G24
| pdf edition | Sunday January 29 2012 Sport
Downloaded 02:57 GMT
Manchester City reject Liverpool’s Andy
Carroll for Carlos Tevez offer
Liverpool offered City a straight swap of the strikers • Tevez likely
to return to Manchester City next week Page 2
Man detained by police over alleged racist
gesture made at Anfield
Merseyside police make arrest after alleged incident • Kenny
Dalglish says booing of Patrice Evra was ‘banter’ Page 2
Andrew Strauss: England’s loss to Pakistan
is the kind that hurts most
‘We just didn’t play well enough, individually or collectively’ •
England’s No1 ranking at risk if they do not win third Test Page 3
Novak Djokovic and José Mourinho ‘tired FA Cup round-up Olympics fever will
Rafael Nadal battle of Real Madrid’ Page 6 help to make 2012
to pass the physical and could return to the year of the bike
Page 4 England Page 5 Sport news in brief Page 6
Page 6
Tiger Woods roars Lionel Messi misfires Nick Coleman: I
into share of lead as Barcelona fall fought going deaf
after Abu Dhabi third further behind Real with a day at the
round Page 4 Madrid Page 5 football Page 8
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396. Registered office: Number 1 Scott Place, Manchester M3 3GG
Page 2 G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
his propensity for causing dressing-room problems and an
apparent dislike of living in England.
Manchester City reject Liverpool’s Andy There is also the fact that, approaching his 28th birthday, he
Carroll for Carlos Tevez offer would not have fitted into Liverpool’s usual policy of buying
players at a young age who will keep a resale value over the
• Liverpool offered City a straight swap course of their contract. Liverpool, however, were willing to
of the strikers • Tevez likely to return to make an exception and City would have been glad to arrange
a deal after unsuccessful talks not just with Milan but also
Manchester City next week
Juventus, Internazionale and Paris St-Germain. They remain
Daniel Taylor open to offers for the Argentinian but will not change their
mind about Carroll.
Liverpool [http://tinyurl.com/42nq4e] have made a remarkable
bid to swap Andy Carroll [http://tinyurl.com/33adp3s] with
Carlos Tevez [http://tinyurl.com/obb3he] and move on their
club-record £35m signing not even a year after signing him from
Man detained by police over alleged
Newcastle United. racist gesture made at Anfield
The Anfield club contacted City on Thursday to ask how
much they want for Tevez and whether they would be willing to • Merseyside police make arrest after
contemplate a straight exchange with Carroll. Brian Marwood,
alleged incident • Kenny Dalglish says
the City football administrator, rebuffed the idea immediately,
even though Carroll is a player Roberto Mancini has admitted
booing of Patrice Evra was ‘banter’
admiring when he was at Newcastle. Paul Wilson and Jamie Jackson
The move demonstrates how Liverpool are now openly
Liverpool [http://tinyurl.com/42nq4e] knocked Manchester
looking at offloading Carroll despite the insistence behind the
United [http://tinyurl.com/bjgxtp] out of the FA Cup but were
scenes at Anfield that he can still play a prominent part and
put on the defensive when the question of racism again raised
Kenny Dalglish’s praise for the player after the 2-1 FA Cup defeat
its head at Anfield. An image of a Liverpool fan appearing
of Manchester United.
to make an offensive monkey gesture was circulated on Twitter,
Carroll has scored only six goals in 35 appearances since
prompting Merseyside police to make an arrest.
becoming the eighth most expensive footballer in history and
Patrice Evra, who became embroiled in the row that led to
has not even been able to establish himself as a regular starter
Luis Suárez being found guilty of racially abusing the United
this season.
defender in the 1–1 draw on 15 October, was booed loudly every
His problems adapting on Merseyside have also left
time he touched the ball during the Cup tie, which Liverpool
Liverpool willing to take a £10m hit on the player, with Tevez
won 2–1.
valued at £25m, though that revelation is hardly surprising
Merseyside police said in a statement: “We can confirm
considering his difficulties at Anfield, added to the sense that he
that a 59-year-old man from North Wales has been arrested
has not always been fully focused.
following an alleged incident. The man has been taken to a
Fabio Capello, the England manager, has already expressed
police station and will be questioned by officers. Merseyside
misgivings about the lifestyle of a player who has managed only
Police would like to thank North Wales Police and Liverpool
two league goals this season in 20 appearances.
Football Club for their assistance with this matter.”
