Sport magazine 319

Issue 319 | August 23 2013

Serena Williams

Tough at the top

Introducing

IN JO W O N

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Contents

18

Issue 319, August 23 2013 Radar 05 Run free Unlock the power, precision and creativity of the NFL ball-carrier with Madden NFL 25 on the Xbox

06 Mou v Man U and Moyes Ahead of their showdown next week, we look at The Special One’s record against United and their new boss

08 Flashback To 1985, and the last time Wigan met Hull in the Challenge Cup final... we recall a rugby league classic oFeatures this coming week

18

Serena Williams On recovering from life-threatening illness, (not) playing until she’s 40 and her chances at the US Open

24 Defending the US The US Open title, that is. We ask our experts how Andy Murray will fare

27 Sam Tomkins

Cover and main image this page: Leo Cackett for WTA. Bill Waters, Action Images/Sporting Pictures, Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Wigan’s Man of Steel looks ahead to his side’s Challenge Cup final against Hull tomorrow

30 Jonathan Trott

30

On winning this Ashes series, the fifth Test and his personal favourite moments in an England shirt

Extra Time

08

44 Kit Nike’s new hybrid shoe, the Free Flyknit+. Fly it is, free it ain’t

52

46 Gadgets The Panasonic Lumix GX7 camera is a vintage-looking modern classic

48 Grooming Cool Water gets you smelling good while saving the oceans. Plus: some post-surf moisturisers

27

52 Entertainment It’s 20 years since a T-Rex plucked a man off the crapper in Jurassic Park; now you can see it in 3D | August 23 2013 | 03

Radar

p06 – Head to head: Jose Mourinho v Manchester United and David Moyes

p08– Flashback: Wigan v Hull and the greatest Challenge Cup Final

The new age A

lot can change in 25 years – just ask Liverpool. While they were losing the league in 1989, commentator John Madden was lending his name and pixelated likeness to an unofficial, unlicensed video game (pictured, far right).

A quarter of a century on, and the Madden series is one of the best-selling franchises in the world – and, as you can see from these next-gen screenshots, will make its first drive into a new generation of consoles when the Xbox One and PS4 land later in the year.

If you can’t wait, Madden NFL 25 is out this week on current formats, with the usual locker full of improvements and a special anniversary edition.

Out Tuesday on Xbox360 and PS3

| August 23 2013 | 05

Radar

head to head Jose Mourinho might be eyeing up the red leather seats in the opposite dugout with envy when he returns to Old Trafford on Monday. The speculation was that he really wanted the Manchester United job, but lost out to David Moyes before returning to Chelsea. If true, it would be the first time he has ever been beaten by this particular Scot, as our head-tohead reveals. His record against Sir Alex was almost as good – in 10 games under Mourinho against Man Utd between 2004 and 2007, Chelsea lost just once, a 1-0 league defeat at Old Trafford in 2005-06 – with only two defeats in 16 if you take into account his time at Real Madrid, Inter and Porto as well.

It’s been more even since Mourinho’s departure from Chelsea – he left days before a league game that United won 2-0 in September 2007, from which point the head-to-head record is in United’s favour by just one win. Will that change now the Special One’s back?

Mourinho v Man utd won 7 drawn 7 lost 2 aggregate goals 18-11

06 | August 23 2013 |

won 5 drawn 3 lost 0 aggregate goals 15-6

chelsea v Man utd (post-Mourinho)

won 7 drawn 5 lost 8 aggregate goals 29-35

S

wing high, even. Or hack away at the ball like you’re fending off a ravenous zombie.

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All pictures Getty Images

Swing low

Mourinho v Moyes

Radar

<<FLASHBACK<< The greatest final?

It is now 28 years since Wigan and Hull, who contest this weekend’s Challenge Cup final at Wembley, met in what many regard as the greatest final in the competition’s history. It had everything: skill, excitement, wonderful tries and a thrilling comeback.

It was so good, in fact, that the BBC featured it in a Christmas Eve special later that year.

The sides that lined up that May afternoon were crammed full of stars. Wigan had flown wingman John Ferguson back from Australia for the match to join compatriot Brett Kenny – one of the world’s best stand-offs. A young Shaun Edwards, who would play in every round of his club’s eight consecutive Challenge Cup victories, was at full-back, while Great Britain’s exciting wing Henderson Gill,

who was to score one of the most memorable tries seen at the stadium, was on the other flank.

Pitted against them was a Hull side sponsored

by ABI Caravans and containing four sparkling New Zealand international backs: Gary Kemble, James Leuluai, Dane O’Hara and Fred Ah Kuoi.

Peter Sterling, Kenny’s half-back partner at their previous club Parramatta Eels, was at scrum-half, and they were led by 21-year-old Lee Crooks – already a Great Britain international prop.

There was little to choose between the sides until just before half-time, when Gill received the ball deep in his own half. A thrilling 75-metre touchline sprint ensued, during which he flew past Kemble before planting the ball over the line.

May 4 1985 “I already knew what I was going to do with him,” says Gill now. “I’d seen him coming across, so I slowed for a second and then went back on to full pace. I outfoxed him.”

Wigan led by 16 with half an hour to go, but Hull staged a remarkable fightback. They racked up 12 unanswered points, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Wigan went on to win 28-24 – and, important though Gill’s try was, it was his three conversions that were to prove the difference between the teams.

“Taking into account the comeback and the way the two teams entertained that day, I would say it’s the best final ever,” says Gill. But then he would, wouldn’t he?

David Lawrenson

Take conTrol

08 | August 23 2013 |

Action Images/Sporting Pictures

T

he problem with Sky Sports News, if indeed there is one, is that you end up watching the same stories on repeat for hour after hour. After hour.

No such issues with the new sports app from ESPN UK, which allows you to personalise your news service and filter content according to your interests. Ideal for Arsenal fans keen to keep up with the latest transfer news.

Available on iOS and Android

Radar

Forward thinking S

ince Jonathan Wilson’s tactical masterpiece Inverting the Pyramid was first published in 2008, we’ve seen an era of Spanish dominance in football based on superior skill and maintaining possession. An investigation of modern-day Barcelona and how their style was developed is included in a new edition of the book, released to mark its fifth anniversary. Here, we’ve picked out three ways that tactical trends might develop in the next five years, according to Wilson.

1. The death of the centre back With elite teams increasingly opting for a strikerless 4-6-0 formation, the centre back’s role could become obsolete, with no big man up front to mark.

Players such as Rio Ferdinand are already adept at

10 | August 23 2013 |

2. Man v Machine “It is the very popularity of modern football that prevents its advancement,” writes Wilson – fans love to see individual talents, but that can often come at the expense of the collective effort, and lead to inferior results. With computers increasingly being used to analyse players and tactical systems, we could see a conflict between managers, who want their players to adhere exactly to their system and win at all costs, and fans, who want to see flair players express themselves and exciting play.

3. Harder, better, faster stronger Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich saw off Real Madrid and Barcelona on their way to last season’s Champions League final, with an improved version of the Catalans’ approach. Bayern Munich in particular took the Barcelona model and built on it – “not so much with technical innovation than with physical”, says Wilson. With quicker, stronger, taller but just as technically gifted players, Munich had the edge over Barca, running out 7-0 aggregate winners in their semi final. Tactically, says Wilson, they used “an evolution of tiki-taka”, pressing high up the pitch and controlling the ball with more pace and aggression, and attacked more directly.

Inverting the Pyramid, revised and updated hardback is out now from Orion Books

W

ide open space on your living room wall?

Fill it with sporting memorabilia from the eBay Big Charity 50, which is running on the online auction site now.

Loads of legendary sportspeople have donated items to raise funds for their charity of choice. They include a signed shirt and picture from World Cup winner Geoff Hurst to raise money for the Willow Foundation, a signed and framed shirt from Lionel Messi supporting the work of Believe in Magic, and a cycling experience with former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan in aid of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

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All pictures Getty Images

Going going gone

stepping into midfield and passing it around, while Barcelona often opt to use midfielders like Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano in the role of centre back.

Radar Editor’s letter Red alert: Fellaini may not be in blue for much longer www.sport-magazine.co.uk @sportmaguk facebook.com/sportmagazine

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Don’t hate the players Clubs cry foul over transfer bids, but the days when etiquette mattered in football are long gone

B Acting editor Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

former Liverpool centre half’s general distaste for most Premier League defenders looks set to amuse for some time to come, but of reaction to the transfer bids that so infuriated Everton and Newcastle over the first weekend of the new Premier League season.

Everton were the first to bite, labelling former manager David Moyes’ joint £28m bid for Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines as “derisory and insulting”. It wasn’t long before Alan Pardew was chiming in, furious that Arsenal had bid £10m for Yohan Cabaye on the day his team was due to open their season at Manchester City.

Both clubs can get as riled up as they like (and I can’t help but wonder what Smokin’ Joe Kinnear makes of it all), but the reality is that neither Manchester United nor Arsenal did anything wrong. You would assume that Moyes has always known exactly how much it will take for his new club to prise his old club’s prize assets away from Goodison, but this is a business and United are within their rights to start the bidding as low as they wish.

Similarly, there are no rules stipulating that a club can’t bid for a player on the day of a game, so Pardew has no case against Arsenal. His fury might be better directed at Cabaye, who was fit to play at the Etihad and presumably still expected to pick up his lofty salary at the end of the week. Last time I checked, ‘having your head turned’ was not on the list of acceptable reasons for not showing up to work.

