Sport magazine issue 273

Issue 273 | September 14 2012

Toure de force

YaYa Toure on whY Man CiTY are a ChaMpions League ThreaT

MASTERS OF STYLE FACIAL HAIR FRAMES YOUR FACE AND MIRRORS YOUR PERSONALITY.

®

®

TM

Trim, Shave, Edge

with one precision tool.

w Npreoduct

Save £5 on Gillette Proglide Styler Shop online at boots.com Was £20.00 / Now £15.00. Offer end date 02/10/12. See instore for details.

Available at larger Boots stores. Subject to availability.

issue 273, september 14 2012 radar 07 Pictures of preparation Jonathan Glynn-Smith’s new exhibition shows athletes readying themselves for 2012

07

08 Boring behemoths The men who were so far ahead of the rest of the field, they made their sports pretty darn tedious

10 Pendleton speaks... ... in a format in which she cannot, we think, cry: her autobiography to do this coming week Features

Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images

26

20

62

20 Yaya Toure The Premiership’s most effective player talks European progress and domestic domination

26 Champions League We assess the 31 other sides, along with Toure’s Man City, going for glory on the continent

33 ICC World Twenty20 A look at the teams and their star men out to steal England’s T20 crown this month

36 Andy Flower The architect of the national side’s success on England’s future in international cricket

42 London 2012 Paralympics We look back at the images of another quite magnificent fortnight for sport in Britain

extra time 58 Layla Anna-Lee The voice of the Olympics opening ceremony shows her face. We’re not disappointed

60 Gadgets Point and touch with a camera that’s more like a tablet

62 Entertainment Free films on the South Bank, starting with Midnight in Paris, plus hero bicycle couriers | September 14 2012 | 03

Radar

p08 – The big dogs who made their sports boring

p10 – Get your goons grappling on NHL 13 p10 – Pendleton peddles her autobiography

Making waves I

t’s a long old road if you want to make a splash at the Olympics, particularly if your event of choice is the 50km race walk. Like a crazed teenage girl, photographer Jonathan Glynn-Smith spent 16 months before the Games following the likes of Tom Daley (above) as

they travelled that road, documenting their journeys in A Singular Eye, an exhibition of iconic portraits showing the athletes you’ve seen for months on billboards, buses and broadcasts in a unique and fascinating light.

September 14-29, Eleven gallery, SW1, elevenfineart.com Golden touch: the legs that carried Jessica Ennis to heptathlon gold

| September 14 2012 | 07

Radar

Tedious titans

Phil Taylor

Michael Schumacher

Lance Armstrong

Celtic FC

In action this weekend for the Rally of Wales, the Citroen driver has won the WRC for eight straight years, and is already 54 points ahead this time around. His rivals’ thoughts probably echo ours – what‘s the point?

The Power has dominated darts for almost two decades – his soporific roll of honour includes eight World Championships in a row between 1995 and 2002.

Impressive – if you count darts as a sport, that is.

The chinny wonder dominated Formula 1 in the mid-to-late 1990s with Ferrari, even with the FIA rather rudely changing the rules every couple of years to try and rein him in. Incredibly, has been even duller on his return than he was in his pomp.

The cycling great allegedly went to rather extreme lengths to keep the Tour de France predictable, as you may have heard. He won it seven times in succession, although it remains to be seen how legitimate those wins were.

The Bhoys make this list more in anticipation than anything else – they won the league last year and, with Rangers currently languishing third in the Third Division, they have at least three more years of guaranteed success. Yawn.

T

hey come plonked down in the midst of terraced housing, like an alien spaceship come to land, or strategically positioned for optimum access in a soulless tarmac sea. They‘ve been crammed into tiny spaces alongside great rivers, or on really quite noticeable hills – because who needs a flat pitch anyway?

We‘re talking, of course, about football grounds, because City Prints have created a range of artwork celebrating the (rapidly diminishing) diversity of British football stadia, stylised in team colours and seen from above – a view known to Match of the Day viewers as the ‘White Hart Lane camera angle‘. But can you name these six grounds?

Answers opposite, cityprintsmapart.com

08 | September 14 2012 |

Answers (l-r): Top row – Emirates, Anfield, Old Trafford; bottom row – Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane, Etihad

Sebastian Loeb

Club charts

All pictures Getty Images

Sport thrives on unpredictability, so when someone gets so good (or allegedly cheats so much) that no one else can get a look in, it can get a bit, well, boring. Here are five dull examples. Keep reading!

ONLY UNTIL

SEPTEMBER 29TH.

RECEIVE A FREE DOCKERS

®

SW

SE

SW

VISIT DOCKERS® IN HOUSE OF FRASER AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

NW

* SURVIVAL KIT! AYLESBURY BLUEWATER BELFAST CARDIFF BIRMINGHAM DUNDRUM

EDINBURGH EXETER GUILDFORD

HIGH WYCOMBE SHEPHERDS B’ WESTFIELD READING HUDDERSFIELD MANCHESTER LAKESIDE NORTHAMPTON

*IF YOU SPEND £100 ON ANY DOCKERS® PRODUCT IN HOUSE OF FRASER BETWEEN 8TH - 29TH SEPTEMBER 2012. FULL CONDITIONS IN STORE

HOUSE OF FRASER SINCE 1849

Radar

Ice men I

ce, blood and violence – no it‘s not the new series of Game of Thrones, but the latest iteration of EA‘s ice hockey franchise. A significant improvement on last year, NHL 13 is resplendent with new features, game modes and teams, including the ability to play as legends of womens‘ hockey – a first for a sports simulation.

But chief among the additions, from a playability perspective, is an updated physics engine, which now takes more account of

rather important things like player speed and momentum. No longer will your 6ft, 230lb defensive behemoth be able to charge down the ice before turning deftly on a sixpence.

The AI has also been improved – players are now more aware of the position of their teammates and opponents when attacking and defending – which, to switch sports briefly, is an upgrade Arsenal should consider getting installed for Gervinho.

NHL 13, 360 and PS3, out today

Leg before wallet ust like the wicked, we get very little rest here at Sport – not just because we stay up every night watching Family Guy repeats, either but also because we are always striving to improve the magazine.

For you, dear reader, for you.

So, on the back of a glorious rafted from the finest leather,it summer of sport, we thought this cricket ball-inspired about time we launched a wallet brand is handmade by thepanel, fine folks new readership givingover you at – New Cherry, and–will home that‘s right, you theprovide chance atoclassy have your for your coins, cards con...inwhatever say and help drive the and direction which we else you keep in your wallet.

And, unlike a take the magazine as we approach our sixth new cricket ball, it should hopefully last for birthday. more than overs.

Just don‘t try email and you Over the80 coming months, we will gouge the seam with a bottle cap. £24.99 plus p+p, newcherrywallets.com

J C

10 | September 14 2012 |

New tracks P

robably best known for bursting into tears at the slightest provocation, track cyclist Victoria Pendleton provided one of the most fascinating athlete stories in the run-up to the Olympics. Between the Lines, written in conjunction with renowned Guardian interviewer Donald McRae, offers a fascinating insight into the high-pressure life of a professional athlete, and essential reading for when she storms off the set of Strictly Come Dancing.

Between the Lines, by Victoria Pendleton with Donald McRae (Harper Sport), out today, £20

+++++

“THE BEST BRITISH ACTION MOVIE IN YEARS” XFM

++++

“UTTERLY BRILLIANT” HEYUGUYS

+++++ ZOO

RAY WINSTONE / BEN DR

ACT LIKE A CRIMINAL T

VERTIGO FILMS PRESENTS IN ASSOCI ATION WITH EMBARGO FILMS AND ENTERTAINMENT ONE A VERTIGO FILMS AND EMBARGO FILMS PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH EXPONENTIAL MEDIA RAY WINST MUSIC ORIGINAL PRODUCTION DIRECTOR OF JAMIE MACDERMOTT HAIR &DESIMAKE�GNERUP LUCY CAIN COSTUME DESIGNER ANDREW COX SUPERVISOR LOL HAMMOND MUSIC BY LORNE BALFE DESIGNER MORGAN KENNEDY PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON DENNIS EDITOR JAMES HERB WRITTEN PRODUCED

BY NICK LOVE AND JOHN HODGE BY CHRISTOPHER SIMON FELIX VOSSEN A

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

©EXPONENTIAL (SWEEN

TUNE IN @THES

IN CINEM

+++++

“YOU’D BE A MUG TO MISS IT” THE SUN

++++

“EXPLOSIVE ACTION” DAVID EDWARDS / DAILY MIRROR

++++ LOADED

REW / HAYLEY ATWELL

TO CATCH A CRIMINAL

STRONG LANGUAGE, TWICE VERY 15 CONTAINS STRONG, AND STRONG BLOODY VIOLENCE

CASTING SOUND TONE BENCO-DREW HAYLEY ATWELL ‘ T HE SWEENEY’ STEVEN MACKI N TOSH PAUL ANDERSON ALAN FORD AND DAMIAN LEWIS DIRECTOR GARY DAVY CDG RECORDIST SIMON WILLIS EXECUTIVE BERT PRODUCER CAROLINE LEVY PRODUCERS NIGEL WILLIAMS JANEDIRECTEDMOORE RAY WINSTONE MICHAEL WIGGS ANDREW MACDONALD ALLON REICH PAUL STEADMAN AL MUNTEANU ALLAN NIBLO RUPERT PRESTON JAMES RICHARDSON BY NICK LOVE

NEY) LIMITED

SWEENEYHQ

MAS NOW

Radar Editor’s letter

www.sport-magazine.co.uk @sportmaguk facebook.com/sportmagazine Free iPad app available on Newsstand

Sport magazine Part of UTV Media plc 18 Hatfields, London SE1 8DJ Telephone: 020 7959 7800 Fax: 020 7959 7942 Email: firstname.lastname@ sport-magazine.co.uk

Never hurry a Murray: it took the world number three five goes, but he got there

Well played, that man Andy Murray has finally made the major breakthrough – now let the floodgates open

A Editor-in-chief Simon Caney @simoncaney

ndy Murray's maiden Grand Slam win was only ever going to be hard-fought, nailbiting, edge-of-the-seat stuff, wasn't it?

So often we’d been there before with Murray – this was his fifth final – only to suffer with him as he agonisingly fell just short. At Wimbledon this year it looked, for a moment, as if he was going to break his duck, only for Roger Federer to spoil the party. Going two sets up on Novak Djokovic before being pegged back to 2-2, then, was probably inevitable.