Those remarks went down badly at Anfield, with Dalglish
When Kenny Dalglish [http://tinyurl.com/32s549h] was
defending Carroll, but the questions will probably not go away
asked what he thought of Evra’s every touch being booed, the
until he becomes a regular scorer. Carroll’s longest run of starts
Liverpool manager responded: “Are you winding me up?” He
this season is three games and Marwood’s decision was made
added: “Why would I be disappointed for Evra? I can’t believe
on the basis that he could no longer improve their team even
you have asked that question before anything else. Have you
though Mancini has a shortage of front players at a time when
ever played football? I used to get booed.
Tevez’s strike is in its 11th week and Mario Balotelli is now
“The media has played its part this week in trying to
serving a four-match suspension.
maintain dignity and respect on the pitch and to concentrate
Tevez is planning to return to Manchester next week now
on the game. The behaviour of both sets of players on the pitch
it has become apparent that Milan are not able to meet City’s
was a credit to the game. There was banter between the two
asking price and, unless anything changes before Tuesday’s
sets of fans but it was friendly. There may not have been a lot of
transfer deadline, his adviser, Kia Joorabchian, says the
respect, but both sets of supporters were brilliant. I don’t think
Argentinian wants to re-establish himself in the team.
there was anything there that was untoward.”
Whether that is possible remains to be seen, with Mancini
The Kop joined in several choruses of “There’s only one
not prepared to entertain the idea unless there is an apology
lying bastard”, putting into words what appeared to be the
from Tevez for walking out on the club and the string of other
underlying theme of Liverpool’s defence of Suárez.
offences that have already led to him being found guilty of gross
Queens Park Rangers players took a collective decision
misconduct and losing almost £10m in wages, fines and lost
to back Anton Ferdinand by not shaking hands with their
bonuses since the start of the season.
opponents before their Cup tie with Chelsea [http://tinyurl.
Tevez is still a formidable striker and finished as the league’s
com/5ybu55] at Loftus Road, which they lost 1–0. However,
joint-top scorer last season, but he will be returning to England
the Football Association chose to discard the usual pre-
with a severely damaged reputation and Liverpool’s attempt
match convention. The issue was a concern due to John Terry
to take him along the M62 will surprise many people given
being accused of making a racially abusive slur at Ferdinand in
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
October. Terry will answer the charge, which he denies, at West Needing only 145 to win the second Test in Abu Dhabi and
London magistrates’ court on Wednesday. square the three-match series after their heavy defeat in Dubai
Mark Hughes [http://tinyurl.com/mf64ek], the QPR [http:// last week, they were skittled for 72, their lowest ever total
tinyurl.com/4zkwvw] manager, said: “It was absolutely the against Pakistan, whose spin trio shared all 10 wickets inside 22
correct decision. There was so much tension hinging on such overs of mayhem – led this time by Abdur Rehman, the left-
a brief moment in time, it was clouding the issue: the FA Cup armer who took six, with Saeed Ajmal playing a skilful second
tie. The fact we took it out of the equation was the right thing fiddle.
to do. There were discussions yesterday. We had a meeting as England are now 2-0 down with one to play and therefore
a management and players last night. Chelsea had their views condemned to their first series defeat in 10 since they lost in the
and we all came to the same decision.” West Indies in early 2009, when Strauss linked up with Andy
Pressed if it was because his players may have refused to Flower, the coach, for the first time. This total was their lowest
shake any Chelsea player’s hand, he said: “It could well have since they were all out for 51 in the first Test of that series in
been an issue. Players have to make their own decision. Anton Jamaica, and was also the first time they have lost consecutive
was the guy who had to make his own decision whether to Tests under Strauss and Flower.
shake JT’s hand. Obviously, with the group I’ve got, they It means that they need to win the third Test that starts
wanted to support their team-mate as well. So take it out of back in Dubai on Friday to be sure of remaining at the top of the
the equation. Why give handshakes if they’re not done with International Cricket Council’s world test rankings on 1 April
integrity. If they’re not right, why do them at all?” – when the highest-ranked team receive a prize of $175,000. If
Hughes added he would like to see the handshake England lose the series 2-0 or 3-0, which would be their worst
completely removed from football. “They’re an irritation,” he ever result against Pakistan, they would be in danger of being
said. “I don’t know who dreamed it up, or why people think it’s overtaken by South Africa if they win all three Tests of their
vitally important that people do this. Why not do it like in the series in New Zealand in March.
good old days?” But money was not on Strauss’s mind as he sifted through
After Ferdinand had received a death threat and bullet in the the wreckage of another collective batting flop, in which he top-
post on Friday Hughes admitted that before the defender could scored with 32 without suggesting he is any closer to emerging
face Chelsea, QPR sought advice. He said: “We took direction from his own personal slump.
from the police and security. If they’d communicated anything “I’d struggle to think of a loss that has hurt more than this,”
to us, we’d have communicated to Anton. But it was important he said. “These are the games that hurt the most because you
he went out and faced what he had to, and he’s come away with feel like you’ve done everything you can to win the game and
a lot of credit. then you aren’t able to nail the final nail in the coffin.