Still, this is football, and the chances are that we will have to endure a good deal more of this nonsense before the accursed transfer window closes in 10 days. Whatever happens, this is no time for anyone to be claiming the moral high ground – etiquette left this place a very long time ago.

Golf history in Colorado last weekend, as Europe retained the Solheim Cup for the first time, doing so with a maiden victory on American soil. The 18-10 mauling represented some display from Lotta Neumann’s team of supposed underdogs, but star of the show was the 17-year-old rookie Charley Hull – who smacked Major winner Paula Creamer 5&4 in Sunday’s singles, then promptly asked her vanquished opponent to sign her ball for a friend.

Impressive front from a youngster with real talent.

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@JackWilshere great

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Reasons to get up on

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uzzwords of the week in football: derisory, insulting and disrespectful. I speak not of Jamie Carragher’s debut on Monday Night Football, although the

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Radar Opinion

It’s like this…

Bill Borrows

Flats on Friday

David Lyttleton

I

A letter from the Algarve

A

s you might know, I don’t generally hold with grown men wearing football shirts in a non-football-playing capacity, particularly if they have paid extra to have a name put on the back. It should, however, be mandatory for all children at all holiday destinations.

A kid in a football shirt is useful shorthand for the kind of people your children collude with while they play headers and volleys in the pool – essentially, the kind of people their parents are likely to be.

As mine have been told, playing with kids in Real Madrid, PSG and Man Utd shirts is verboten. Ta for that, Becks. Those in Chelsea shirts are to be approached with caution, and I can roll with almost anything else. Then you see a kid (not your own) in a Man City shirt. “Look at that beautiful child,” you think. “What marvellous parents he must have.”

And so, having hooked up with other marvellous parents in a bar on the Algarve, I end up watching City-Newcastle with a ‘Kippax’ of Blues amid several pockets of heavily branded Geordies of all ages – including an obese gentleman who must have been sewn into his vintage Keegan-era shirt.

The screen is the size of a laptop, and there is Portuguese commentary dubbed over the Sky feed.

Not ideal, but better than nothing. City should be three up after 10 minutes, and it’s all gone quiet over there. Still 0-0, and Newcastle have one of their two shots on goal. There is an explosion of noise from behind my left shoulder, Newcastle break again, the picture freezes. It feels like two

14 | August 23 2013 |

hours, but is probably 20 seconds. During this hiatus the Newcastle fans become emboldened and suggest, in a robust fashion, that we will not win a trophy this year. Which is a bit rich, frankly.

The older ‘typical City’ fans say nothing. We are concerned, a text arrives on my phone, I daren’t look – three Geordies I know have been giving it the big one for several days. As the TV kicks back into life, David Silva pops up to score. 1-0. A fat seven-year-old Scandinavian United fan is taken for an ice cream by his father... see what I mean about football shirts being shorthand for bad parenting?

City win 4-0, go top of the league and the kids behave. I make a mental note to spend the first game of every season somewhere near a pool and a beach, and to watch the game with unintelligible commentary. And then I realise I could have just gone to Rhyl Sun Centre and watched Jamie Carragher providing expert half-time analysis, and still had change for a family-sized hatchback. @billborrows

Plank of the week Gary Neville’s tailor, Oldham (probably) Sensational TV watching Neville have to keep a lid on what he was really thinking as Carra waved his arms about like an arachnophobe on a ghost train. But the suit, sunshine? It’s too big for you.

And stop getting your mum to do up your tie.

love the transfer windows in football.

Being a rugby man, the whole experience is totally alien. I mean, the idea of a player doing pre-season with his team, only to promptly disappear to another once the season has started, seems like madness.

No, it is madness. But it’s great to watch.

On the inside, emotion plays a significant role in elite sport. After a while, however, it does slip behind ability, work ethic, culture and, put simply, results. That said, sports fans – matchday volume and atmosphere aside – can do little to really affect the performance of their team. So, in a sense, emotion is what they have to give – and the transfer windows seem to evoke so much passion and opinion from the ticket-buyers that they become a dramatic entity all of their own.

Rarely have I received so much in response to a tweet than to one I sent out referencing Luis Suárez wanting to leave Liverpool. My followers, as a rule, are not football people, but they all seemed ready to pile in with strong views on matters football. Sport has always been political, but football in this country arguably creates more conversation than even the Government itself.

I’ll be honest, I’m not massively bothered who goes where – but the episodes that have interested me are those revolving around Leighton Baines and Gareth Bale.

At the time of writing, neither has been given the green light to leave Everton and Tottenham respectively, but they are reportedly behaving in vastly different manners. Baines has been committed, professional and has kept quiet; despite being on the verge of a monster move to the world’s biggest club, he has been grateful and modest. Bale, according to his manager, has stopped speaking and has picked up a knock just serious enough to render him unavailable for the club at which he shot to global fame. He wants to go. As, I imagine, does Baines – but they seem to be operating on different behavioural planes.

I dislike the old ‘football vs rugby’ argument because they are too different to compare, but these mini-soap operas at transfer time transcend sport. The huge profile of these footballers dictates that their behaviour is more visible than, say, a rugby player during a change of club. This means that, whether they like it or not, they have a responsibility to behave themselves.

Some see it and, naturally, some don’t. But that applies to all walks of life. We just know these guys better.

When a dog is naughty and tempestuous, we blame the owner. When a kid is involved, we blame the parents.

To that end, I think the agents need to take more responsibility when it comes to their players’ reactions to interest from elsewhere – as, perhaps here more than anywhere, lustful self-interest and the evaporation of previously proclaimed loyalty reveal so much about a bloke, never mind what he’s like at knocking a cross in.

I love transfer time, but I’d love it even more if everyone acted like old Bainesy. Then again, what would that leave us to argue about? @davidflatman

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16 | August 23 2013 |

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Mrs Brucefire It wasn’t an easy Sunday for Steve Bruce (left) last weekend. He looked dejected as Jose Mourinho snaffled the limelight, then had to endure a 2-0 defeat for his Hull Bay Wildcats. But hold on!

We need our peepers tested. On closer inspection, that isn’t Brucie at all, but a Chelsea supporter who’s arrived early to get some hottt Mourinho action. Apologies to all concerned – but, judging by the look on this fan’s face, we wouldn’t advise the Stamford Bridge tea any time soon. | 17

Serena Williams

Winning matters

With the US Open starting next week, the winner of four singles titles in New York tells Sport how the drama of the past two years has left her wanting more

says Serena Williams, fixing us with her intense gaze. Williams is no stranger to tragedy, but

even for her the statement is dripping with soap-opera-style sensation.

Except that it’s not sensationalist at all, because when the world number one was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital in February 2011 with a pulmonary embolism (in this case, blood clots on her lungs) and a haematoma, it turned out that the trip had been made in the nick of time. “If it had been left a few days later, it could have ended my career, or even worse,” she reflects now.

“They said I had several blood clots in both lungs – a lot of people die from that.”

One of the most dramatic chapters in Williams’ life began in July 2010 when, just four days after

winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title, she stepped on broken glass when leaving a Munich restaurant with only a pair of sandals protecting her feet. Williams looked down to see a pool of blood emerging from a multitude of cuts and, most worryingly, from a lacerated tendon in her right foot.

She needed two bouts of surgery, followed by 10 weeks in a cast and a further 10 in a protective boot, to recover. Before she could, however, the pulmonary embolism forced her back into the operating room. The winner of 16 Grand Slams was facing one of the toughest fights of her 18-year career.

“It was a really big nightmare for me,” she tells Sport when we meet ahead of the year’s final

Grand Slam – the US Open, where she’ll be looking to win her fifth singles title. “But I feel like what happened to me – everything that I went through – released a lot of pressure. I feel a lot lighter now, like I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t feel any pressure to do anything.”

Love game Something Williams has felt since her return, though, is the pull of the sport to which the 31-year-old has devoted her life. In the documentary Venus and Serena, a film that follows the sisters throughout the 2011 season and was released just before this year’s Wimbledon, there are two particularly telling scenes.

In one, Serena is holding on to a walking frame for balance while throwing punches and kicks in the direction of a TV – one presumably screening the latest Davina McCall fitness DVD, or similar. In the other, she can be seen hitting volleys on a tennis court from the confines of a wheelchair, her lower right leg encased in a > | August 23 2013 | 19

Leo Cackett for WTA

“Two years ago I was in the hospital, almost dead,”

Serena Williams

Slow return The summer of 2011 marked Williams’ return to competition. She signed up to play at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park as a warm-up for Wimbledon, raising excitement levels among the local blue-rinse brigade to new heights.

“This has given me a whole new perspective on life and my career,” an emotional Williams told the gathered press. “I’m just taking one day at a time.

I’m not preparing for today, or for Wimbledon.

I’m preparing for the rest of my career.”

While her health was clearly back on track, her tennis was understandably below the Williams standard. Her trip to the south coast ended with defeat to top seed Vera Zvonareva in the second round. And not long afterwards, as the defending Wimbledon champion, she would go on to lose in the round of 16 at SW19, sending her world ranking plummeting to 175 – her lowest in 14 years.

It wasn’t until the following summer that Williams got herself back to Grand Slam-winning ways.