A couple of years ago on this page, I was critical of Murray, who at the time seemed to be going through a particularly charmless period. Thankfully, he has come out on the other side – he now seems genuinely appreciative of his supporters and understands the demands that his sport places on him.

It’s a sport that is going through a golden period unlike any before. Just Federer and Rafa Nadal at the top of their games was good enough; Djokovic moving past them was extraordinary. Now we have another player – who, wonderfully, happens to be British – who can rightly claim a seat at the table.

It is clear that Murray has raised his game this year. His talent was never in question – he has always had the most exquisite range of shots – but now he seems mentally stronger and happier to go toe to toe with some of the best players the sport has ever seen.

Wimbledon will always bring a unique set of pressures for Murray, for obvious reasons. But now he has won one Grand Slam, a large monkey has been released from his back. More will follow, and quickly.

Inside two years, we will acclaim Andy Murray, Wimbledon champion.

The Paralympics are over and our summer of sport has come to a close (we should be hailing Murray’s win as the start of a glorious autumn of sport). Now we can look back on a slightly surreal couple of months. Everything about the Olympics and Paralympics was perfect, and those who helped deliver them – from Seb Coe to the gamesmakers directing traffic – should be, rightly, incredibly proud.

Charles van Commenee is nothing if not a man of his word. It seems incredible he is to resign as UK Athletics head coach because Team GB failed at the Olympics, but he demanded eight track-and-field medals and we won only six. To CvC that equalled failure, and so he will step down.

He demands the highest standards from everyone, including himself – yet we really need someone like him to push athletics on for Rio. Come back, Charles!

Editorial Editor-in-chief: Simon Caney (7951) Deputy editor: Tony Hodson (7954) Associate editor: Nick Harper (7897) Art editor: John Mahood (7860) Deputy art editor: William Jack (7861) Digital designer: Chris Firth (7624) Subeditor: Graham Willgoss (7431) Senior writers: Sarah Shephard (7958), Alex Reid (7915) Staff writers: Mark Coughlan (7901), Amit Katwala (7914) Picture editor: Julian Wait (7961) Production manager: Tara Dixon (7963) Contributors: Douglas Rankine Commercial Agency Sales Director: Iain Duffy (7991) Business Director (Magazine and iPad): Paul Brett (7918) Business Director: Kevin O’Byrne (7832) Advertising Manager: Steve Hare (7930) New Business Sales Executive: Hayley Robertson (7904) Distribution Manager: Sian George (7852) Distribution Assistant: Makrum Dudgeon Head of Online: Matt Davis (7825) Head of Communications: Laura Wootton (7913) Managing Director: Adam Bullock PA to Managing Director: Sophia Koulle (7826) Colour reproduction: Rival Colour Ltd Printed by: Wyndeham Group Ltd © UTV Media plc 2012 UTV Media plc takes no responsibility for the content of advertisements placed in Sport magazine £1 where sold Hearty thanks this week to: Tim Stedman, Nicky Higgs, Dave McCann, Nick Braund, Fiona Bruce at Mischief PR and Ashley O’Rourke at Synergy Sponsorship

Cover of the Year

Reader comments of the week Interesting Olympic interviews in @Sportmaguk today. Undercurrent of regret in many that they’ll never match the London Olympics experience.

@simoncaney @Sportmaguk Today’s Editorial Letter was simply awesome and spot on! #paralympics!

@zoe2307 Twitter

@Hiiino Twitter

@S4NK33 Twitter

14 | September 14 2012 |

@simoncaney couldn’t agree more with your pistorius comments. It might be the harder to swallow side of sport, but vital to its relevance.

@simoncaney You hit the nail on the head today with “Paralympics grow up”.

Finally someone talking sense about sport!

@solsey Twitter

@JacobsonMissP Twitter

LAUNCH OF THE YEAR

2008

Total Average Distribution: 305,676 Jan-Jun 2012 Don’t forget: Help keep public transport clean

and tidy for everyone by taking your copy of Sport away with you when you leave the bus or train.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Totes emosh reading @sportmaguk this morning about the Olympic gold medallists.

Amazing reliving the Olympic experience #London2012

MEDIA PARTNERS

Frozen in time

16 | September 14 2012 |

| 17

Peter Macdiarmid/AFP/GettyImages

And what better way to bring down the curtain on history’s greatest ever Olympic/ Paralympic Games than by sending the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team over the Queen’s House to rattle her glazing? Here we see those Red Arrows roaring down the Mall as part of the parade of champions, while below them the Great British public wave off the stars of both shows towards the sunset. The Games are finally up, gone but never to be forgotten. Over to you then, Rio.

This is the end...

Yaya Toure

Man City’s Mr Versatile Yaya Toure tells Sport why his side will only get better this season – and why every team needs a crazy guy port is not often mistaken for a 6ft 3ins Ivorian midfield colossus. “There’s supposed to be a professional footballer arriving,” says Alan, the old boy in charge at Styal FC’s ground in Cheshire when we arrive.

“It’s not you, is it?” he asks, looking uncertain as he wheezes on a ciggy. We confirm that it’s not us, that we’re just here to speak to said footballer, but it’s unsurprising that Alan isn’t too familiar with the Premier League’s big guns. We doubt many of them have been to Styal’s football ground or set foot inside the rudimentary changing rooms, with crisps strewn on the wooden benches and shorts in a heap in the corner.

Hardly the place you’d expect to find one of the highest-paid footballers on the planet, but Yaya Toure looks in his element after he’s ushered into the location that has been designated for his photo shoot and our interview. As we’re introduced to him, he’s concentrating more on a few impromptu keepy-uppies than on his unrefined surroundings. He then greets us by trapping the ball, patting us warmly on the back, sitting down –

s

20 | September 14 2012 |

and telling us why Manchester City will only get even better this season.

Leaders of the pack For the club with the deepest pockets in football, City’s transfer activity over the summer was a bit... “quiet?” suggests Toure, anticipating our query. Did that surprise him? “Actually no, because we have such a fantastic squad. Sometimes, with a big club, you expect them to sign big players to move things forward. But we have a young squad. I think the average age is 24 or 25 [it’s actually 25.5, but we won't quibble]. That’s a great age, because the project at City is for the long term.”

His eyes light up when talking about a topic that doesn’t exactly excite football fans: contracts. “At City, we’ve known each other for one or two years now and that’s very important, because when you work together all the time, you will only play better and better as a unit. We have stability now. The boss has signed his new contract, some of the players have done the same or will renew theirs. It’s very important to continue in this way.” ”We also have a lot of leaders in the club,” he adds, pushing against the idea that a team that has invested so much cash is always in danger of being swamped by mercenaries. He starts with a surprising example.

“Two years ago, when I arrived, it was Carlos Tevez: a fantastic man, good mentality. Of course, he had problems. People are not 100 per cent perfect – that’s normal... but Carlos Tevez has great leadership. >

| 21

Yaya Toure ”Vinnie [Vincent Kompany] is obviously another one. He’s a great player, he’s young and his commitment to this club is unbelievable.

Then we have Joe Hart, we have Gareth Barry: we have many leaders.

That’s important because, in certain situations, we need characters like that to focus the guys.”

The outside view of Manchester City is, of course, slightly different.

We put it to the rangy midfielder that many ask how such a group of big-name superstars (a more diplomatic phrase than ’gargantuan egos’, but we hope he gets our drift) can get along in harmony: Samir Nasri, Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli... Yaya covers his mouth and laughs as soon as we mention the name Balotelli, a player he is rumoured to have had half-time bust-ups with during City’s Premier League matches against Swansea and Sunderland last March.

“Every footballer is different and that’s normal, because we all come from different parts of the world,” he says. “Not everybody has the same character, and we have to understand that. You have to get some crazy guy, you have to get some good guy, and you have to get some quieter guys [all together] to make something happen, you know?

“If you look back years ago, the players were more mature because they became superstars when they were 24 – even 26 or 27. Now, guys are 20 years old and they are already big players. They are young, they have fantastic talent, and they don’t have a life like normal people.

Then, because someone does something wrong to them [on the pitch], they go crazy or react badly... it’s difficult to explain. It’s because of the pressure they are under. You have to talk to players about it and help them.”

“barcelona was different because i was playing in one position and i was not allowed to express myself. at city, i play every position” Travelling man Far from sounding like a grumbling old-timer, Toure speaks with the earnestness of someone who believes it’s partly his role to help City’s young talents. His youthful exuberance in person means it’s surprising to think that he’s now 29 years old. He made his Premier League debut aged 27, already a seasoned pro who’d played football in Belgium, Ukraine, Greece, France and finally for Barcelona in Spain, before arriving in England in 2010 for a fee of around £24m.

“Even this summer, I have to say I was very tired,” he says on his adjustment to Premier League football. “I had to sleep for one week after the season ended! It’s hard because it’s a lot of games in a short time and each one is a challenge. That’s why I say the Premier League is one of the best in the world, because the level is very, very high.”

You get the impression that Toure feels more valued in his new home than he did at Barcelona under Pep Guardiola.

“Barcelona was different because I was playing in one position, and I was not allowed to go forward to express myself. At City, I can play in every position. More forward, in midfield or sometimes closer to the defenders. That’s why I’m enjoying my football more here, because I work with a fantastic trainer like Mancini. He knows my capacity, and that’s exciting because I want to show people I can do everything.”

Toure’s versatility is his trademark. He can play in every position through the spine of a team, from central defence right through to just behind a striker. He regularly starts City matches as a holding midfielder, Mancini’s go-to tactical change being to relieve Toure of his defensive responsibilities and let this lanky destroyer go loping forward if City need to raise their attacking tempo.

“It’s a natural thing,” he says of his ease of adaptability. “You can see it all through my career. When I was in Monaco, we played a different style. Sometimes 5-4-1 and when we counter-attack, all four midfield guys got forward, but I was always right at the front, along with the striker. That’s the way I like to play. I always like to be in the box, >

22 | September 14 2012 |

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Yaya Toure

Mr Versatile Three matches that illustrate the Ivorian’s adaptability in all areas of the pitch

to accept the ball or to try to score. I love to make the fans happy, because they pay so much money to come to see us. We have to be aware of that and make it fun.”

Part of it is also that attacking is a lot more enjoyable, right? “Yes, I enjoy more attacking than defending, because that’s so difficult. If you look at Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo – if you have to defend against them...” he puffs out his cheeks and chuckles. “It’s a lot of work. I enjoy helping my teammates defend, too. But attacking is what I love.”