“He was sent a letter with some ‘bullet’, pellet, in it. We gave “Sometimes those sort of totals are the hardest to chase
it straight to the police and let them deal with it. There was a because you think you are almost there. It is easy to get caught
letter, too. I’m not going to divulge the contents. We were right between two stools, whether to be patient and wait for scoring
to be concerned with the contents of the letter. It wasn’t nice.” opportunities to appear or take the bull by the horns.”
Terry faced abusive chants throughout the tie but André England did the former, with Strauss and Alastair Cook
Villas-Boas, his manager, was pleased with how he played. crawling to 21 in 15 overs before the collapse began. “We just
“Individually, from John, it was an excellent performance. Very didn’t play well enough, individually or collectively,” the
focused. He managed to get the off-the-field events out of his captain added. “Individually we’ve not been clear enough in
mind and concentrate fully on the game.” our gameplans against spin, we’ve not been clear enough in
Regarding the handshake Villas-Boas added: “It was a wise our methods of where our scoring areas are and we’ve allowed
decision given the expectancy around what could happen pressure to build. It is pretty apparent and clear, there are no
in the handshake. Bearing that in mind, it was wise not to excuses, we need to be better than that.”
do it because it could have had an effect on what happened Asked whether he felt England had failed to prove their right
immediately afterwards. I was informed of the decision 45 to the No1 ranking, Strauss admitted: “As I said at the start of
minutes before the game, maybe 50 minutes.” this tour, this is the final frontier. England teams haven’t done
very well out here [in Asia] in the past. We felt like we had a
great chance to win this series but I think the fact that we got
Andrew Strauss: England’s loss to rolled over twice in Dubai meant that there was some baggage
Pakistan is the kind that hurts most there going into this final innings. Test cricket is hard and it
exposes any vulnerability or weaknesses you have.”
In 19 Tests in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and now the Gulf
• ‘We just didn’t play well enough, since 2001, England have now lost nine, drawn nine, and won
individually or collectively’ • England’s No1 only one – and will now lose their sixth series out of seven.
ranking at risk if they do not win third Test For Strauss’s opposite number, Misbah-ul-Haq, this was
another personal triumph. Since he succeeded the disgraced
Andy Wilson at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium
Salman Butt in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal and a
Andrew Strauss [http://tinyurl.com/75z3kr] admitted that 3-1 series defeat in England late in 2010, Pakistan have now won
England’s batsmen are no closer to solving the mysteries eight, drawn five and lost only one of 14 Tests.
of playing spin in subcontinental conditions as another They may still be some way off England’s official ranking,
humiliating collapse against Pakistan left them in danger of but it is they, rather than Strauss’s team, who would challenge
losing their hard-earned ranking as the world’s No1 Test team South Africa and Australia as the form teams of world cricket.
after only three matches.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
than him in the semi-finals. I played more than five hours at
very high intensity, too. I had only one day and Federer had
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal battle two, no? I recovered for the final, so I think you can say it’s
to pass the physical unfair, yes, but not crazy unfair.
“Really unfair is the US Open when you don’t have a day off
The Australian Open finalists will reignite between semi-finals and final. If the [Friday] match happened
the debate about the heavy workload and in the US Open and the other semi-final is in straight sets, you
are in big trouble for the finals. Having one day off, I believe you
lack of rest in the gruelling men’s game
are not in big trouble.”
Kevin Mitchell at Melbourne Park Destined to forever talk like Poirot, the Spaniard
nevertheless made himself understood well enough.
Rafael Nadal [http://tinyurl.com/5nwpp7] and Novak Djokovic
He said of the Djokovic-Murray match: “The second set was
[http://tinyurl.com/6xnbjky] are agreed: their men’s final of
fantastic. Was really impressive level from both of them. First
the 2012 Australian Open [http://tinyurl.com/cquuld] will
set I didn’t see, but the fourth seems like Andy was very tired.
come down to fitness. It is, after all, the issue that binds the
He wasn’t ready to play the fourth, and [Novak] was much more
entire Tour in common purpose. The players’ insurrection
fresh.
over workload that was spiked in New York and subsided in
“The fifth seems like Andy was very tired, too, because
Shanghai bubbled up again in Melbourne over the past fortnight
Novak have the control of the situation. After playing for four
and is the prevailing backdrop to the men’s game.
hours 50, it’s normal you will be in trouble. Novak plays well
It may not be an issue to inspire a Jarrow march but, for
and match was done. It was an emotional match, and I enjoyed
athletes who red-line their systems in nearly every match
watching on TV.”
beyond the quarter-finals, it is at the core of their self-interest.