Little more than a month after being ousted in the first round of the French Open – a defeat she says made her more miserable than any other, and which led her into the arms of French coach Patrick Mouratoglou – she won her fifth Wimbledon singles title. Olympic gold in London quickly followed, and then it was on to the US Open – a tournament that brought her the unbridled joy of winning her first Grand Slam, way back in 1999, and which provided the stage for the moments of madness that marred her performances in 2009 and 2011.

Last year, it simply brought her a fourth US Open title. “It felt really, really good,” she says, recalling

“I was just going through the motions, and the next thing I knew I was holding up the trophy” her three-set win over Victoria Azarenka in the final. “It felt like it was just time for me to win that title again, after some tough years there.

To stand there and hold that winner’s trophy (above) after everything – after winning Wimbledon and after winning the Olympics – was almost unbelievable. Going into it, I honestly didn’t think I’d win the Open – I was just going through the motions, and the next thing I knew I was holding the trophy.”

One year on, and Williams has added a second French Open title to her CV. “It was the only one I hadn’t been able to win twice, so I was really excited,” she says. “I know that could come off a little weird...”

Victory in Paris represented her 16th in a Grand Slam, and made her only the fourth woman in the Open era to win every Slam twice or more.

“I knew that everyone thought I should have won it twice already, so it was like: why haven’t I been able to raise my level on the clay and get that title?” she says. “In all the Slams I’ve won, I’d probably put it in the top three.”

Speaking in fluent-sounding French for part of her victory speech in Paris, it was clear that Williams has developed a strong bond with the city where she owns a modest apartment and can easily indulge her taste for miniature chocolate pastries, among other things. “I love the city,” she adds. “Have you ever noticed how even it is? They

US OPEN 10/11 Serena serves over 39 tournament aces 18+ GAMBLEAWARE.CO.UK

20 | August 23 2013 |

have a code that you can’t go past a certain height with the buildings on one side of Paris. You can see the sky, the trees – in spring and summer it’s really beautiful.”

On the defensive It is perhaps a little disconcerting to hear Serena Williams – the most powerful, dominating force in women’s tennis – waxing lyrical about nature.

In the past, she has been guilty of being as combative off the court as she is on it, never fearful of aiming a verbal smash in the direction of any interviewer she feels is deserving.

But Rothenberg says her experiences over the past few years have changed her approach: “She’s more engaging now, more friendly and she just seems to be enjoying the whole process more. Before, it seemed like it was a chore for her sometimes. But she’s lightened up significantly and now seems to be treating the whole thing more as fun than a burden.”

That theory was put to the test at Wimbledon this year when, having gone into the tournament as the overwhelming favourite to notch a sixth singles title at SW19, Williams was beaten at her own power game by Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round.

It was a defeat that she admits was tough to swallow, but in the immediate aftermath she was measured, informing the press it was not the ‘shock’ result many were labelling it. >

By players, for players

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huge boot. Williams’ obstinate refusal to accept being a sofa-bound patient is clear.

“I just couldn’t take it any more” she says, recalling the point at which her patience snapped.

“I had to get out there. And I thought I would come back faster if I could just get back on the court.

So I thought: ‘Okay, I’ll work on my volleys – I’ll do something.’ That [coming back faster] wasn’t to be, but it showed me how much love I have for the sport, which surprised me. I didn’t expect that.”

She won’t be alone. Not many people will have expected such strength of feeling from an athlete who has endured a famously stormy relationship with her sport. But Ben Rothenberg, contributing writer to The New York Times, tells Sport that Williams’ feelings are not such a contradiction.

“She’s obviously someone who, even if she’s not obsessed with tennis, has still made it her life’s work to try and perfect her craft,” he says. “And that takes a fair amount of passion, drive and commitment, all the same. And I know that she watches tennis when she’s not playing – Venus does too. They watch the Tennis Channel quite a bit when they’re at home in Florida.”

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Serena Williams

“I mean, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but she’s a great grass-court player,” she said at the time.

“C’mon, guys, let’s get with it. She’s excellent.

She’s not a pushover. She’s a great player.”

Going into Grand Slams as defending champion – as Williams will be in New York – is a situation with which she is by now familiar, but it has no less of an effect on her for that.

“I always feel under pressure when it comes to Slams,” she says. “But I definitely feel more nervous when I’m going in as defending champion.

No matter what people say, I never feel unbeatable – because the moment you start to feel invincible, that’s when you fall and you fail.”

In the weeks leading up to the Slams, Williams admits she goes through the same mental processes season after season. “I’m always more intense in the week leading up to one,” she says.

“And I get more focused, too – on and off court.”

There is one aspect of her approach that has changed over the years, though. “I train more now,” she says simply. “When I was younger, I didn’t actually have to train as much. When you’re young, you can go on court for a week and you feel like you’ve trained for two months.”

Rothenberg agrees that Williams is “practising more intently now”, adding: “She is also being more consistent in her approach to matches and tournaments. She doesn’t show up for the small tournaments and give a less-than-full effort any

more, which she occasionally used to do. Since she has started working with Patrick (Mouratoglou), she’s had a lot of success at smaller tournaments, and that’s something she didn’t do as much before.

She was always good at the big events, but she’s now a more consistent player.”

Williams’ record in 2013 supports this theory.

Outside her French Open win, and discounting her Miami title (a tournament that would be outraged at being labelled small) she has won six titles in 2013 – not a bad haul for a woman who has been playing at the top level for more than a decade.

“I’m playing some of the best tennis of my career,” she smiles. “And I’m having fun. I’m enjoying every moment I step out on court. I just want to do the best I can now and, if I lose... well, two years ago I was in the hospital almost dead, so it can’t be that bad.”

Home comforts?

The world number one will take that mentality to Flushing Meadows next week, when she returns to an arena that at one stage threatened to hold as many bad memories for her as good. “It’s almost intimidating sometimes,” says Williams of New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I’m playing in my home country and in the biggest stadium in tennis, but it’s a special feeling to step out there as an American.”

Special feelings aside, it was to the relief of every US tennis fan when her victory at last year’s Open was achieved without the controversy that

has landed her with some hefty fines from the Grand Slam Committee.

Rothenberg believes Williams still has work to do before the New York crowds take her to their heart as wholly as they have done previous American champions. “They’re not 100 per cent behind her,” he says. “I don’t think she’s a universally beloved figure in New York, in the way that someone like Andre Agassi was, but I do think she has more support now than she used to. People saw what the lows were like for her with the hospitalisation, and she has gained a lot of respect for how she’s come back. I think that will keep on growing the more she continues to mature – and the more it becomes clear that she’s one of the all-time greats in the sport.”

Williams herself admits that she won’t look back on her career as a whole until she is regarded as one of the greats. “I don’t like to look at it right now, while I’m still playing, because I still feel like I want to play,” she insists. “If I start to think about it, then I might be like: ‘Okay, why am I still playing? I could be relaxing at home with my two dogs.’ I definitely want to go out when I’m at the top, or somewhere close to the top. But when? I don’t know.”

Williams laughs. “Venus says she wants to play until she’s 40. I told her she’s crazy. But then, when I was 21, I said that I’d never play when I’m 30.

Anyway, I’m gonna say it right now: I’m not gonna play when I’m 40. So, we’ll see.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag

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By players, for players

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“I’m enjoying every moment I step out on court.

I just want to do the best I can now. And, if I lose... well, two years ago I was in hospital almost dead, so it can’t be that bad”

US Open Double the pleasure

As Andy Murray starts a Grand Slam as defending champion for the first time, Sport asks the experts how he will fare Monday > US Open FlUShing MeadOwS, new YOrk SkY SpOrtS 4 7pM

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his time last year, Andy Murray was on a post-Olympic high as he embarked

on another bid to get over the Grand Slam finish line. Going into the US Open as number three seed, Murray faced defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final. After a tumultuous match that lasted four hours and 54 minutes, he had his name in the history books as the first British man in 76 years to be a Grand Slam singles champion.

Having doubled his tally in sensational fashion at Wimbledon last month, Murray arrives at the 2013 US Open with the nation’s expectations raised higher than ever.

But sport psychologist Rebecca Symes, owner of consultancy sporting-success.com, says that far from feeling the heat, the British number one will relish his opportunity.

“He’ll go into the tournament full of confidence – it will give him a boost knowing he’s been there and done that,” she says.

“And he’s going into it having achieved what he had been trying to achieve for some time.

It’s only going to make him stronger than he’s ever been before, really.”

Murray will, however, be presented with a situation new to him at one of the sport’s four majors, and that’s something six-time Grand Slam winner Boris Becker says will take some getting used to. “It’s a different challenge for him,” he says. “It used to be Andy going into a tournament trying to win his first Slam. There is a different type of pressure when you have to defend instead of hunt. Suddenly, you are the hunted one – your scalp is the one everybody wants.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag

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First defence

Becker’s own first defence saw him arrive at Wimbledon in 1986, having won no further majors in the 12 months since his debut Slam.

“Everybody questioned me,” he explains.

“I was 18 years old and, before me, nobody had won anything at 17. So the question was always was I just lucky? Was it my 15 minutes of fame, or was I actually good?”

Murray at least has that Wimbledon title to assure himself that he’s no one-Slam wonder.

“There was so much pressure for him to win Wimbledon,” says Symes. “Now he’s achieved it, there will be an element of relief as much as anything. It’s true across many sports, that when people achieve something they’ve wanted to for so long it can release a lot of pressure – which means they can kick on.

“With some players, at certain stages in their careers, they can get to a point where they think: ‘I’ve achieved everything I wanted.