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images, John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images, Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images, Michael Regan/Getty Images

Big ears experience Defending against Ronaldo is, however, exactly what Toure and his team will need to do at the Bernabeu next Tuesday. The Champions League group stages begin with City having been drawn in the grandiosely titled ’Group of Champions’ alongside Real Madrid, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund. As a player who already knows what it takes to win the competition (he lifted the trophy with Barcelona in 2009), Toure is adamant that City will be a tougher proposition this season than last: “The most important thing in the Champions League is experience. You can understand last year was difficult, because it was our first year.

“If you remember, the games we played against Napoli, we lost too many goals,” he adds on the specifics of what went wrong. “You cannot do that, especially if you play at home. In the Champions League, the games at home are so important and you absolutely have to win them.

But the experience was good, because more of our players know what the Champions League is like. It’s one of the toughest competitions in the world to win, but we have such a lot of confidence after the unbelievable things that happened last season. We trust the boss and trust in one another now. This will be a very exciting year.”

That boss, we remind him before we leave, recently compared Toure to a modern-day Ruud Gullit. He shakes his head: “It’s very nice, because Ruud Gullit is a big legend in football. My manager is sometimes too good to me, because this kind of level is too much. I need to work harder. Every day, every game, every Champions League competition, you strive all the time to learn, because everywhere you play football is such a different style, you know? I’m focused on trying to read the game better, because every game is a different story, different players, and you have to deal with it. That’s the most fantastic thing about sport: you have to adapt to every game.”

If some of his younger teammates can learn as voraciously as Toure is keen to, City have the talent to do some damage in the Champions League this season. Who knows, If they can actually win Old Big Ears, maybe Styal FC’s grizzly Alan will know who he’s looking out for next time Toure is due to show up here. We wouldn’t hold our breath, mind.

Alex Reid @otheralexreid African Player of the Year Yaya Toure wears the PUMA evoSPEED iFG football boot

24 | September 14 2012 |

“i lovE To MAkE ThE FAnS hAPPY, bEcAUSE ThEY PAY So MUch MonEY To coME AnD SEE US. wE hAvE To bE AwArE oF ThAT AnD MAkE iT FUn”

Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United Barca had four defenders out for the 2009 Champions League final, resulting in Toure being picked in central defence, despite having played there just twice before for the Catalan club. Gave away a free-kick outside the box in the opening minute, but otherwise put in a solid display alongside Carlos Puyol.

Even found time for a few of his trademark bursts forward as Barcelona pushed United back and sealed their treble.

Ivory Coast 3-0 Equatorial Guinea Yaya often plays as more of a stringpulling midfield lynchpin for his country, leaving Didier Drogba, Gervinho and Max Gradel free to attack. However, with Ivory Coast 2-0 up in this 2012 Africa Cup of Nations quarter final, he stepped up to curl a peach of a free-kick from 30 yards out into the top corner. One to remember, perhaps, the next time Mario Balotelli and Aleksandar Kolarov are arguing over who should take a City dead-ball.

Newcastle 0-2 Manchester City City were deadlocked an hour into their penultimate Premier League match, a result that would hand the title advantage back to the city’s red half, when Roberto Mancini made a switch. On came a defensive midfielder (Nigel De Jong) for an attacker (Samir Nasri) in order to free Yaya from his defensive responsibilities, allowing him to push forward. Two fine finishes from the big man later, and the game was won.

Champions League

Let the games begin

Thirty-two teams kick off the Champions League group stages this week, each dreaming of picking up Old Big Ears next May. Sadly, so many can only dream...

26 | September 14 2012 |

Dynamo Kiev

Portuguese champions for the 26th time last season, the 2004 Champions League winners under Jose Mourinho exited tamely at the group stage last time round and have just lost bruising Brazilian goal threat Hulk to Zenit (and not Chelsea, in the end) for a cool €40m. Uefa rank them a generous ninth, based heavily on previous years, but they still have enough to grace the last 16.

Champions League semifinalists as recently as 1999, souped up by the goals of Andrei Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov, Dynamo are no longer the dominant force in Ukraine (see: Shakhtar). Last season they were knocked out in Champions League qualifying

by Rubin Kazan, this time they at least reached the group stage.

Ranked 31st and, put bluntly, won’t progress.

Arsenal

FC Schalke

Olympiacos

Ever-presents (this is their 15th straight season) and through the groups for the past 13 seasons, but this could be trickier. No RvP and no Alex Song (and questions remain over their replacements) – and now no genuine hope of winning the cup they got one paw on in 2006. Last 16 represents success – and that’s where it may end.

Uefa ranking of sixth reflects better days.

Semi-finalists in 2011, but had to settle for Europa League last year and staggered in third in Bundesliga, 17 points off the top. Lost Raul to Al Sadd of Saudi Arabia and signed Chinedu Obasi, Tranquillo Barnetta and Roman Neustadter - we don’t know if this is good or bad – plus signed Ibrahim Afellay on loan from Barcelona (this is good). Uefa rank them an accurate 21st – we predict an early exit.

Greek champions now chasing their seventh successive title, and the team who employ Manchester United’s former Mr Reliable Roy Carroll between their sticks.

Intimidating at home in Piraeus, far less cocksure on their travels.

Quarter-finalists in 1999, but have never gone as far since and won’t again this time.

Uefa rank them 32nd, we stick our neck out and predict last 16.

Paris SaintGermain

Dinamo Zagreb

Manchester City-lite, the latest plaything of filthy-rich Arab sheikhs. Signalled their ambition in recruiting Carlo Ancelotti and hoovering up €150m worth of talent – including Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right, for €23m), Ezequiel Lavezzi (€30m), Thiago Silva (€42m), Lucas Moura (€45m).

Officially only the second best team in France and 48th in Europe, but too rich to not reach the last 16.

Champions of Croatia’s Prva HNL for the seventh successive season, but they finished rock bottom of Group D last time, below Ajax, Lyon and Real Madrid, and utterly pointless in their first appearance since 2000. Ranked 82nd by Uefa.

Through via playoffs and promising a better showing this time, which won’t be hard. But still no progress.

Montpellier HSC

Adrian Dennis /AFP/Getty Images, Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images, Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images

GROUP A GROUP B

FC Porto

The 140th finest team in European football, beat Paris St-Germain to their first ever Ligue 1 title last season, then lost top scorer Olivier Giroud to Arsenal.

A team of players you won’t have heard of, plus John Utaka (right). Their only previous in Europe was as Intertoto Cup winners in 1999, but that was the year three teams won it, including West Ham. Gone at the groups. >

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 27

Champions League

New era Milan: Nesta, Gattuso, Inzaghi, van Bommel, Seedorf, Ibrahimovic, Cassano and Thiago Silva have all gone (they’ve moved on, not died) – replacements Acerbi, Zapata and Montolivo so far failing to impress. Many expected Kaka to return, instead they got Nigel de Jong. Ranked 12th, which is about right. Last 16.

Sine-Belo-Golubye (Blue and Whites) enter as champions of Russia, coached by the Italian Luciano Spalletti and with hopes of bettering last season’s last-16 exit to Benfica.

The signings of Hulk (right) and Benfica’s Alex Witsel, both for around €40m, suggest they’re serious. Uefa rank them 20th.

Last 16 again.

Real Madrid

Manchester City

Nine-time champions who committed tactical suicide in last year’s semis to kiss goodbye to number 10.

Champions of Spain and more formidable than last season – same team plus Luka Modric, plus a season’s more experience – though it all relies on Ronaldo finding happiness again.

Ranked fifth, but we put them top.

Winners.

Chelsea

GROUP E

Zenit St Petersburg

The somewhat improbable holders are ranked third by Uefa, which is at least two places too generous.

Likely to become a better, more adventurous unit than last season, but impossible to see a repeat performance.

Atletico Madrid showed them to be a work in progress in the Super Cup, so no further than the quarter finals.

28 | September 14 2012 |

Drawn again in the Group of Death, the English champions should have learned to be less gung-ho when it matters most – unlike in Naples last time out. A more experienced squad should have the quality to scrape through on Madrid’s coattails, even if Uefa rank them only 28th. Survive the group and they could see the semi finals.

Anderlecht

Malaga CF

Belgium’s greatest ever club side (31 titles) sneaked in via the playoffs, pushed hard by Euro heavyweights AEL Limassol.

Champions League regulars during the 2000s but confined to the wilderness since 2006-07.

Uefa rank them 41st, and we don’t expect them to change their record of having never gone past the group stages.

Gracing the group stages for the first time, but the Spaniards are a club in turmoil.

Assembled expensively to reach the Champions League, the Qatari owner seemingly lost interest before they had and sold his best players this summer to reduce the debt.

Signed Roque Santa Cruz on loan. Unranked.

Early exit.

Ajax

Borussia Dortmund

Reasserting their grip on Dutch football under coach Ronald de Boer (right), Ajax took their 31st Dutch title last season and will have an eye on the last 16 here.

Uefa’s ranking of 35th reflects the fact they’ve done nothing in this cup since the late 1990s, though, and last season’s failure to escape their group confirms a work in progress.

Out early again.

Die SchwarzGelben (the Black-Yellows) enter as German champions on the back of a domestic double, thanks largely to the goals of Robert Lewandowski and the probing of Shinji Kagawa, now of Man Utd. Older people recall they won it in 1997, but that was a blip.

Finished bottom of the group last time. Ranked 66th.

Will not progress.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Juventus

The champions of Ukraine seemed to take the step up to the Champions League in their stride, reaching the quarters in 2011. Was normal service resumed last season when they finished bottom of their group? We don’t know, clearly, but in midfielder Alan Patrick they have the least Braziliansounding Brazilian in all of Brazil.

Rank: 16. Out early.

At home, a club reborn – Juve took her 28th Scudetto under Antonio Conte, going unbeaten all season. But in Europe the Old Lady is a shadow of her former self – ranked 43rd and not past the quarters for nine seasons. Their current standing is summed up by the fact they’ve just signed misguided egomaniac Nicklas Bendtner. Last 16.

FC Nordsjaelland Finally, a club we haven’t seen here before. The Danish debutants took their first domestic title last season on the final day, ahead of the more fancied FC Copenhagen.

The ‘Danish Barcelona’ have a penchant for short, sharp passing and play with a ‘false nine’.