As for the final, he said: “He is the favourite after being No1
So, what shape are the finalists in? Both have hinted at
in the world and after playing fantastic and beating me the last
recent problems, Nadal a pinched tendon in his right knee
six times. So just happy to be there.”
that he has strapped throughout, Djokovic a slight ping in his
Just “happy to be there”? Not likely. This could be another
left hamstring and, more worryingly, trouble again with his
war.
breathing, which sapped his energy against David Ferrer and
If Djokovic is fit, he will win – and in all probability more
again against Andy Murray. “I’ve seen a doctor and I’ve talked
easily than he did against Murray.
with a couple of players that have had allergy problems this
year in Australia for no reason,” the defending champion said of
the breathing breakdowns that have twice had him sucking up
air mid-match.
Tiger Woods roars into share of lead
“They are problems they didn’t have in the last couple years. after Abu Dhabi third round
I suppose that’s my problem, as well. I’ve been trying to do
everything possible to clear that out. But we are all surrounded • Woods joint-leader with Robert Rock at 11
with the flowers. It’s really difficult to take that away.
under par • Rory McIlroy two shots behind
Physically, I need to be fit. I know that I maybe have a mental
edge because I’ve won six finals when we played in 2011 and I’ve
after missing fairways
had lots of success against him. Lawrence Donegan in Abu Dhabi
“On the other hand, it’s a new year. It’s a new challenge. It’s
Sunday will bring a winner of the Abu Dhabi Championship,
a different situation. He has maybe a day’s advantage over me
but Saturday provided a definitive answer to the question that
for recovery [having played the first semi-final, against Roger
has gripped the game for the past two years. Can Tiger Woods
Federer on Thursday] and for getting ready for the finals. That’s
[http://tinyurl.com/5dl5a5] ever be the golfer he once was?
going to be my main priority and concern, to physically be able
Check the leaderboard after 54 holes of this, the most
to perform my best and be ready to play five sets. If I am able to
significant tournament of the nascent year, where you will find
do that, then I can believe that I can win.”
Woods’s name alongside that of the Englishman Robert Rock
As for his opponent, Djokovic said: “Roger started off really
and ahead of the world’s four top-ranked players. “I’m playing
well [against Nadal]. It was an incredible effort from Rafa to
well,’’ was all the former world No1 would say when asked to
come back and [hit] some incredible passing shots. That’s why
measure his performance over the first three days against the
he’s a champion. That’s why he’s one of the best players to ever
expectations he had in coming all the way to the Middle East.
play this game. He’s never giving up. He has a fighting spirit. He
It was typical of Woods to give nothing away, but some
has very few weaknesses.”
things even he cannot hide. His six-under-par 66 on Saturday
Some of those have settled around both knees for years
had the effortless air of his halcyon days, not to mention the
now; others visit his shoulder, or his feet. Nadal is never free of
peerless ball striking and controlled power. Not once did he
pain. It is a wonder he plays through it so often and with such
stray outside his comfort zone – always the most telling sign
brilliance.
of how a player feels about his game. For confirmation of that,
“I am enjoying these two days off,” he saidon Saturday. “I
one needed to look no further than Rory McIlroy [http://tinyurl.
practised for two hours, and felt I need to move well the body.”
com/dh65dc], whose round of 68 was two shots worse than his
When it was put to him that Djokovic’s coach reckoned it
exalted playing partner. But while Woods purred along like a
was unfair he had two days’ rest to Nadal’s one, the Mallorcan
Rolls Royce the Northern Irishman coughed and spluttered like
agreed, with qualifications.
a 1995 Volvo with timing problems, especially off the tee, from
“Well, that’s what it is,” he said. “In 2009 I played longer
where he found the rough – and occasionally the desert – too
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page 5 G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
often for comfort. A source close to Mourinho told the Sunday Times that the
Once upon a time, McIlroy might have been unsettled by coach had become exasperated by life at the club. “José is sick
contrast between his play and that of Woods, but he is a fast- and tired of this situation at Madrid. It doesn’t matter if he wins
maturing 22-year-old and, to his credit, he held his composure. this season or not. It’s not about the money. He’s decided to
As he pointed out, he made one bogey – a miracle in the come back to England and he will go in the summer.”