Why am I still doing this?’ But with Murray, I think his motivation is stronger than ever.

It’s true of a lot of top athletes that, even when they reach that one milestone that they’ve been aiming for, it feeds their desire.

It’s a bit like a drug, in a way. Once you get a bit of it, you want more and more of it to keep up that level of confidence and energy.”

Murray will not, says Symes, be swept up in all the pre-tournament chatter.

“He’ll still be very focused around his own game plan and what he’s going to do in each match, rather than getting caught up in what the overall outcome might be,” she explains.

“He has to think about it in terms of getting through each point, each game and each set.”

Becker agrees, pointing to the fact Murray hasn’t been at his best in the tournaments leading up to the US Open in Montreal and Cincinnati – a rough patch that has seen him lose his number two ranking to Rafael Nadal.

“The first couple of rounds will be important for him to build up his form and confidence again, so that in the second week he’s able to play his best tennis,” he says.

“But he should not be expecting to defend his title, because that’s the wrong approach to Grand Slams. You have to go in there humble, do what you’re supposed to do and hopefully hit form in the final weekend. Nobody expects to win a Slam entering the first round.”

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It’s the final Grand Slam of the season, which means Unibet ambassador Goran Ivanisevic is on hand with his considered thoughts ahead of the US Open

W

imbledon champion Andy Murray may have won last year’s US Open, but he is in poor form at present, having won just three matches in two Masters tournaments since his historic victory in SW19. I think you can put a line through his chances of winning back-to-back titles at Flushing Meadows.

Unibet make him their 14/5 third favourite, and I agree with them that both Novak Djokovic (37/20) and Rafa Nadal (13/5) have better chances. rAfA On A rOll Nadal has come back strongly from that remarkable first-round defeat at Wimbledon, taking last week’s Cincinnati Masters in straight sets, and winning his 26th Masters 1000 title in the process.

His hard-court form has been incredible – no player has beaten him on the surface this year, and it will take an exceptional player to do so in the US Open.

But Djokovic is an exceptional player, and despite going out in the quarter finals

in Cincinnati, the world number one deserves to be favourite in my mind.

This tournament plays to his strengths – that’s why he has reached the past three finals, winning the title in 2011, and he is my tip to win it again this year.

Elsewhere, I must say that Unibet’s odds compilers are not giving Roger Federer much respect! He’s 13/1, and they have Juan Martin Del Potro ahead of him at 9/1. The 6ft 6ins Argentinian won this title back in 2009, but Roger has looked good lately and he will be extra motivated to do well in a Grand Slam he has won on five previous occasions.

It’s strange to call Roger a dark horse, but he shouldn’t be as big as 13/1 – and he certainly comes before Del Potro in my list of potential winners.

in the earlier rounds, she should win her fifth US Open.

It’s no surprise to see Victoria Azarenka (4/1) and Maria Sharapova (8/1) next in Unibet’s betting, as they really are the only players who could seriously beat her – but if I had to pull out a dark horse it would be American Sloane Stephens. She’s 34/1 with Unibet, and although she’s only got as far as the third round at Flushing Meadows in two previous attempts, she has made both a Grand Slam semi final (Australia) and quarter final (Wimbledon) this year already.

Finally, keep an eye on Laura Robson.

I expect her to make it through to the second week, and if the draw is kind to her she could even do better than that (149/1 to win).

SerenA’S tO lOSe The women’s singles is really quite straightforward; it’s Serena Williams’ to win or lose. She is 3/4 with Unibet, and as long as she can keep her concentration

Don’t forget that you can read Unibet’s armchair expert Goran Ivanisevic’s thoughts on each day’s play at Flushing Meadows from next Monday at www.unibet.co.uk

The odds Men’s title 37/20 Novak Djokovic 13/5 Rafa Nadal 14/5 Andy Murray 9/1 Juan Martin Del Potro 13/1 Roger Federer 34/1 Tomas Berdych 66/1 John Isner 100/1 bar

Women’s title 3/4 4/1 8/1 24/1 24/1 24/1

Serena Williams Victoria Azarenka Maria Sharapova Petra Kvitova Li Na Agnieszka Radwanska 34/1 bar www.unibet.co.uk/sport

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| 25

Sam Tomkins

The UlTimaTe Warrior

Bill Waters

Two years ago, Wigan won silverware on their first visit to Wembley in 13 years. Man of Steel Sam Tomkins wants to do it again on Saturday

SATURDAY Challenge Cup Final: hull FC v Wigan Warriors Wembley stadium bbC one 3pm | August 23 2013 | 27

Sam Tomkins You’ve missed a few games recently.

Hows the fitness?

“Yeah I’m back to full fitness now. I had a few niggling injuries that kept me out for a few weeks, but the timing’s worked out alright. There’s no good time to have an injury, obviously, but the timing has worked out as well as it could do because I’ll be fully fit for the Challenge Cup final now.”

You’re off to Wembley tomorrow, and the Grand Final is obviously the aim at the end of the season. Is the league leader’s shield a target too?

“It’s something that would be nice to win, but the structure of the playoffs now means finishing top isn’t that big an advantage. If we have to risk resting people later in the season or whatever, I don’t think we’d be too bothered. Don’t get me wrong, we do want to finish top, because it proves you’re the most consistent team.

But there’s not a big deal made of it now. We’ve won it in the past and it’s a bit of an anticlimax.”

Bill Waters

You’ve won the Challenge Cup before, and you’ve tasted victory in the Grand Final. Which one feels better?

“The Challenge Cup has a tradition, and it probably means more to the fans – but the Grand Final is the last game of the year, and you prove you’re the best team for the whole season. They

both have arguments as to why they’re the more important, but they are so different that I don’t think you can choose between the two.”

Wigan have had a lot of success in the past, but silverware has been harder to come by recently. You’re kind of like the Liverpool of rugby league. Is there added pressure on you as Wigan players to bring that success back?

“I guess. Although we’re better than Liverpool, aren’t we? Being at a club like Wigan, that’s been so successful for so many years, there is a pressure on you because success is demanded.

I was in the team that won the Grand Final in 2010, the first silverware for a long time [since the Challenge Cup, in 2002], and seeing what it meant to a lot of people was brilliant. Then we won the Challenge Cup in 2011, too – again, it made you realise how important silverware is to a club like Wigan.”

You won your semi final against London Broncos by 70 points to nil.

Did you expect it to be so easy?

“We were expecting to win because we’re a much better team than London are, but the manner of the win wasn’t expected, no. Unfortunately for them, it was our most consistent 80 minutes of the year. That, combined with them being very average, meant that we could run a lot of tries in. We don’t mind how we get to the Challenge Cup final, we’re just happy we’re there.”

You’ve got Hull FC in the final.

Were you expecting that?

“No, I thought Warrington would have beaten them in the semi final. Having said that, Hull had a lot of expectation on them at the start of the year, and they got off to a bit of a slow start.

But I knew that, with the personnel they have, they’d be able to put good performances in – and they probably

How does a day out at Wembley compare to a Super League game?

“Oh, it’s incredible. The atmosphere is amazing because you have so many fans from different teams going, regardless of who they support.

They book their tickets at the start of the year, then just go along no matter who gets to the final. It’s much bigger than our week in, week out, so it’s a unique experience in the sport.”

And talking of Wembley, the World Cup semi finals are being held there later this year. Have you allowed yourself to think about getting that far?

“It’s tough, really, because we have so much going on at club level that it’s hard to think about it too much. I do know the importance of it, though, and we have a great opportunity to do something special at this World Cup with the quality of squad that we have – plus the fact we’re on home soil,

“I’ve never dIsmIssed goIng to the nrl. for the tIme beIng, though, I’m concentratIng on playIng for wIgan” put in their best of the year against Warrington. We’ll be fully expecting a performance similar to that in the final.”

where we always perform best. It’s in the back of my mind, but I’m trying not to get too excited yet.”

Tom Lineham scored a hat-trick against you earlier this season, but he’s struggling to be fit for the final at the moment. Do things like that give you a boost?

“Well, it’d be nice if all the opposition’s key players were injured, yeah, but it’s not something that you pray for.

We concentrate on our own preparation and performance, because we know that our best team would beat Hull’s best team. We’re not depending on their weaknesses – we’ll back ourselves to beat them.”

After the summer of Lions and Ashes success, you have the Aussies first up in the World Cup on October 26.

Can you continue the Aussie-bashing?

“Yeah, there’s a bit of pressure on us now, isn’t there? We’ll give it our best shot, and I’m sure we’ll give a good account of ourselves. We’ve competed with them in the past few years, but only really for 50 minutes or so and then we’ve fallen away. We know where we have to improve.”

You had an easier run to the final than Hull, with some big scores. Do you think that could make a difference?

“You could say it’s a bit more of an advantage for them, definitely, because they’re a bit more battle-hardened and have played some tougher games.

When we won it in 2011, we beat Warrington in the quarter final, St Helens in the semi and Leeds in the final – and you’re not going to get a tougher run than that. The tougher games definitely help, but we’re trying not to think about it too much.”

Finally, you’ve been linked to the NRL. Is that just paper talk, or something you’re serious about?

“I’ve never dismissed the idea of going over to the NRL. And, at some point in my career, I think I would. For the time being, though, I’m concentrating on playing for Wigan. We have a very busy schedule, and I’m 100 per cent focused on Wigan right now.”

