There can't be very many best-selling authors who spend much of their creative life crawling around a study floor on their hands and knees. But here's Max Morgan-Witts doubled up on the carpet in the home of his co-author, Gordon Thomas, in Ashford, County Wicklow. In front of him is a massive manilla folder chock-a-block with notes, pamphlets, and photostat cuttings from the New York Times of 1929.

THERE'S a ten-minute break between innings. Ireland has declared, leaving Denmark 224 to win. While the handful of spectators (about 20) tune into the radio commentary of the big match across the water- England v. New Zealand, the groundsman and his team of assistants embark on one of those curious rituals which are so much part of the game of cricket. By Selwyn Parker

A CAR TAKES more punishhment than probably any other consumer durable.

Selwyn Parker profiles Ireland's international champion