Ranked 172nd, they don’t have a prayer. An early exit, then. >

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images, Chris Brunskill/Getty Images, Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images

GROUP D

GROUP C

AC Milan

Champions League

If you can’t win it when the final’s in your own stadium and you’re one up with seven minutes to play against a team set up only to defend, will you ever? But FC Hollywood will be as dangerous as last season.

Last took German title in 2010 and Champions League in 2001, yet star names justify Uefa ranking of fourth.

Bare minimum: semi-finalists.

Barcelona

Benfica

New coach, but Tito Vilanova has sensibly stuck to the same deathby-a-thousandpasses blueprint.

That, though, isn’t always enough, as Chelsea proved in last season’s semi finals. It’s hard to disagree with Uefa ranking them first, but they’re still not the likeliest winners, largely on account of a soft defensive centre. Even so, semi finals at the very least.

Portuguese runners-up last season, As Aguias (The Eagles) also found time to top Man Utd’s group before narrowly going out to eventual champions Chelsea in the quarters. They’ve lost the defensive discipline of Javi Garcia to Man City and added the goals of Braga’s Lima, but that doesn’t make them stronger. Ranked 14th. Will last until it gets serious.

GROUP H

Manchester United Laughably ranked second by Uefa because of victory in 2008 and the two finals that followed. England’s second-best team exited hopelessly at the group stage last season, ousted by the mighty Basel. Less predictable with Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, they’ll go further this time but fail when the midfield is found wanting.

Last eight.

30 | September 14 2012 |

Spartak Moscow Known, for a spell, as ‘Myaso’ – meaning ‘The Meat’ (we didn’t ask why) – Spartak have been Russian champions 21 times, but not since 2001 as the power has shifted north to Zenit and south to Rubin Kazan. Never been past the quarters in the Champions League (1993-94 and 1995-96) and they won’t this time either.

Ranked 46th.

No progress.

Valencia

Lille LOSC

BATE Borisov

The glory days of 2000 and 2001 (if back-to-back final defeats can be described as such) are long gone.

Valencia have since accepted they are a selling club, with David Villa, Juan Mata and David Silva all pawned in recent seasons.

The Spanish Arsenal: third in La Liga for the past three years, no real hope of winning their league or this cup. Ranked 13. Last 16.

Ligue 1 winners in 2011, Les Dogues (The Mastiffs) finished third last time and scraped in via the playoffs.

That they were fired domestically by the goals (20) and guile (15 assists) of Eden Hazard, who has since left for Chelsea, can only temper hopes this season. Given hopes weren’t high and that Uefa rank them 59th, we suggest out at the group stage.

The defending Belarusian champions, nicknamed Zholto-Sinie (Yellow-Blues) and named after the Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics factory in which they were born.

This is their third foray into the Champions League groups stages – and they have yet to win a game. Ranked 68th. No hope.

Celtic SPL champions for the first time in four years last season (and the 43rd time in all), Celtic remain synonymous with the European Cup thanks to the Lisbon Lions of 1967. But that was then. In the Champions League, their two round-of-16 exits in 2007 and 2008 are high points, and this is their first group-stage appearance in four years. Rank: 63rd. Out: early.

SC Braga

Galatasaray

CFR Cluj

The ‘Portuguese Arsenal’ (‘the Arsenalistas’), Braga finished third in the Primiera Liga and scraped in here through the playoffs. Europa League finalists in 2011 and Intertoto winners three years earlier, but have no Champions League pedigree.

Selling top scorer Lima to Benfica won’t help their cause. Ranked 29th and falling at the first.

After a six-year hiatus, the Lions of Istanbul return as Turkish champions for the first time in four years and will be hoping to improve on their last showing – bottom of their group in 2006. Now featuring the likes of Milan Baros (right), Emmanuel Eboue and Albert Riera, making Uefa’s ranking of 60th look pretty accurate. Last 16, then home.

Romanian champions from Transylvania.

In Champions League terms, CFR aren’t very good. Their two previous appearances at this stage – in 2008-09 and 2010-11 – saw them finish bottom of their group. Sneaked in through the playoffs and will be straight back out after the groups. Ranked 101st.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images, Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images, Bulent Kilic/EuroFootball/Getty Images

GROUP G

GROUP F

Bayern Munich

Š 2011 Safe Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

ICC World Twenty20

Rule the woRld As the fourth world twenty20 begins in Sri lanka next tuesday, we assess the four opening groups – beginning with Group A, and england‘s defence of the crown they won in 2010 England An inexperienced squad, shorn of their best player in Kevin Pietersen and playing on the dusty subcontinent surfaces they tend to struggle with, England are not expected to win the World Twenty20. However, few were tipping the team two years ago either. One positive is that they have a healthy array of spinners, with Samit Patel, Danny Briggs and Graeme Swann offering options on turning pitches (even if the latter – the world‘s number one bowler in this format of the game according to the ICC rankings – has had a disappointing 12 months by his high standards).

The quick bowling is a minor concern, with Tim Bresnan and skipper Stuart Broad down on their usual pace all summer. Jade Dernbach and Steven Finn are in better form, although the latter is carrying a back niggle. At least Jonny Bairstow has started showing glimpses of his sublime batting talent, while Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and 2010 star Craig Kieswetter are all dynamic young guns capable of serious smash and dash. England should avoid the whopping banana skin that is Afghanistan and qualify for the Super Eights.

Key man Eoin Morgan (right) is most likely to fill the KP-sized hole in England‘s batting line-up. His IPL experience and unorthodox array of swashbuckling southpaw strokes will be crucial to England‘s success.

Afghanistan The recent rise of Afghan cricket is a heartwarming story, but the prospect of losing to a minnow – as they did against Holland at the start of the 2009 T20 tournament – will leave England with a feeling of cold dread. Afghanistan tend to bat with carefree abandon, often to a fault, but their bowling attack has pace and variety. Will likely struggle against two teams playing at a far higher level than they are used to.

Key man New-ball specialist Hamid Hassan (right) is

India

Credit

Tom Shaw/Getty Images, Christopher Lee/Getty Images, Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

nicknamed Rambo and will look to draw first blood as he spearheads the bowling attack.

Reigning 50-over world champions and winners of the inaugural World T20 back in 2007, India have the experience and comfort in these conditions to go all the way. A feelgood story is the selection of Yuvraj Singh – who underwent chemotherapy earlier this year – while you should feel bad for opposition bowlers having to face Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. Bowling is less strong, though spinner Harbhajan Singh has returned to form.

Key man MS Dhoni (far right) is an astute captain and the one of the coolest run-chasers in world cricket.

Fixtures Wednesday Sep 19: India v Afghanistan | Friday September 21: England v Afghanistan | Sunday September 23: England v India

Format

Top two teams from each group of three qualify for the Super Eight stage (which is split into two groups of four). The top two teams from both Super Eight groups qualify for the knockout stage: semi finals then final. | September 14 2012 | 33

ICC World

Twenty20

West Indies Possess rapid-fire scorers in Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle (top) and Marlon Samuels, plus the Windies are so amply stocked with all-rounders that their batting line-up is as long as it is potentially destructive.

Slow pitches may not suit their pace attack, but off-spinner Sunil Narine had a superb 2012 Indian Premier League. Dark horses who could do damage.

Key man Chris Gayle, the Don Bradman of Twenty20 cricket, hit 59 sixes in the 2012 IPL. The next highest individual total was 20.

Australia An intriguing mix of youth (pace bowler Mitchell Starc is a rising star at 22), old hands (Brad Hogg is 41) and an inexperienced captain in George Bailey. Hussey bros Mike and David are part of an exciting batting unit, but their bowlers could leak runs. Expect the Windies six-shooters to go after Hogg and co hard.

34 | September 14 2012 |

Key man A powerful brute with the bat and a deadly

Sri Lanka

Ireland

Ageing but still highly able batsmen such as Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and captain Mahela Jayawardene could help Sri Lanka set mammoth totals on home soil. In common with many of the favourites, their bowling is less strong, being highly reliant on mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and paceman Lasith Malinga. Should make the semi finals at the very least.

strike bowler, blonde bombshell Shane Watson (second top) is two excellent Twenty20 players in one.

Upset of England at the 2011 World Cup, as well as their win over Bangladesh at the 2009 World Twenty20, show that Ireland can always spring a limited overs surprise. Much depends on 6ft 7ins quick bowler Boyd Rankin and talented tweaker George Dockrell suppressing two potent batting line-ups. The team‘s sharp fielding will count for nothing if they‘re just watching sixes sail overhead.

Key man Ireland tend to slog with the bat, so stocky Paul Stirling (above) will need to show his class.

Fixtures Wednesday Sep 19: Australia v Ireland | Saturday September 22: Australia v West Indies | Monday September 24: Ireland v West Indies

Key man Lasith Malinga (top) has a crazy bowling action, crazier hair and is the world‘s best T20 bowler.

South Africa AB de Villiers – a mix of innovative shots and speed between the wickets – is an ideal Twenty20 batsman and he captains a balanced all-round team. Superb death bowlers (Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis – above), big hitters (JP Duminy, Albie Morkel) and a confidencebuilding summer make South Africa favourites of the non-subcontinent teams. So long as they don‘t choke.

Key man Jacques Kallis can smack boundaries,

Pakistan

Key man Big-hitting Brendon McCullum (above, left)

bowl tight overs and take spectacular catches.

But apart from all that, he‘s a pretty crap cricketer.

In superb form but always unpredictable, Pakistan have landed in the most competitive group. The spin talent of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi (top) and Mohammad Hafeez will bamboozle on Sri Lankan pitches, while the yorker machine that is Umar Gul adds to a rich bowling line-up. The batting has raw power but is often wayward and could be the team’s undoing in the latter stages.

has more international Twenty20 runs than any player and can cart even the best bowlers all over the ground.

A brittle looking and inexperienced Zimbabwe team appear on paper (and probably on pitches) unlikely to trouble their Group C rivals. They have the potential to score runs higher in the order, with opener Hamilton Masakadza and captain Brendan Taylor (above) a cut above their teammates. That 36-year-old spinner Ray Price remains key to their attack is not a good sign.

Bangladesh

reliable that it once was, but his leg spin is craftier than ever before. A big-occasion player as well.

Despite springing the odd upset, have yet to push on and prove they deserve their oft-given label of dangermen.

On conditions so similar to their home pitches, this is their best chance. Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak give them great turn options, but the Tigers have never beaten Pakistan in an international Twenty20. Opening match against the Kiwis looks key.

Key man Brendan Taylor hit 60 off 45 balls as

New Zealand

Key man The 23-year-old Tamim Iqbal (above) has

Zimbabwe upset Australia in the 2007 World Twenty20. Further heroics will be required this time.