Mark Coughlan @coffers83 Celebrate Rugby League this weekend with RLWC2013 action in Trafalgar Square (Friday) and the Tetley’s Challenge Cup at Wembley (Saturday). www.rlwc2013.com | August 23 2013 | 29

Jonathan Trott

Congratulations on winning the Investec Ashes. What was the feeling like in Durham after that evening session turned the game for England?

“At lot different to how it was at teatime.

At tea, we’d just got the one wicket – but we made a conscious effort to raise our standards, with the ball and in creating pressure in the field. Then Stuart Broad bowled one of the most magnificent spells I’ve seen. I think it’s the best session I’ve been involved with for England: nine wickets in 35 overs. Fantastic.”

You’ve been hitting the ball well this series, but you haven’t built on some of the starts you’ve had. What do you put that down to?

“Cricket is a tough game. There’s been times in the past where things have gone my way and I’ve gone on to score big runs, but

Friday CriCket | england v australia: fifth test, day 3 | the Oval sky spOrts ashes hd 11aM 30 | August 23 2013 |

different people step up. Jimmy Anderson took a lot of wickets in the first two Tests, and now Broady has picked up and got wickets… Kev [Pietersen] did it for us at Old Trafford, while Belly [Ian Bell] has done it throughout the series. It’s important to remember that it’s a team game. That can get lost in cricket because it’s clear how well you’ve done individually, as the numbers stick out so dramatically. Whereas, in a game like football, if you don’t score a goal, that doesn’t mean you’ve had a bad game.”

You’ve been scoring quite freely. Have you tried to be more aggressive in your batting?

“No, I haven’t changed at all. You’ve got to be careful not to look for things that aren’t there. It’s only been a few games – and I’ve basically nearly got three 50s [a 48, 58 and 49] in four games, so it’s not all bad. A few strange things have happened.”

You were given out LBW on review in the second innings in Trent Bridge, when it seemed clear you got an inside edge.

How upset were you after that?

“Sometimes, philosophically, you think: ‘Well, it’ll come back to me – I’ll get a bit of luck.’

It doesn’t seem to have done that yet in this series, so hopefully it will. That can happen.

Maybe someone will drop a catch off my batting and I’ll go on to score big runs.

I’ll be okay.”

Is there a lot of frustration with DRS among the players?

“I wouldn’t say frustration. I think it’s more that we want the grey areas cleared up.

People’s expectation is that technology has to be spot-on the whole time. In general, I think technology is good. I just think it could be better managed with regards to the rules being clearer. I think sometimes the advantage is being given to the umpire, not the batsman.”

England have won five and drawn one of six Tests this summer, but the media reaction hasn’t been too effusive. Are we getting spoiled by England winning?

“Yes – but we expect to be successful.

We don’t really mind what people write about us, though. We care more about the fact that we’re winning.”

You’ve done a fair bit of that. What’s your favourite England moment?

“Against Australia at Melbourne [in 2010], we bowled them out for 98. We were 150-odd without loss and I’m waiting to come into bat, and in Melbourne you sit in this glass viewing area. I just had this great picture of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook walking off at the end of the day, and the Australians also walking off, looking dejected. That’s when I knew we were going to retain the Ashes. It’s just something, you know; you get a feeling.” >

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

He may bat in his so-called bubble, but Jonathan Trott tells Sport that team success means more to him than anything – and why playing in Australia just fires him up

Sam Tomkins

Credit

Two years ago, Wigan won silverware on their first visit to Wembley in 13 years.

This weekend, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re back this weekend,

| May 3 2013 | 27

Jonathan Trott cricket we play. It’s about being able to switch on and off from cricket. I think I’ve been getting a little better at that, maybe.

But I just think being a good all-round team player is my main strength. I just want to bring as much success to England as possible.”

out Simon Katich in the first over of the second Ashes Test in 2010

What about a personal triumph?

“Same series – the run-out in Adelaide.”

[In the second Test, Trott, from square leg, ran out Simon Katich with a direct hit before the Australian had faced a ball, above.]

Hold on – but you love batting. Why not pick one of your England centuries?

“Well, it’s just that I’d always stood at slip for Warwickshire, so I hadn’t really done that much outfielding. So I had to work really hard on my fielding with England. Our fielding coach, Richard Halsall, always says that you normally only get one chance a game – and you’ve got to take it. That can be a diving catch or a run-out or a really good stop – and I got that chance in the first over of the game and took it. I got a run out and Jimmy got two wickets, so I always feel like I contributed to Australia being three for two at Adelaide.”

Steven Finn told Sport recently that the only time he’d ever seen you riled was in Australia, with some of the chants from the Aussie crowd…

“Me? Riled! [Laughs] Okay, but I didn’t mind it at all. It gets me going. I enjoy the

competitiveness of the Australian culture; the way they are in your face and not giving an inch – it’s good. I think I thrive in those situations. I’m a bit of a battler.”

Is that your main strength as a cricketer – your competitiveness?

“I try to contribute to the team the whole time, whether it be in the field or in the dressing room. Obviously with the bat, mostly, but I just want to be part of a winning team. I think one of our strengths is our competitiveness and our desire to win – there’s a whole heap of that in our team.

But you’ve got to be careful to keep a lid on it, and not let it boil over into desperation and thinking that every decision you make is the be-all and end-all, and will result in your winning or losing.”

You have to keep perspective...

“Sometimes it’s important to take a step back – with all aspects, in regard to finding the balance between being a professional cricketer and a normal human being, because it can be so easy to overstep the mark and become sort of a robot. You can easily [do that], because of the amount of

Well, continued success is good, right?

“Definitely. Okay – I think Cooky lets guys express themselves a little more, their characters. Straussy had everyone on a little bit more of a tightrope. But they are both brilliant leaders.”

Strauss was a very successful England captain, but we’ve heard him say that his team had a goal of winning the Ashes down under and achieved it, then of becoming the number one Test team and achieved it. Then maybe the team struggled slightly after that because they lacked an immediate goal…

“Hmm, yeah. I agree with that, actually.”

So, what are the current team’s goals now?

“To become the best in all three formats of the game. In one-day cricket, if we’d won the Champions Trophy, as we so nearly did [with India winning by five runs in the final], I think that would have been a huge stepping stone to the World Cup. But from now in one-day cricket, we’ve just got to try and win every series we play. For the guys going to Australia, it’s about winning there and learning about one-day cricket there – because the World Cup is in Australia [in 2015]. Our first game is in Australia, against Australia, in Melbourne. It’s one of the opening games of the World Cup, so I don’t imagine the MCG will be empty. But there’s a lot of good cricket to play before then.

We just want to keep winning.”

Alex Reid @otheralexreid Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title sponsor of the Ashes. Visit investec.co.uk/ cricket or follow @InvestecCricket

32 | August 23 2013 |

Tom Shaw/Getty Images

Over and out: Trott runs

From the outside, we see Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss as quite similar captains.

What are the differences between them?

“I think the most important thing for a captain is to be a good leader and a role model, and that’s what Cooky is. He leads by example, he trains hard and his performances on the field are second to none. He had a tough ask in that his first Test tour was in India away, and he scored three hundreds in four games. To win the series 2-1 after being 1-0 down – how many times do you see that? A team in India come back from 1-0 down not to just win one Test or draw the series, but to actually win the series? So, I think that was such a strong statement on behalf of his being a leader of our team. Him and Andy [Flower] have got a great relationship, as did Andrew and Andy.

It is pretty similar, they have their own little things… I’m trying to give you something that’s different... there’s not much, mate.”

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magic of The cup The first round of this season’s Capital One Cup continued where last year’s tournament left off. Drama, shocks and controversy were found at every turn – and we can expect more of the same next week, when the big boys of the Premier League enter the fray

T

hree weeks ago, ahead of the opening round of the 2013-14 Capital One Cup, we picked out a selection of the headline ties. Near the top of that particular list was a return to the competition, after a quarter of a century away, for Newport County.

“A glamour tie away against Championship big dogs Brighton should serve as a very special reminder to their fans that Newport are very much back in business,” we wrote – but that was only the half of it. In a dramatic night on the south coast, the Exiles came

supporTing The supporTers An insight into the ups and downs of life as a football fan from Stu Brothers, editor of the Notts County fanzine Black & White

from a goal behind to snatch a late equaliser, before going on to win 3-1 in extra time against a Brighton side reduced to 10 men. An absolute treat for the fans who had made the long trip across from south Wales, and another sensational result in a competition that continues to shock and amaze in equal measure.

A look through the rest of the first-round results merely serves to prove the point.

Newport’s huge win came on the same night that Morecambe and Accrington dumped out Wolves and Middlesbrough respectively, and

Describe life as a Notts County fan.

“Not easy! As a club we’ve come a long way since the fake sheikhs of Munto Finance and the Sven revolution. We’re now an established League One side as opposed to perennial relegation battlers in League Two. The last two campaigns have been fraught with frustration, however – we’ve let ourselves down with the playoffs just within reach.”

What is your most treasured memory from your time supporting the club?

“I was fortunate enough to be sat in the back

34 | August 23 2013 |

only 24 hours after Preston saw off Blackpool in a feisty local encounter that had Seasiders manager Paul Ince spitting feathers.

So what of the second round, which takes place across next Tuesday and Wednesday?

