action 2100, Sky Sports Main Event 2300, Kansas City Chiefs v Los Angeles Chargers - Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action 0100 (Sun).
SQUASH: AJ Bell World Championship - BT Sport 2 1730.
ICE HOCKEY: NHL, Boston Bruins v New York Rangers - eir Sport 1 2200.
RACING: From Cheltenham - ITV4 1330.
QUICK QUIZ answers: 1 Fleetwood; 2 Carrickmore; 3 Andre Agassi; 4 Tirunesh Dibaba; 5 Joule.