The comeback of Daniel Vettori adds economic spin and lower-order batting class to bolster New Zealand, while Jacob Oram excelled in this year’s Sri Lankan Premier League and will also be hard to score off.

However, the Kiwis have struggled in all forms of cricket in 2012. This may be a side just past its peak.

yet to live up to his huge potential, but if this stylish left-hander can fire, the Super Eight beckons.

Fixtures Tuesday Sep 18: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe | Thursday September 20: South Africa v Zimbabwe | Saturday 22 September: Sri Lanka v South Africa

Key man Shahid Afridi’s booming batting is less

Fixtures Friday 21 Sep: Bangladesh v New Zealand | Sunday 23 September: New Zealand v Pakistan | Tuesday 25 Setember: Bangladesh v Pakistan

| 35

All pictures Getty Images

Zimbabwe

Andy Flower

36 | September 14 2012 |

sTaTe of The game england coach andy flower on how he will continue to develop the national side’s blueprint for success

RoTaTe The squad “The reason we do it is to actually elongate these players‘ careers – it‘s to help them play more cricket for England, not less.

Hopefully we‘ll find that, with the fast bowlers especially, they aren‘t burning out or injuring themselves terminally at the age of 30 or 31 – which is quite common in the recent past – and that they can go on later and longer into their careers, which will do them a lot of good.

And that will obviously do the England team good as well.

“So it‘s to preserve them physically, but also emotionally. It‘s emotionally tiring playing international cricket all the time, and people need breaks for all sorts of reasons – fast bowlers especially. You‘re under scrutiny all the time as an England cricketer, and when

you are playing all three forms of the game it is tiring. You do need to step out of the spotlight occasionally to recharge your batteries and for your body to recover.”

bRing ThRough young playeRs “The other added bonus to that rotation policy is that you give experience to other young cricketers, so you actually aren‘t making decisions reactively – as in, through injury or any other type of wearing down of the player. You‘re making decisions proactively and integrating new players into a successful unit without significantly detracting from your success.

“We believe it‘s a healthier way to grow our squad, to grow our strength, to grow our people, and it‘s a smarter way of doing it. Just to play your best XI all the time until someone snaps is a pretty dumb way of going about it, I think. Our job is to maximise the potential of our resources and, in this instance, the resources we‘re talking about are the players themselves.

“I think we have a number of really good coaches that are working in the England system at the moment. Our performance programme is excellent, led by David Parsons, and supported by people like Kevin Shine, Graham Thorpe and Peter Such. These guys are all very good operators, then there‘s Bruce French, who does the wicketkeepers.

They are helping these young cricketers get ready for international cricket, and the growing of the pool of players is vitally important to us having a very strong elite.

“From my experience in Zimbabwe, we‘re very lucky here because we‘ve got a very wide base of cricketers to choose from, and that ensures a nice solid platform from which to work. Structure is all important in building that solid base. Part of that structure is exciting young cricketers to play, and also part of that is giving them guidelines along which to work and ensure that they are learning as quickly as possible – that they are becoming good strong packages when they get into first-class cricket.

“It is possible that Twenty20 is dangerous to young players‘ development as Test cricketers, but it doesn‘t have to be that way.

I like that the spin-off of Twenty20 cricket is that, with young batsmen these days, one of the first things they‘re learning is how to hit the ball. Whereas in days gone by, some of the first things they might be learning would be how to defend the ball or leave the ball. And I think it‘s a much more exciting and fun game when you‘re picking up your bat nice and high to strike the ball four or six. I also think that‘s the best way of learning, because that‘s exciting for the cricketer and then as he gets older and wiser and works with a few coaches and players who know what they‘re talking > Tom Shaw/Getty Images

T

he lasT monTh has been a biT of a blip in a largely successful era for the English cricket team. Since he took over the role of head coach in 2009, Andy Flower‘s stewardship had seen the team rise to the top of the Test rankings (at least until recently) with seven home series wins, put together a string of one-day successes and win the Twenty20 World Cup back in 2010.

Yes, KP-gate and Andrew Strauss‘ departure as captain have rocked the boat at an inopportune moment, but these events shouldn‘t take the shine off England‘s long-term improvement. We spoke to Flower before things started to unravel, but – if our meeting is anything to go by – the current storm surrounding the England team is nothing more than a temporary blip. With business-like efficiency and attention to detail, he can rebuild them. Here‘s how.

“iT’s possible ThaT T20 is dangeRous To young playeRs’ developmenT as TesT cRickeTeRs, buT iT doesn’T have To be” | 37

Andy Flower

“moSt playerS reGard teSt cricket aS beinG the pinnacle of the Game, and the one they value hiGheSt in their liSt of achievementS. it GiveS them moSt pride and SatiSfaction in their careerS”

Get the balance riGht “I think we‘ve all seen the effect of Twenty20, without a doubt. The Test game is certainly played in a more attacking fashion by the batsmen. I‘m not sure if this would be backed up statistically, but there do seem to be less draws in Test cricket nowadays. Everyone‘s playing a fairly attacking brand of cricket, which is great for the game.

“I think it has helped sell the game, and it‘s helped take the game to a different audience, with attention spans getting shorter and the advent of all sorts of different things to interest young people. I think the shorter package has been a good innovation. I think the responsibility that the people governing world cricket and cricket in this country have to accept is that they have to get the balance right between how much importance we place on T20 cricket in relation to the other two forms of the game. I personally believe there‘s space for all three forms of the game, but wise decisions have to be made about how to get the balance of the number of games right and the structure of the world game right.

“I think players, most players, regard Test cricket as being the pinnacle of the game, and the one they value highest in their list of achievements. If they can dominate Test cricket or do well in Test cricket, I think that would give them most pride and satisfaction in their careers. But certainly there is a danger – well, I don‘t know if it‘s a danger – but we are yet to see how the Twenty20 effect is going to pan out. Will there become more specialist Twenty20 cricketers who travel around the world playing in all these T20 tournaments? I would imagine yes, there will be. And that is why, again, going back to structure, it‘s very important that the ICC makes wise decisions about how the IPL

38 | September 14 2012 |

exists in harmony with the international fixture list, and doesn‘t detract from it.”

Sort out the domeStic Game “Sorting out the English domestic structure is quite a complex situation. A number of people have tried it in the fairly recent past, but over time – and it is not an easy one to come up with a solution that satisfies even the minority. That is not my area of expertise.

My responsibility is to manage the national side. I think it‘s very easy to trot out platitudes or snap opinions on what should happen in English domestic cricket and how it should be structured – but when given the actual responsibility to find a solution and make decisions, I think it‘s a very tricky thing. I don‘t want to be one of those who tosses out an opinion willy-nilly.”

Set lonG-term GoalS “The 2015 World Cup is a very important part of the English Cricket Board strategy and a very real target for us. Prioritising one-day cricket has been important. It is quite difficult trying to prioritise all three forms of the game. I think in the hierarchy of importance, the Ashes is always up there at the top, so it‘s very satisfying that we‘ve won the last two Ashes series. But the 2015 World Cup is a very serious target for us, and hopefully people are seeing some of the results from the effort players are putting into training, from the focus they‘re putting into the actual series that we play. And, come the 2015 World Cup, hopefully we‘re in an even stronger position than we are right at this moment.

There‘s a lot of room for improvement.

We have had a very good run in one-day international cricket just recently, but all of us know that there‘s a lot of room for improvement – and the fact that 2015 is a little way away gives us a little bit of space to gain that.”

Andy Flower was speaking to Amit Katwala. The Sky Sports ECB Coach Education Programme aims to attract and train coaches at all levels of cricket in England and Wales. Visit ecb.co.uk/development/ coach-education

briGht younG thinGS three young english stars who could make a name for themselves at the icc World twenty20

alex haleS The 23-year-old caught the eye with a classy 99 against the West Indies and has impressed for Nottinghamshire this year.

Jonny bairStoW The wicketkeeper-batsman ably filled Kevin Pietersen‘s pads in the final Test against South Africa, hitting 95 in tough conditions.

danny briGGS Slow left-armer could flourish with England expected to turn to spin on Sri Lanka‘s dusty pitches. Welcome support for Graeme Swann.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Chris Lobina/BSkyB, Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images, Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images, Gareth Copley/Getty Images

about, or the game itself makes it necessary for him to find the balance between attack and defence, he can pare down his technique.

I think that‘s a better way to go about teaching a young batsman how to play.

So I think there are great spin-offs from Twenty20 cricket.”

Dan Hardy

The homecomin UFC brings its noise to Nottingham later this month, with local boy Dan Hardy facing Amir Sadollah.

Someone, ‘The Outlaw’ tells Sport, is gonna get hurt Last time we spoke, you’d just beaten Duane ’Bang’ Ludwig in UFC 146 to end a four-fight losing streak. You said you were off to a monastery to find yourself, or something...

“No, not quite. I went off to a jungle retreat in Peru for a couple of weeks, just to recover and refocus.“ Did it work? Are you feeling refocused now?

“It did work and I am, yeah. I feel very good and very ready for Nottingham.“ Does fighting back in your hometown mean as much as people assume it must?

“It does actually, yeah. It means a lot to be able to go home and show the people I know and the people who’ve followed my career what I can do and where I’m at right now.

To be honest, I never thought the UFC would come to Nottingham, because the arenas aren’t quite as big as UFC arenas usually are.

So the fact we’re going there was surprising, but in the best way possible. The fact I can walk from my apartment to the arena and I can sleep in my own bed the night before the fight... they’re just little things, but they genuinely do make a positive difference when you’re preparing. It takes a lot of the pressure and the stress away.“ Is it fair to say the location makes precisely no difference once the bell tolls?

“Yeah, it doesn’t make any difference at all.

Before and afterwards I’ll drink it all in, but once the bell tolls it’s just about what happens inside the octagon and I could be anywhere in the world. When it starts, I’ll be in fight mode – with a one-track mind.

I close out the noise and I’ll be entirely focused on what’s happening inside that octagon for the next five minutes.

If I’m not, I’ll lose.“

HArDy

54% striking

Right, the key question. How will it end against Sadollah?

“I’ll knock him out.“ Definitely? He looks pretty, erm, rugged.

“Amir Sadollah is a tough guy, very durable.

He likes to stand and trade [punches], but if he does that then I’ll knock him out. Because of my background as a striker, I always see my fights ending the same way – and I don’t see any reason why this will be any different.“ And if he takes it to the floor?