The arrival on the scene of the majority of the Premier League clubs offers yet more opportunity for upsets. Newport’s reward for putting out Brighton is a trip to one of those Premier League clubs, as they face West Brom at the Hawthorns on Tuesday evening. The following night, Accrington host top-flight new boys Cardiff (themselves the

row of the Juventus Stadium two years ago, when Lee Hughes (right) stroked home an equaliser in our glamour friendly with Juventus. About as surreal a moment a fan of a lower-division side can imagine!”

And the lowest ebb?

“Our club has been on the brink of extinction so many times now, not to mention countless last-day games with relegation to non-league very much looking likely. But we’re still here, and I’m comfortable in saying we’re a million miles from facing those situations again.”

CapiTal One Cup: seCOnd ROund in Full Day of the underdogs: the first round saw (clockwise from far left) Accrington, Morecambe and Newport all knock out opponents from a higher division

Tuesday augusT 27

Barnsley v Southampton Bristol City v Crystal Palace Burnley v Preston Burton v Fulham Carlisle v Leicester Derby v Brentford Doncaster v Leeds Huddersfield v Charlton Leyton Orient v Hull Liverpool v Notts County Sky Sports 1 Norwich v Bury Peterborough v Reading QPR v Swindon Sunderland v MK Dons Tranmere v Bolton West Ham v Cheltenham Yeovil v Birmingham West Brom v Newport

Wednesday augusT 28 may have lifted the cup as recently as 2012, but they are not immune to falling prey to the so-called underdogs. They were beaten at home by eventual winners Swansea only last season, while in 2010 future England manager Roy Hodgson could only stand and weep as the Reds went out on penalties to Northampton.

Liverpool will start as massive favourites, of course, but this is the Capital One Cup... and if we have learned only one thing from this competition in the past 12 months, it’s that anything really can happen.

How important is the Capital One Cup to you?

“It’s no more important than the next league game, but that doesn’t make it any less of an occasion. We know we’re expected to turn up and get turned over, but you only need look at Northampton’s exploits a few years back to know we should travel with hope in our hearts. It might be the kiss of death, but this isn’t exactly an all-conquering Liverpool side.”

Liverpool’s ground is a real stadium, none of this flat-pack modern stadium nonsense.

I don’t expect the famous Anfield atmosphere for a midweek game against a League One team, but I know the few thousand Notts’ fans travelling will make up for that.”

How excited do you get about a tie like this?

“I love a good away day regardless of where it is, but Anfield will be pretty special –

Who should we be looking out for in the current squad?

“Mustapha Dumbuya (right) is a player I raved about all last season after a display against us for Portsmouth, so I was delighted we signed him in the summer. He’s started the

Capital One, Official Credit Card of the Football League.

For further details, see facebook.com/CapitalOneUK

season in great form as well – he’s a player who really gets fans on their feet.”

Who is the club’s greatest ever player?

“If I was going to pick a player I’ve been fortunate enough to witness, few come close to Lee Hughes. At his age, the things you’d see him do with a ball at his feet were sensational. Over history, though, it’s hard to argue with Don Masson – two promotions and nearly 500 appearances rightly see him regarded as our greatest.” thenottsblog.co.uk

| 35

All pictures Getty Images

subject of a giantkilling at Northampton last season), while Morecambe host Newcastle in the live Sky game.

There are yet more local derbies for fans to get their teeth into, with Preston travelling to Burnley and Doncaster playing host to Leeds. Perhaps the most interesting tie of the round, however, is the live game on Tuesday evening. Liverpool, their failure to qualify for Europe leading to a rare secondround entry into the Capital One Cup, face a visit from the oldest football club in the world, Notts County. The eight-time winners

Accrington v Cardiff Aston Villa v Rotherham Everton v Stevenage Morecambe v Newcastle Sky Sports 1 Nottm Forest v Millwall Stoke v Walsall Watford v Bournemouth

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

AUG 23-AUG 29 HIGHLIGHTS » Football: Premier League » p38 » Rugby Union: New Zealand v Australia » p40 » Cycling: Vuelta a Espana » p40 » Cricket: England v Australia – 1st T20 » p42 » Cricket: England Women v Australia Women » p42

SUNDAY FORMULA 1 | BELGIAN GRAND PRIX | SPA, BELGIUM | SKY SPORTS F1 AND BBC ONE 1PM

36 | August 23 2013 |

For every popular jock, there’s a spotty nerd

the first day back at school after the summer break.

struggling to make his way in the world. This term,

Things are little different in F1. Yes, the teams will be

that’s Jenson Button (above), who is yet to threaten

keen to show off their new aerodynamic upgrades

the podium (the closest he has come is fifth in China).

rather than their new haircuts; and yes, they’ll have

McLaren will have been hard at work at their Woking

spent their time off in the gym and by the pool, as

factory during the four-week break. Button won in

opposed to at a caravan park in the West Country.

Belgium – the longest circuit on the calendar – last

Other than that, though, it’s pretty much the same.

year, but it’s unlikely that a teen movie-style

Just like at school, there’s a well-established hierarchy – and with nine races to go it's the popular

transformation is on the cards this time.

“You need a car that’s perfectly synched to the

crowd who find themselves at the top of the

driver, because it’s such a long lap and there are so

standings. Trailing a couple of race wins behind

many big corners that you need to find that perfect

Sebastian Vettel (on 172 points) are Kimi Räikkönen

balance,” said Button in the build-up to the weekend.

(134) and Fernando Alonso (133), with Lewis Hamilton

“We don’t go to Spa with the package to win, but I’ll

(124) not far behind. If you believe the rumours being

still be making the most of every single lap.”

traded on the paddock playground, second and third

In a team struggling with its set-up, it’s doubtful

could also be joining forces next year, with the flying

Button can sustain that enthusiasm to the end of the

Finn feted for a further fling with Ferrari.

season – when he will be far from top of the class.

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Lars Baron/Getty Images

Back to school

You know how it is (or, at least, knew how it was) on

Quicker recovery SiS REGO Rapid Recovery is a unique blend of carbohydrate, protein, electrolytes and vitamins. When taken straight after racing or training it repairs muscle damage, restores energy and helps your body to adapt to more intense exercise.

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7 Days

Premier League

saturday aston villa v liverpool | villa park sky sports 1 5.30pM

Arsenal get a chance to bounce back early on Saturday, while Monday sees the first big clash of the season. In between, there’s plenty to entertain saturday fulhaM v arsenal | craven cottage | bt sport 12.45pM

The last time Liverpool won on the opening day (2008-09), they ended as Premier League runners-up. It’s a promising omen, but Brendan Rodgers’ side will face sterner tests than Stoke along the way – starting with this trip to Villa Park, where they won 2-1 last term, courtesy of a Jordan Henderson goal and a Steven Gerrard penalty. Christian Benteke put the home side ahead that day, and he’s likely to once again be their stand-out man here.

sunday cardiff city v Manchester city cardiff city stadiuM | sky sports 1 4pM

At the time of writing, Arsenal are up a certain creek,

hope for the best. At least, that’s what the Arsenal policy

If Malky Mackay’s side looked out

and show no realistic signs of shelling out for a paddle.

appears to be from the outside.

of their depth at Upton Park on the

While it’s true that only one game of their league season

This weekend, any Gunners who are neither injured

has been played, that opening-day defeat to Aston Villa

nor suspended head to Craven Cottage to face Fulham,

suffering from the bends when

exposed a multitude of woes.

whose campaign started well, with a 1-0 win away at

Manchester City visit on Sunday.

Sunderland. The Cottagers also welcomed experienced

The (not very) Bluebirds had a

on crutches and a handful of first-team regulars picking

new recruit Scott Parker this week, and will be buoyed by

single shot on target in their first

up knocks, the shallow nature of Arsenal’s squad was

Arsenal’s apparent staff shortage and their recent record

appearance in the top flight since

so obvious by the time the final whistle blew that even

against the Gunners. Arsenal won 1-0 at the Cottage in

1962, while Edin Dzeko alone had

Arsène Wenger couldn’t fail to spot it.

April, but that was their first win in five against Fulham.

four for City in their Monday night

With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving the Emirates

So, what now? Launch a hatful of bids for new blood

Still, they have won 16 of their 24 Premier League ties

opening day, they’re in danger of

thrashing of Newcastle. Cardiff did

(including, strangely, yet another ball-playing midfielder

against the west London side, so all hope is not lost.

win their last meeting, though – a 1-0

in Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye), cross your fingers and

Not for at least another 90 minutes, anyway.

victory in the FA Cup, 19 years ago.

38 | August 23 2013 |

SATURDAY hull v norwich | kc stadium | 3Pm

SATURDAY newcastle v west ham st james’ Park | 3Pm

SATURDAY southamPton v sunderland st mary’s | 3Pm

Leighton Baines scored a brace

“Our season will be defined by

After Man City’s demolition job,

Rickie Lambert is having the kind

the last time these teams met, and

games like next week,” said Steve

Yohan Cabaye’s head being turned,

of fortnight normally reserved for

Everton boss Roberto Martinez will

Bruce after Hull’s defeat to Chelsea.

and Steven Taylor’s suspension

New Star Soccer, while his team

hope his defender is still around for

He added he meant “no disrespect”

meaning he joins the injured Loïc

continue to bring in big names.

a repeat performance. The Toffees

to Norwich, but the Canaries will

Remy on the sidelines, there is one

Saints’ latest arrival is £15m Italian

were wasteful in their opener against

hope he is underestimating the

bit of good news for the Toon Army:

striker Pablo Osvaldo from Roma,

Norwich, ending up with a draw

threat of a team bolstered by seven

Andy Carroll sits this one out injured.

who earlier this summer replied

despite enjoying 67.5 per cent of the

new signings. Norwich still managed

Kevin Nolan’s eye for goal will see

to a heckling fan at training with:

possession and having more than

just two shots on target in their first

them through until his return, though

“I scored 200 goals, what the f***

twice as many shots (20) as their

game, but with new man Ricky van

the Irons were reportedly offered

you want?” The Italian in the away

opponents (8). The Baggies were no

Wolfswinkel getting off the mark

Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella

dugout, meanwhile, would love just

better, hitting the target with just

quickly, they’ll hope to surpass last

this week – but no transfer will go

one goal after only three of his side’s

one out of 11 against Southampton.

season’s tally of 41 league goals.

ahead before the wage bill is cut.