“If he does that, I’ll either beat him up or get the submission. Where the fight ends is up to him. How it ends I will dictate, because I’m a little bit quicker, a little bit more experienced and I have a few more things in my favour.“ Have you looked any further ahead than this fight, or do you abide by the old football cliché of taking one game at a time?

“It’s a boring answer, but you can’t afford to look beyond your fight because you start losing focus on the fight and that’s dangerous. I’m focused on this fight. After that, who knows?“ Finally, a prediction. A KO, but when?

“I’m thinking early second. First round I’ll get a feel for my shots and wear him down a bit.

Then, early second, I’ll end it.“ The UFC returns to the UK at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham on September 29.

Tickets are available from ufc.com

how each fighter has finished his bouts 30% submissions

16% takedowns

SADollAH

Armed and dangerous:

Is there any danger the emotion of the occasion could affect your focus?

“No, I think if anything it will actually sharpen my focus and make me more aware of why I’m there. I know that the next few minutes will be remembered forever – that focuses the mind.“

74% striking

13% submissions

13% takedowns

Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

ng

| September 14 2012 | 41

London 2012 Paralympics

Richard the lionheart Anyone witnessing Richard Whitehead’s remarkable last-to-first victory (from a standing start) in the men’s T42 200m, followed by the two-gun salute he gave to mark the occasion, was left in no doubt about two things. One, that the athletes competing at the London 2012 Paralympics were, without exception, a very special breed; and two, that this was a sporting occasion full of as much passion and drama as the Olympics themselves. Over the next four pages, we take a pictorial look back at a truly fabulous Paralympic Games.

42 | September 14 2012 |

A helping arm Laroslav Semenenko of Ukraine prepares to go in the heats of the men’s S6 100m backstroke, held in his starting position by a member of he Ukrainian support team. The dedication of such individuals, as well as the athletes themselves, was very much a feature of these Paralympics.

Superhero

Back on track

Russian swimmer Rustam Nurmukhametov looking like a cross between Daredevil and Batman as he prepares for the S11 freestyle heats on August 31.

Former F1 racer Alex Zanardi, who lost both legs in a crash in 2001, celebrates winning cycling gold in the men’s H4 time trial at Brands Hatch last Wednesday. > Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 43

All pictures Getty Images

Good evening, Ma’am

London 2012 Paralympics

Pain and glory Nothing sums up the Olympics better than this selection of images of winners and losers. Four years of training have gone into these emotions...

Ups and downs Brazil’s Yohansson Nascimento celebrates winning silver in the men’s T46 400m last Tuesday by doing something we couldn’t do with 100 limbs. Two days later (below), injury costs him his chance of a medal in the T46 100m.

All pictures Getty Images

Face of the Games Day eight, and the now familiar sight of Britain’s David Weir roaring as he crosses the line to claim victory in the men’s T54 800m – the third of his four gold medals at London 2012, making him the outstanding athlete at these Paralympics. The 33-year-old, already an MBE, can expect further honours very soon. >

For an exclusive interview with David Weir, not to mention a whole host of Team GB’s Paralympic heroes from London 2012, keep an eye out for Sport on Friday October 5 44 | September 14 2012 |

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

London 2012 Paralympics Scrap metal

The happy couple

Fun in the sun

Brazil’s Terezinha Guilhermina wins gold in the women’s T11 100m – along with her guide Guilherme Soares, who looks moderately pleased with the result.

A packed Riverbank Arena looks on as Argentina play Iran in the five-a-side football. Blue sky, enthusiastic crowd, great sport: London 2012 in a nutshell.

22 | August 10 2012 | 46

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

All pictures Getty Images

Proof that the gentle art of wheelchair rugby is anything but, as a member of the Swedish national team pauses during his country’s (often literal) clash with Belgium last Wednesday. The sport was one of the big hits (see what we’re doing here?) of the Games.

7 Days OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

SEP HIGHLIGHTS 14-SEP 20 » Football: Premier League » p50 »Cycling: UCI Road World Championships » p52 » Rugby Union: Bath v Northampton » p52 » Horse Racing: Ladbrokes St Leger » p54 » Cricket: CB 40 Final: Hants v Warks » p55

thursday > GOLF | THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP | EAST LAKE, ATLANTA | SKY SPORTS 2 6PM

The $10m man? anything to go by, he’ll be there for a long time yet. Three wins in four tournaments – including a major championship – indicate that the young Northern Irishman is some way clear of everyone else in the world right now, and he can cap a remarkable spell of play by scooping the $10m FedEx Cup pot next weekend.

The climax of the FedEx series comes at the Tour Championship, held at its traditional venue of East Lake in Georgia. Although (bizarrely) the points from the season-long series will now be reset and any of the 30-man field have a mathematical chance of catching McIlroy, he is so much better than the rest at the moment that he is a red-hot favourite to win and land that $10m prize.

48 | September 14 2012 |

There’s also $3m up for grabs for second place in the points standings, just in case it goes horribly wrong.

As Tiger Woods said last week, after McIlroy switched on the afterburners in the fourth round of the BMW Championship to win by two from Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson (with Woods in fourth): “Rory’s putting on a show out there.” It is not in Tiger’s DNA to heap much praise – if any – on his rivals, but even he can recognise that he’s playing somewhere near his best again now. And that, crucially, it’s not good enough.

McIlroy himself was, as ever, modest about his recent achievements. “I’m on quite a little run right now and I’m trying to keep that going as long as possible,” he said.

It won’t be easy to win at East Lake – although the FedEx Cup has now been

whittled down to a field of 30, they are the 30 best players on the PGA Tour this year, and the rewards are exorbitant (not all of the $10m comes in a wheelbarrow – some gets invested into pension funds). This is the first season that McIlroy has devoted so much time to the PGA Tour, so it’s his first visit to this course, a place where experience often seems to play a part (among recent winners are Woods, Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen).

But such is the youngster’s command of his swing right now that it would be foolhardy in the extreme to bet against him. Chances are he’ll win the tournament and warm up very nicely for the Ryder Cup the following week (it begins two weeks from today).

Pity the hapless golfer who has to play against him in that...

263 The record low 72-hole total at the Tour Championship, set by the unlikely figure of Bart Bryant in 2005. Tiger Woods was second, a distant six shots behind.

Warren Little/Getty Images

Rory McIlroy has returned to the world number-one spot and, if recent results are

Rules of

Rule

a. Strokeplay The player who takes the least number of strokes shall be crowned “London’s Best Golfer 2012”. In addition to rejoicing in this title, the player will be awarded rounds at Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill, flights and accommodation included, for them and a playing partner.

Rule

b. Stroke of Luck The player who is randomly chosen in the free prize draw (see Rule 83: Rub of Green) shall be crowned “London’s Luckiest Golfer 2012”. In addition to rejoicing in this title, the player will be awarded rounds at Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill, flights and accommodation included, for them and a playing partner.

Card one of the 24 lowest scores at Pebble Beach on one of Urban Golf’s revolutionary, state-of-the-art aboutGolf™ simulators (the ones that World Number One, Luke Donald, practices on) and you will be in with a shot for the title of “London’s Best Golfer 2012”. And the chance to prove it on three of the greatest courses on earth. Everyone who enters will also be entered for the free prize draw so even if you don’t win you could still win. To enter, and for competition rules, go to www.urbangolf.com/londonsbestgolfer or speak to the club secretary next time you play at one of our three clubs - the Kensington National, Royal Smithfield, or the Soho Golf & Country Club.

7 Days

Premier League

Saturday sunderland v liverpool stadium of light | espn 5.30pm

After a week off, the Premier League returns with a full round of fixtures – including the meeting of some old pals Saturday qpr v chelsea | loftus road | 3pm

If there is one thing a badly out-of-form goalkeeper wouldn’t want for his next game, it must surely be a visit to the scene of his most embarrassing moment. Such is the prospect facing Liverpool’s Pepe Reina (above), though, whose trip to the Stadium of Light for the live ESPN game tomorrow evening brings back memories of the day, now almost three years ago, when he was beaten by a deflection off a beach ball.

Now 30, the Spaniard is (not) enjoying the worst spell of an otherwise auspicious seven-year career at Anfield. Mistakes against Man City and Arsenal have contributed to his club’s most dismal start to a season for a generation – another error against Martin O’Neill’s unbeaten Sunderland tomorrow, and his place could (unthinkably) be under serious threat.

Feeling blue

Sunday reading v tottenham madejski stadium | sky sports 1 4pm

To shake or not to shake – that is the question facing Anton Ferdinand ahead of tomorrow’s fondly anticipated west London derby at Loftus Road, when Chelsea roll into town with two of the Ferdinand family’s best mates – John Terry and Ashley Cole – both looking to return from recent injury layoffs.

In truth, it’s a question the majority of us already know the answer to. Ferdinand gave Terry the old Wayne Bridge treatment the last time Chelsea visited Loftus Road, for an FA Cup tie the Blues won 1-0 back in January; and, despite the Chelsea skipper being found not guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July, there’s no reason to believe the alleged victim’s feelings towards him have softened.

Cole, hoping to be back in action after missing both of England’s World Cup qualifiers with an ankle injury, can also expect the cold shoulder after appearing as a character witness for Terry during the trial.

On the pitch (we got there in the end), it’s pretty much a case of top against bottom.

50 | September 14 2012 |

Chelsea have started the new league season in excellent form, and will welcome a return to domestic action after taking an absolute tonking at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the largely meaningless European Super Cup a fortnight ago.

Roberto di Matteo will expect his team to maintain the division’s sole remaining 100 per cent record against a QPR side that continues to resemble a bunch of individuals who barely know each other. For one of Mark Hughes’ plethora of new signings, Portuguese defender Jose Bosingwa, this game represents a chance for him to spoil his old teammates’ party – something he hasn’t done since the night of the Champions League final.

58.3

Percentage possession enjoyed by Chelsea in their nine-man, 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road last October – more than the 56.7 per cent they enjoyed when winning 6-1 in the return fixture in April

Twenty-five days. That is how long Reading have had to wait for a return to Premier League action since going down 4-2 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in late August. It would have been a long enough wait at the best of times for manager Brian McDermott and his squad – but as they remain one of nine teams still looking for a first league win of the season, it’s a wait that will not have been overly welcome.

Visitors Spurs aren’t faring much better, of course, with Andre VillasBoas continuing to do a decent impersonation of a man unsure of what he’s doing at White Hart Lane; fail to win a game that sees Gylfi Sigurdsson (above) return to a ground on which he starred for the Royals in 2009-10, and the knives could come out a little further.