21 shots hit the target last weekend.

SATURDAY stoke v crystal Palace britannia stadium | 3Pm

SUnDAY tottenham v swansea | white hart lane |4Pm

monDAY man utd v chelsea | old trafford | sky sPorts 1 8Pm

Both these sides suffered penalty

Last weekend saw Tottenham record

What time will Wayne Rooney arrive at the ground? Will he talk to José

heartache last weekend, and both

their second win in a match without

Mourinho? Is he smiling? The Wazza factor will dominate when his

were lucky to still be in the game

Gareth Bale on the scoresheet since

paymasters and his suitors go head to head, but he’ll likely be on the bench.

when they did – their respective

January 1 – but it took their first

Again. David Moyes temporarily silenced any doubters with a comprehensive

opponents fired in a combined 43

league goal from the penalty spot

win in Swansea – a Danny Welbeck double taking some of the pressure off

shots. Still, both will target this

since May 2012 to do it. New boys

Robin van Persie – but the midfield still looked weak at times, and Moyes will

weekend as their ‘real’ curtain-raiser,

Roberto Soldado (the scorer)

hope his derisory/wry-smile-inducing (delete as appropriate) offer for

with a more attacking attitude likely

and Etienne Capoue gave Spurs

Marouane Fellaini will give Tom Cleverley in particular a wake-up call.

to be on display. Robert Huth led the

a boost in light of the uncertainty

shooting stats for Stoke, while sub

surrounding Bale – and with

Bruyne, André Schürrle, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Frank Lampard (to name

Kevin Phillips was Palace’s only real

Swansea scoring only once in their

but a few) supporting Fernando Torres or Romelu Lukaku. Whatever happens,

threat – but don’t expect this one to

past two visits to the Lane, Spurs’

Rooney might well watch on and wonder which club offers him a better chance

be first on Match of the Day’s billing.

winning start should continue.

of getting some game time. Arsenal, maybe?

The attacking talent at Jose’s disposal is frightening, with Oscar, Kevin de

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 39

All pictures Getty Images

SATURDAY everton v west brom | goodison Park | 3pm

7 Days Saturday Rugby union | The Rugby Championship: new Zealand v ausTRalia | wesTpaC sTadium, wellingTon | sky spoRTs 3 8.35am

Up to his old tricks If Australia thought the mauling at the hands of the Lions (any excuse…) was bad, then last week's 47-29 capitulation to the All Blacks was a sharp reminder that it's going to take more than a new man in charge to sort their problems.

They might have survived a close call in the history books (New Zealand fell three points shy of a record points haul), but Ewen McKenzie's charges have it all to do when they travel to Wellington to try to save the Bledisloe Cup series – and one man in particular stands tall in their way.

Fresh from his seven-month sabbatical from the game, Richie McCaw (pictured) returned to the international fold last weekend – and it didn't take him long to ruffle Aussie feathers, with both McKenzie and captain James Horwill quick to point out that McCaw was lucky to stay on after blunting numerous attacks from beneath his invisibility cloak.

That said, the All Blacks were ruthless in attack, with Ben Smith's hat-trick the pick of the headlines. They can only get better given home advantage this weekend, while Australia need to find answers to a plethora of problems, with Izzy Folau too isolated, James O'Connor desperately short of confidence and the number 10 conundrum ever present.

One bright spark was the performance of Aussie number nine Will Genia (again). One can't help but wonder what would happen if he was in a black shirt tomorrow. An Ashes score, in all likelihood.

Saturday CyCling | VuelTa a españa sTage 1: VilanoVa de aRousa-sanxenxo | bRiTish euRospoRT 5.45pm

Spanish red How far would you travel for a

be Cannondale’s Ivan Basso and

good Spanish red? The riders

Irishman Dan Martin, who will lead

lining up for this year’s Vuelta a

Garmin-Sharp’s challenge. is running short if he wants to win

distance of 3,359km for the Red

a Grand Tour. He has finished on

Jersey, or Maillot Rojo, awarded to

the podium in all three of cycling’s

the leader (and eventual winner)

big races (he was third in this

of the General Classification.

year’s Tour de France), and lost

That won’t be 2012 champion Alberto Contador, who announced in July that he would not defend

the overall lead only in the final week last year in Spain.

Nibali skipped Le Tour, and

his title in order to better prepare

should be well rested and relishing

for next year’s Tour de France.

a route that, as ever in Spain,

That leaves Movistar’s Alejandro

favours climbers. There are 13 high

Valverde (who came second last

mountain stages (with a total of 39

year, one minute and 16 seconds

mountain passes), six flat and an

behind Contador), Katusha’s

individual 38km time trial.

Joaquim Rodriguez (third last

40 | August 23 2013 |

Rodriguez, at 34, knows his time

Grand Tours – will compete over a

The race begins tomorrow,

year) and Astana’s Giro d’Italia

however, with the 27km team time

winner Vincenzo Nibali (pictured,

trial. The winner will be crowned in

and the victor here in 2010) as

Madrid on Sunday September 15

favourites among the overall

– with a well-deserved bottle of

contenders. Also in contention will

Rioja. Probably.

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Luk Benies/AFP/Getty Images, Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

España – the third of cycling’s

LoNDoN DoUBLE HEADER TWICKENHAM STADIUM 7 SEPTEMBER 2013

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7 Days Thursday CriCket | england v australia: First twenty20 | rose Bowl, southampton | sky sports ashes hd 6.30pm

One to watch

Broadsword swings again

Ben Stokes

Back in 2011, Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes had to play down comparisons with Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff. Since then, he's been bashing sixes over the boundary, bowling with increasing hostility and getting sent home from an Australians can’t get enough of Stuart Broad. He’s

England Lions tour after being warned

Despite not having won a Twenty20 series since

impressed with bat, ball, shoelaces and honest-I-didn’t-

2009-10 (many have been two-game draws), Australia

about his late-night boozing. Well,

hit-that poker face in the Ashes Tests (the fifth of which is

boast a strong-looking Twenty20 side. David Warner is a

yabba dabba doo! Providing he has

currently being played) – and by next Thursday he’ll be the

proven dangerman at the top of the order, but the most

learned from his indiscretions, however,

man in charge, captaining England for the first of two

interesting inclusion in the squad is Fawad Ahmed. The

Stokes has a big future. With the praise

Twenty20 games against Australia.

big-turning leg-spinner arrived in Australia as an asylum

of England bowling coach David Saker

seeker from Pakistan in 2010, and had his citizenship

ringing in his ears this month, the

however. There’s a strong chance that T20 powerhouses

fast-tracked this year. Ahmed could well make his full

22-year-old will know that this pair of

Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann will be rested after the

Aussie debut next Thursday; if he can impress in the

games against Australia gives him a

Tests, giving further chances for youngsters such as Ben

limited-overs games here, a spot in the squad for the

great chance to nail down a T20 spot.

Stokes (see right), Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes to shine.

Ashes down under could well be on the cards.

It will be interesting to see what team Broad can call on,

Friday CriCket | women’s ashes: england v australia – seCond odi | County ground, hove

It got off to a sluggish start with a draw in

need to score more rapidly, as opener Arran

the only Test match, but the first ODI of

Brindle got bogged down from the start,

the new-format Women’s Ashes delivered

taking 72 balls to score her 21 runs.

a tense match at Lord’s on Tuesday.

Australia will also know they can bat

Set a gettable 204 to win, England looked on target to obtain that score while their

heart from their bowling display. Lookalike

two star players – Charlotte Edwards and

pace bowlers Ellyse Perry and Holly Ferling

Sarah Taylor (pictured far left) – were at the

garner plenty of attention, but it was

crease. However, when Edwards eventually

their spin bowling that foxed England.

departed for 61 (leaving England on 142-4),

In particular, Erin Osborne was generating

it triggered a flurry of wickets that saw

some seriously impressive turn.

England stumble to a 27-run loss.

42 | August 23 2013 |

better than they did at Lord’s, but will take

They’re unlikely to make big changes to

The Women’s Ashes in 2013 is settled

the side, but England’s batters will need

over seven matches (one Test, three ODIs

to be more aggressive against Australia’s

and three Twenty20s), and England will

slower bowlers at Hove. Doing some follow-

need to improve their batting performance

my-leader and copying Charlotte Edwards

to avoid going 2-0 down. Crucially, they will

would be a strong place to start.

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Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images, Paul Thomas/Getty Images, Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Australia have upper hand

Extra timE Making the most of your time and money

P52 indie comedydrama is savagely mauled by a horror flick in You’re Next

Kit

Born to run

Nike Free Flyknit+

When they’re not busy looking for loopholes to get out of their Arsenal contract (we jest), those bods at Nike do a pretty fly running trainer – and the Free FlyKnit+ hybrid is the pick of their newbies.

Cushioning is midway between barefoot and traditional runners, and moves naturally with your foot through each stride.

A sock-like upper also offers natural flex for a secure, comfortable fit that reduces stress on your foot. £130 | store.nike.com/gb 44 | August 23 2013 |

Ultra-light Flywire cables are woven into the upper and connect to the laces, offering a dynamic, supportive fit that adapts to your foot’s movements

Made entirely of polyester yarn, the one-piece upper seamlessly integrates areas of breathability, stretch and support where you need it most Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

FIRST ARC’TERYX EUROPEAN STORE. NOW OPEN IN COVENT GARDEN.

Born in the Canadian Coast Mountain wilderness, Arc’teryx is built on the principle of obsessive, precise design and production, creating outdoor clothing and equipment that delivers unrivalled performance at the point of extreme need. Evolution in action.

The first European store, in partnership with Snow+Rock, is now open at: 9 Mercer Street St Martin’s Courtyard Off Long Acre London WC2H 9QJ

snowandrock.com/arcteryx

eT

Gadgets

LiGHT is noT your friend

Take beautiful photos, listen to inspiring music or slip on the Cinemizer goggles and shoot aliens at point-blank range

Panasonic Lumix GX7

Don’t be fooled by its classical styling: the interchangeable lens GX7 is as hi-tec as they come. Wi-Fi and NFC technology mean you easily connect it to your smartphone or tablet to transfer photos or remotely control the camera. And the superquick auto-focus makes it ideal for capturing fast-moving events in lowly lit conditions.

Great for your bedroom, then. Zing! £987 | panasonic.co.uk

Carl Zeiss Cinemizer

Dive head first into your favourite TV show with these futuristic virtual reality glasses.

They’re the equivalent of a 40-inch screen and, if you’re playing a video game, head tracker technology changes your character’s viewpoint if you turn your head. If that wasn’t cool enough, this is probably as close as you’re going to get to looking like RoboCop. £580 | game.co.uk 46 | August 23 2013 |

Alpinestars Tank Aerial7 Headphones

Alpinestars are best known for making the racing leathers worn by the drivers in F1 and MotoGP, but they’ve now made a suitably speedy move into personal audio, with a range of audio products designed for an active lifestyle. That includes this lurid pair of over-ear headphones. We’re not sure you’d see Sebastian Vettel wearing them, though. £90 | racespec.co.uk

Philips Bluetooth Hi-fi Adapter

If you spent some time expensively assembling a home audio system before the wireless revolution, the daunting task of bringing it into the future just got a lot easier – and cheaper. Plug this little black box into your hi-fi, and you’ll be able to stream music to it from any Bluetooth-enabled device. No need to splash out on a new system, then. £25 | philips.co.uk Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

ET

Grooming

SEA CHAnGE

A fragrance that loves the ocean more than Captain Jack Sparrow, plus moisturisers that will leave you as handsome as Johnny Depp. Probably

The eau de toilette

Davidoff Cool Water

Davidoff’s brand of handsome is less Johnny Depp and more Paul Walker, with ol’ Fast & Furious himself the face of their most aquatic fragrance. Cool Water supports National Geographic’s Pristine Seas Expeditions, which study and help to protect fragile marine ecosystems. For every Cool Water fragrance purchased, 10 square metres of ocean are protected.

An on-pack QR code also gives you a virtual pair of flippers and a snorkel to explore an underwater world at love-the-ocean.com, where you can win a trip to Baja California (not the isle of Tortuga).

The scent is something of a classic, with top notes of bergamot, peppermint, aromatic lavender and rosemary, green galbanum and pineapple. Violet, jasmine, honeysuckle and orange blossom form the heart, with a woody base is comprised of sandal, cedar and oakmoss, along with spicy coriander and juniper. So do your bit to save the seven seas, and smell pretty ruddy good while you’re doing so. £50 for 125ml | boots.com

Anti-ageing Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Heavy Lifting

A firming, lifting anti-wrinkle moisturiser specifically formulated for men’s coarser skin. Packed with caffeine and vitamin C, it’s also made with glycerin, so it adds moisture without greasiness. Muscular. £38 for 50ml | Exclusive to House of Fraser from September 1; kiehls.co.uk from September 15 48 | August 23 2013 |

Daily-defending LAB Series Daily Moisture Defense Lotion SPF 15

A lightweight formula that provides continuous moisture and environmental defence for fresher, smoother, healthierlooking skin, say the men in white coats in the LAB. Antioxidant protection reconditions, while texture is improved by the reduction of surface cells. FAB. £40 for 100ml | boots.com

Double-teaming Aveda Pure Performance Dual-Action Aftershave

If you’re going for the rugged boarder look and have the chin to pull off being clean-shaven, Aveda’s offering will soothe and relieve razor irritation and burn while minimising ingrown hairs.

Helps rebuild, strengthen and protect skin against the stresses of daily shaving. Cooling. £25 for 75ml | aveda.co.uk

Oil-controlling Anthony Logistics for Men Instant Fix Oil Control

Our Uncle Ant breaks it down like so: “Objective: Erase oil, now. Strategy: Instantly absorb excess grease on contact and keep shine at bay all day.” Easy as that, then, with a moisturiser that controls shine, reduces the appearance of pores and helps reduce breakouts. Logical. £28 for 85g| mankind.co.uk

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Extra time Edurne Garcia Almagro

50 | August 23 2013 |

| 51

magine our excitement when we saw the words ‘nuevo single’ on Edurne García Almagro’s Twitter page. Joder, then, for the Spanish pop singer and girlfriend of Manchester United number one David de Gea is not, as we first thought she was advertising, newly single. Rather, she has recently released a new record: Pretty Boy. That crushing blow was softened, however, by the single in question – about a “prissy, preppy, too-long-to-get-ready pretty boy” – being something of a quotable-lyric goldmine.

Our pick has to be the following couplet: “You get mistaken for a girl ’cause you rock girlie jeans/You wear so much guyliner people think you’re Bon Jovi.”

Not only is it a tribute to the waxwork dummy currently masquerading as Sport’s favourite ageing 1980s rocker, but it goes a long way to explaining why de Gea often shows up between the sticks looking a bit like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Zoinks!

I

Waxing lyrical

Lipstick Syndication

eT

entertainment

DaNgeR zoNe

Ferocious dinosaurs, a killer killer whale and vicious psychopaths who know where to put an apostrophe

Film

Film

The Way, Way Back

Don’t you just hate it when your family reunion in a remote country house is interruted by an arrow flying through a window, killing one of your relatives stone dead? Then a gang of psychos in animal masks begin picking off family members one by one. It’s enough to put you off your cheese fondue. It may sound like a cliché horror set-up, but US indie hit You’re Next puts a fresh spin on the isolated home-invasion slasher.

There’s the Scream-style black humour,

Film

Jurassic Park 3D

Just when you thought they had run out of ways of exploiting – sorry, we mean improving – Steven Spielberg’s dino epic, it’s revamped and released in IMAX cinemas to mark its 20-year anniversary. The chance to see that velociraptor leap toward the screen (not to mention a T-Rex eat a man sat on a toilet) in 3D is, frankly, too awesome to resist.

Out today 52 | August 23 2013 |

deliberate toying with horror movie conventions, unpredictable plot turns, plus an unlikely hero who helps the bickering family begin to turn the tables on their vicious attackers via a series of 18-rated Home Alone housetraps.

None of this is at the expense of some highly effective scares and imaginatively gory kills, however, and we’re kept guessing about the killers’ motives until the finale. A smart, brutal but deliciously enjoyable slice of terror.

Out Wednesday

Blu-ray

Rebellion

A grittier Argo with a French twist, this drama-come-thriller is directed by and stars Mathieu ‘La Haine’ Kassovitz. He plays a crack negotiator attempting to extract 27 hostages held by separatist rebels in France’s South Pacific.

However, the politicians are more concerned about a swift resolution than a peaceful one and, by the film’s end, the bullets start to fly.

Out Monday

Music

DVD

The Shadow of Heaven Money

Manchester quartet believe that heaven is a place on earth (as Belinda Carlisle would have it), and share the light via a series of moody yet curiously uplifting ballads on their debut album.

Goodnight London is a standout song, with its gentle piano melody and crooned Mercury Rev-style vocals. Heavenly stuff.

Out Monday

Blackfish

A murderous, possibly mad killer whale is the star, but this isn’t a film of the Sharktopus variety.

This gripping documentary actually focuses on the dangers of keeping these intelligent animals in captivity by telling the chilling tale of SeaWorld’s orca Tilikum: partly responsible for the deaths of three people, yet still performing to this day.

Out Monday

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Corey Ransberg, ©WWBSP

You’re Next

This superior coming-ofage comedy begins with 14-year-old Duncan being told that he rates a three out of 10 by his mom’s new boyfriend (Steve Carell), who encourages him to “build up that score” over their summer vacation. He finds a far superior role model, however, in Sam Rockwell’s charismatic water park manager, gets a job, snares a hot blonde and perfects his water slide skills. So who’s a three now, eh, Brick Tamland? It may set out along a familiar path, but with the comic gifts of Rockwell and Carell, The Way, Way Back keeps the laughs front and centre.

Out Wednesday

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