A third straight Saturday lunchtime kick-off for West Ham, who bounced back from defeat at Swansea to see off Fulham at Upton Park a fortnight ago.

The Hammers will be without injured battering ram Andy Carroll for this one, however, with Carlton Cole (above) expected to return to Sam Allardyce’s starting line-up. Norwich, still looking for a first league win, should start with their own big man Grant Holt up top.

saturday MAN UTD v WIGAN OLD TRAFFORD | 3pM

In 14 Premier League meetings between these two clubs, Manchester United have won 13 and scored 42 goals to Wigan’s five. But the last one, back in April, saw Shaun Maloney (above) score the goal that gave Wigan the 1-0 win that many believe eventually cost United the title. Far be it from us to suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson will want some form of vengeance here.

But he will, won’t he?

saturday ARSENAL v SOUTHAMpTON EMIRATES STADIUM | 3pM

saturday ASTON VILLA v SWANSEA VILLA pARK | 3pM

saturday FULHAM v WEST BROM CRAVEN COTTAGE | 3pM

A Southampton team still looking for their first points of the season travel to face an Arsenal side yet to concede a Premier League goal. On paper, this doesn’t look like anything other than a home win – that Southampton old boys Theo Walcott and Alex OxladeChamberlain (above) could both be involved against the club that nurtured them will provide no solace at all to Saints manager Nigel Adkins.

Michael Laudrup takes his peerless barnet and in-form team to face an Aston Villa side still searching for a first three points of the new campaign. Paul Lambert could call upon the services of new £7m striker Christian Benteke, who arrives on the back of some heartwarming carjacking allegations in his native Belgium – so it might be that the Scot starts with Darren Bent (above) up front instead.

A welcome return to Craven Cottage for Martin Jol and his men, who battered Norwich there on the opening day but have since lost three in a row away from home. They won’t find unbeaten West Brom an easy nut to crack, however – Steve Clarke’s side were excellent in defeating Everton two weeks ago and in Shane Long (above) boast one of the Premier League’s in-form hitmen.

saturday STOKE v MAN CITY BRITANNIA STADIUM | 3pM

Manchester City may be the champions, but that means a fat lot of nothing when facing a Tony Pulis side at the Britannia.

The visitors have yet to win from four Premier League appearances there, this week’s cover star Yaya Toure grabbing a late equaliser after Peter Crouch (above) had opened the scoring with a belter in March. Elsewhere, expect Michael Owen to start on the Stoke bench. And most likely stay there.

MOnday EVERTON v NEWCASTLE GOODISON pARK | SS1 8pM

Just when Everton were starting to look and feel good, they contrived to lose at West Brom and then had the morale boost of early-season star man Marouane Fellaini (above) telling a Belgian rag he didn’t plan on hanging around for much longer. This Monday night fixture gives them a chance to get back on track against a Newcastle side lacking a bit of momentum themselves – draw written all over it.

Premier League table 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

P Chelsea 3 Swansea 3 West Brom 3 Man City 3 Man Utd 3 Everton 3 West Ham 3 Arsenal 3 Wigan 3 Newcastle 3 Fulham 3 Stoke 3 Sunderland 2 Tottenham 3 Norwich 3 Reading 2 Aston Villa 3 Liverpool 3 QPR 3 Southampton 3

W 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

19

D 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0

L F A Pts 0 8 2 9 0 10 2 7 0 6 1 7 0 8 5 7 1 6 5 6 1 4 3 6 1 4 3 6 0 2 0 5 1 4 4 4 1 3 4 4 2 7 6 3 0 3 3 3 0 2 2 2 1 3 4 2 1 2 7 2 1 3 5 1 2 2 5 1 2 2 7 1 2 2 9 1 3 4 8 0

Shots on target against Southampton in their opening three games – more than any other side, helping to explain why they’re bottom

| 51

All pictures Getty Images

saturday NORWICH v WEST HAM CARROW ROAD | SS2 12.45pM

7 Days SATURDAY ATHLETICS | GREAT NORTH CITY GAMES | NEWCASTLE | BBC ONE 1PM

Farah’s Great finale He’s been responsible for two gold medals and two babies this summer (okay, he’s only half responsible for the babies), so it came as little surprise when Mo Farah removed himself from Sunday’s Great North Run (BBC One, 9.30am) in Newcastle.

“The last few weeks have taken their toll and it would be disrespectful to take on the distance without the necessary hard training,”

SUNDAY > CYCLING | UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS | LIMBURG, HOLLAND BRITISH EUROSPORT 1.30PM

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images, David Rogers/Getty Images

GB rides again Last year’s UCI Road World Championships in Denmark were an unmitigated success for Great Britain. Not only did Mark Cavendish ride off with the prestigious Rainbow Jersey, but Lucy Garner took gold in the junior women’s road race. With two silver medals and two bronze medals elsewhere, Britain’s cyclists topped the medal table.

One year on, and a far tougher course awaits in Holland. The championships’ format has also changed. Spread over nine days, as opposed to the usual five, more junior events have been added as well as a team time trial, which will feature trade teams competing rather than national sides.

This new addition kicks off proceedings on Sunday before the individual time trials (TT) follow next week (the road racing doesn’t begin until Friday September 21). With Bradley Wiggins sitting this one out, Chris Froome (right) is likely to take on the TT for GB. 52 | September 14 2012 |

said the double gold-medallist, who will instead take part in a special invitational two-mile event on Saturday before acting as honorary starter for the famous half-marathon.

The Great North City Games sees some of GB’s best athletes going head to head against their US rivals, including Olympic long jump champ Greg Rutherford and fellow Team GB stars Andrew Osagie (one mile), Lawrence Clarke (110m hurdles), Dwain Chambers (100m) and Holly Bleasdale (pole vault).

Saturday’s race is Farah’s final outing of the season and his last chance to pull out the Mobot before it goes into winter hibernation. Expect to see it on show once or twice, then. Maybe.

FRiDAY RUGBY UNION | AvIvA PREMIERSHIP: BATH v NORTHAMPTON | THE REC | ESPN 7.45PM

The Saints are coming Week three of the Aviva Premiership, and the table is starting to take an all too predictable shape already, with Harlequins, Leicester and Saracens atop the pile, and London Welsh, London Irish and Worcester struggling. The two sides taking the field tonight, meanwhile, might have started the season with very different expectations, but 160 minutes later they’re unbeaten and keen to make it three in a row.

Turnaround time might be an issue for Northampton, having played on Sunday, but the manner of their victory over Exeter – in which Dylan Hartley (right) and his men eked out a bonus point on the back of a whirlwind start – will have pleased Jim Mallinder, with the absence of Chris Ashton barely felt thanks to the power of the forwards.

For Bath, the boot of Olly Barkley has kept them ticking over. Kyle Eastmond’s try against Wasps, where he beat seven players, will have The Rec faithful excited, but tonight could prove to be a far more attritional encounter.

7 Days Saturday Horse racing | Ladbrokes st Leger stakes | doncaster | cHanneL 4 & at tHe races 3.40pm

The legend of Camelot It is 42 years since Nijinsky became the last horse to complete the Triple Crown of racing in England, following wins in the 2,000 Guineas and Derby with an historic canter to victory in the St Leger. Such is the unfashionable status of the latter, the fifth and final classic of the domestic flat season, that few realistically thought Nijinsky’s feat would ever be repeated – and yet, on Doncaster’s Town Moor course tomorrow afternoon, Camelot will attempt to do just that.

The questionable strength in depth of this year’s classic generation, combined with the heroics of the legendary Frankel elsewhere, means that Camelot

hasn’t quite received the credit he deserves for winning two classics (three if you count the Irish Derby) and retaining his unbeaten record during his three-year-old campaign. But the talented colt, trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien and ridden in all five of his races by the trainer’s ice-cool 19-year-old son Joseph, has a chance to join the ranks of the racing immortals tomorrow – and he’s a very warm favourite to do it.

He does have more questions to answer than his likely starting odds of around 1/3 would suggest, however. Can a horse quick enough to win the 2,000 Guineas over a mile in May have developed enough

stamina to claim victory over a distance almost twice as long (a mile and three quarters) in September? Camelot has the pedigree to suggest he can, and he wasn’t stopping when hosing up in the Derby (a mile and a half) in June. But tomorrow he will be facing strong staying horses for whom the St Leger has been a target all year; and two of those, Michelangelo and recent trial winner Thought Worthy, represent trainer John Gosden, who has won this race three times in the past five years. If there are any chinks in Camelot’s armour, Gosden and his excellent stable jockey William Buick must surely be the knights most likely to find them.

Sport Promotion

Hunt for London’s best golfer A re you the best golfer in London?

Or – more to the point – do you think you are? Sport has teamed up with Urban Golf to find that very person and, if you’re indeed as good as you think, you could win an amazing trip of a lifetime to play Pebble Beach in California.

Urban Golf has three state-of-the-art venues in London – Soho Golf and Country Club, Kensington National and Royal Smithfield – with simulators that are as

54 | September 14 2012 |

good as anything in the world (the Pebble Beach sim is pictured above).

Entering couldn’t be simpler – just go into one of the three locations, inform the manager you want to enter, and you’ll get a registration form before you play.

You can see up-to-date leaderboards at www.urbangolf.co.uk, and we’ll bring you the latest top scores in Sport too. This is a scratch tournament with no handicaps, so we really are trying to find the best player

in London – but even if you don’t win, you will be entered into a prize draw and could still win a trip to Pebble Beach!

The final will be held on Wednesday, October 24, when the top 24 players on the leaderboard will compete in a shoot-out. They will be whittled down to a final three, who will fight it out to see who gets the dream trip.

So what are you waiting for, golfers? www.urbangolf.co.uk/compete

BESt OF tHE rESt

FRIDAY

CriCket lV=County Championship: day 4, derbyshire v Hampshire, County Ground,sky sports110.30am GolF Women’s British open: day 2, royal liverpool Club, Hoylake, BBC two 1pm rUGBy leaGUe super league playoffs: Wigan Warriors v Catalans dragons, dW stadium, sky sports 2 7.30pm

At the double County champions Warwickshire will have been rubbing their bearish paws in delight when England’s World Twenty20 squad was named. The absence of Ian Bell, Chris Woakes or indeed any of their players means they can pick a supremely strong batting line-up this Saturday, even with Jonathan Trott out injured. With England hopeful Varun Chopra in top form and the tail of a Diplodocus, Warwickshire will start this domestic 40-over final as the slight favourites.

Hampshire are gunning for a double of their own, however, and the limited-overs

FootBall Championship: Charlton v Crystal palace, the Valley, sky sports 1 7.45pm

specialists showed in their Friends Life T20 victory that underdog status suits them very nicely. Missing Danny Briggs on England T20 duty leaves a hole in their attack, so much could depend on Dimitri Mascarenhas patching up his battle-worn body enough to restrict Warwickshire’s batsmen. Hampshire’s danger man with the willow is hard-hitting opener Michael Carberry (above), who plundered 68 runs from just 36 balls against Sussex in the semis (including five sixes and eight fours).

The lefty will score fast for as long as he’s in.

SATURDAY rUGBy Union rugby Championship: new Zealand v south africa, Forsyth Barr stadium, sky sports 1 8am rUGBy Union rugby Championship: australia v argentina, skilled park, Gold Coast, sky sports 3 11am FootBall la liga: sevilla v real madrid, estadio ramón sánchez pizjuán, sky sports 4 9pm

SUNDAY moto Gp round 13: san marino Grand prix, misano adriatico Circuit, British eurosport 4pm nFl Carolina panthers v new orleans saints, Bank of america stadium, Charlotte, sky sports 3 5.30pm FootBall la liga: atletico madrid v rayo Vallecano, Vicente Calderon, sky sports 1 9pm nFl st louis rams v Washington redskins, edward Jones dome, sky sports 3 9.15pm

MONDAY snooker shanghai masters: day 1, shanghai Grand stage, China, British eurosport 2 Hd 7.30am CriCket t20 Warm Up: india v pakistan, r.premadasa stadium, Colombo, sky sports 2 9.25pm Steve Bardens/Getty Images

Saturday CriCket | Clydesdale Bank 40 Final: HampsHire v WarWiCksHire | lord’s | sky sports 1 11.30am

THURSDAY FootBall europa league: maritimo v newcastle, estadio dos Barreiros, madeira, espn 5.30pm

IGMARKETS.COM CFDs | SPREAD BETTING | FX

| 55

P60 The Samsung Galaxy Camera: a lot sleeker and smarter than you are, probably

Extra time Kit

Making the most of your time and money

Beastly bats A kookaburra, a puma, a mongoose and a panther will all but guarantee you’re not out for a duck. If they fail, get your Gunn

Gunn & Moore Luna 202 Do you spend as much time asking for ‘middle stump’ as you do successfully fending off deliveries? Well, thanks to Toetek protection that reduces toe damage and swelling on your bat, this is the big hitter for you.

At least it lets you mark your guard – and it’s a bargain too. £25 | sportsdirect.com

56 | September 14 2012 |

Kookaburra Kahuna Doom Designed for power and precision – you can’t really ask for much more than that from a bat – the Doom also features an Octopus grip for exceptional handling. At this price we’ll be happy if it doesn’t fall apart after one hit, to be honest. £15 | sportsdirect.com

Puma Cobalt 5000 Puma’s new number really catches the eye, and it combines looks with power. The bulk of the power is higher up the blade, so this is the bat for you if you’re a true slogger. Even if you’re planning to swing at every ball, it’ll work just as well – connect and watch it fly. £190 | prodirectcricket.com

Mongoose Mmi3 Super Premium Combining a shorter blade with a longer handle, the Mmi3 Super Premium offers 20 per cent more power than a conventional bat, and was designed solely with the shorter game in mind.

Expect to see a lot of this bad boy at the ICC World Twenty20. £195 | prodirectcricket.com

Slazenger V360 Elite Eoin Morgan’s bat of choice offers a high middle and a larger sweet spot, which enables better manoeuvrability and allows the batsman to adapt to different deliveries. Fingers crossed it also means six after six for the English Irishman in Sri Lanka over the coming weeks. £150 | slazenger.com

Extra time Layla Anna-Lee

Rio grand een wondering who that chirpy-chirpy multilingual voice behind the announcements at the Olympics opening ceremony belonged to?

Because that’s exactly what we’ve been doing here at Sport Towers. We’re productive like that, see.

But not even our febrile imaginations could have figured that voice would belong to this girl. Meet Layla Anna-Lee – who is actually fluent in four languages: to English and French, add Portuguese and Spanish.

Danny Boyle required just the two, however (and French came first to avoid the crowd clapping over each announcement, since you ask), and picked Anna-Lee for the job personally.

“It was absolutely incredible – I’m so proud,” she says of her Olympic oration. “Also, because I’m half Brazilian and we’re passing over to Brazil, that was quite emotional. It still hasn’t sunk in that I’ve done it.

“I had the best seat in the house – right next to the Queen’s resting room and Seb Coe. We had this awesome room and it would tremor as 80,000 people were cheering to the Queen apparently jumping out of a helicopter with a parachute.”

Anna-Lee also hosted the women’s beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade – which, she tells Sport, is ”possibly the sexiest event anyone could ever host”.

Like we needed persuading.

For anyone not fortunate enough to have bagged Olympic tickets, Anna-Lee is also available on your computer monitors, through which you can see her present her regular show taking a tongue-in-cheek look at the football world on Goal.com’s website.

Beyond that, with Brazil next to host the Greatest Show on Earth, does Anna-Lee have one eye on Rio 2016?

“Hell yeah!” she jumps in. “My first eyes are on the World Cup in 2014, though. My first language is Portuguese, so that’s something I want to get involved with as much as possible – and mostly on the English side. It would be nice to represent England out there for one of the English channels.

But, if not, hey – I’ll go out there with anyone who will take me.”

Gentlemen, form an orderly queue.

Follow @laylaloves and visit laylaannalee.com

Christopher Parkes

B

58 | September 14 2012 |

| 59

Point and touch 1

It’s a long way from those old disposable cameras – though probably won’t react as well to being dropped down the stairs

2

4

5

3 1. Samsung Galaxy Camera Essentially a slightly highertech equivalent to duct-taping your phone to your camera and saying “look, I’ve got a camera phone”, the Galaxy camera adopts the same styling and software as the company’s super-sleek smartphone range – but with a 21x zoom lens slapped on it. £399 | samsung.com

60 | September 14 2012 |

2. Mio Cyclo 105 HC If you want to emulate Tour de France and Olympic hero Bradley Wiggins, start growing out those sideburns now – they take some serious work. This cycling computer could help, too.

It tracks your speed, distance, heart rate and cadence while you ride. If only there were a similar device for facial hair-growing statistics. £200 | mio.com/cyclo

3. LG TM2792 Personal Smart TV A full home cinema screen in a bedroom-sized package, this 27-inch television has all the features you’d expect from a much bigger model, including passive 3D and internet capabilities for streaming content on demand. Perfect if you need to escape from X Factor. Out later this month.

TBC | lg.com/uk

4. Sony PRS-T2 eReader E-reading means you don’t get any strange looks for what you are reading on the train. Sony’s updated reader has a touchscreen and up to two months’ battery life, and comes with a free copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which is apparently now a less socially acceptable read than smutty bonkbuster Fifty Shades of Grey. £119 | firebox.com

5. Pioneer SMA3 Wireless Speaker A hulking beast of a portable audio player, the SMA3 connects to your wireless network for a seamless streaming performance at home. It also has Wireless Direct, so you can pair it with devices even if you don’t have Wi-fi. Great for barbecues – it’s even water-resistant. £300 | pioneer.co.uk

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

SMILER RIZ MC ASTROID BOYS SNATCH THE WAX WOLFMUSIC PBR STREETGANG THE BEAT MEDICS & BENNY PLANAS & NIGHT OWL SEAN BROSNON SLOTHBOOGIE DOM CHUNG RATTUS RATTUS MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

Extra time Entertainment

Thrill ride

FILM

A dynamic pair of action films, open-air cinema, plus Danny Baker spills the beans – but knows how to get the stains out DVD

Avengers Assemble

Book

Premium Rush

An action flick about fixie bike couriers in New York, a mysterious package and a dirty cop who’s on their tail. It sounds like an idea a Hollywood exec has green-lit just before approving Police Academy vs. Transformers and just after a six-vodka power lunch. However, Premium Rush’s energy and

MUSIC

breakneck chases make it so much fun you barely have time to dwell on the risible plot. The film it’s been most often compared to is Speed – a fast, dumb, wonderful adrenaline ride. Throw in the superb Joseph Gordon-Levitt as lead cyclist and you have yourself a minor hit. We’ll drink to that.

EVENT

Battle Born The Killers

Going to Sea in a Sieve Danny Baker Known Millwall fan, unfeasibly cheery pedlar of Daz and ever-effervescent broadcaster, Danny Baker sprung his autobiography on the world this week.

In Going to Sea in a Sieve, this likeable gent covers everything from his early days interviewing rock stars at NME to his recent cancer treatment (he was given the all-clear last summer).

Personally, we’ll be skipping straight to the chapter on Pets Win Prizes.

62 | September 14 2012 |

Returning to their roots is The Killers’ mantra for their first album in four years; and while musical progression is not the band’s strong suit, their albums do boast more hooks than a school cloakroom. Early glimpses, such as Miss Atomic Bomb and the soaring single Runaway, show their flair for a rock anthem remains strong. Out on Monday.

Book A Possible Life Sebastian Faulks Birdsong author Faulks returns with a novel that shifts between eras and stories, from a World War II soldier captured

by Nazis to an Italian neuroscientist in the future (really). Despite the loose concept, word is that this is a tightly written return to form.

More London Free Festival Autumn’s run of free film screenings at London’s Scoop (the open-air amphitheatre next to City Hall) hits its stride tonight, with a showing of Woody Allen romcom Midnight in Paris starring wonky-nosed charmer Owen Wilson. We’re then treated to Senna and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy next week, plus the chance to watch Marlon Brando’s masterclass in brutish charisma in A Streetcar Named Desire on September 26. Screenings start from 7.30pm – see www.morelondon.com for full listings.

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

It was a Hulk-sized smash at the box office, but lots of people will happily watch this superhero hit again.

The plot is a by-the-numbers tale about the Avengers overcoming petty squabbles to save the world from Thor’s bratty brother, but the dialogue sparkles with humour, the action set-pieces thrill and the all-star cast knit together as tightly as Black Widow’s outfit.

Out from Monday, with extras including deleted scenes and a gag reel (cue Robert Downey Junior hamming vigorously to camera).