circumstances. The 49-year-old, who earns a net salary of £8.4m at Madrid,
“I just need to concentrate on trying to get the ball in the has previously been linked with both Manchester clubs, while
fairway and giving myself a lot of opportunities, hopefully Chelsea’s relative struggles have raised doubts over André
make a few birdies and put pressure on the guys in front of me,’’ Villas-Boas’s long-term future. Arsène Wenger’s situation at
he said when asked to outline his ambitions for the final round. Arsenal, and the Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp’s links
He is more than capable of doing that, but even then it might to the England job, also raise the possibility of high-profile
not be enough on a day that will start with a dozen players Premier League vacancies at the end of the season.
within four shots of the lead, all of whom have every right to Mourinho was named the world’s best coach in 2010 by Fifa
think they can win. after winning the Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia
Woods and Rocks are tied for the lead at 11 under par, with treble with Internazionale, and a La Liga title this season would
McIlroy and his erstwhile Ryder Cup colleagues Peter Hanson be Madrid’s first in four years.
and Francesco Molinari two shots back. Of the others, Thomas The win over Zaragoza marked a rapid recovery from Real’s
Bjorn, who signed for a third-round 65, and Graeme McDowell, midweek exit from the Copa del Rey at the hands of Barcelona.
who has floated towards the head of the leaderboard with about That defeat prompted a particularly frosty press conference
as much fuss as a butterfly, will be worth watching. Both have [http://tinyurl.com/7q6858g] from Mourinho, who denied
long experience at the very highest level and a well-developed making tactical errors.
eye for victory. Against Zaragoza his side came from behind after Angel
Rock, on the other hand, has one win to his name, at Lafita gave the visitors a surprise early lead at the Bernabeu via
last year’s Italian Open, but there is no denying he can play. a quickly taken free-kick in the 11th minute. But their hopes of a
Whether or not he can withstand the pressure of spending first win since mid-October rapidly disappeared.
the final round in the company of a man he clearly idolises is Kaká squeezed a low shot under Roberto to equalise in the
another issue. “I just want to experience playing with Tiger 32nd minute and Cristiano Ronaldo tapped in his 24th league
because I don’t know how many chances I will get in my life,’’ goal of the season just after the restart. Mesut Ozil scored after a
he said, “though I’m not sure how much sleep I’ll get tonight.” slick move in the 56th and Zaragoza rarely threatened again.
One cannot imagine that Woods will have any trouble getting
to sleep, and not just because the bed in his $5,000-a-night
hotel suite is bound to be particularly comfy. He has been in Lionel Messi misfires as Barcelona fall
this position countless times over the years, as well as in his further behind Real Madrid
past three strokeplay tournaments. The old feelings, like the old
swing and the old aura, are coming back. “My game is getting
Reuters
back. How about that?’’ he said, sidestepping an invitation to
give his game marks out of 10. Barcelona [http://tinyurl.com/3qtgm9] fell seven points behind
Spoken like a man who now knows the answer. Spoken like a La Liga [http://tinyurl.com/6xay6s] leaders Real Madrid after
man who knows that if he does not win on Sunday it will not be drawing 0-0 at lowly Villarreal [http://tinyurl.com/462229] on
long before he does. Saturday.
Barça’s pursuit of a fourth consecutive league title is now an
even tougher task as they seek to catch José Mourinho’s men
José Mourinho ‘tired of Real Madrid’ after yet another poor showing on the road where five draws
and could return to England and one defeat has taken its toll. Real are top on 52 points, with
Barça second on 45.
The European and Spanish champions were down to the
• Portuguese manager fed up of intrigues at bare bones at the Madrigal with Pedro a late addition to their
Real Madrid • Host of top clubs linked with growing injury list that includes the striker David Villa and
former Chelsea manager midfielder Andrés Iniesta.
Lionel Messi [http://tinyurl.com/yaxmt7n] lobbed just wide
Observer staff
during a stale first half as Barça lacked their usual zip against
José Mourinho [http://tinyurl.com/cm85sh] is to leave Real a side who started the day in 17th place, having won their first
Madrid [http://tinyurl.com/3kc66a] at the end of the season in game in 11 attempts last weekend.
order to take up a new job in the Premier League [http://tinyurl. Barça threw men forward near the end, fielding Alexis
com/6yneax], it has been reported. Sánchez as a substitute despite having a shoulder injury, but
Speculation over Mourinho’s future in Spain has increased they could not beat home keeper Diego López.
in recent weeks following a series of public rows, amid The Spanish international denied Messi in a one-on-one in
suggestions that he is being undermined from within the club the closing minutes and with the goal gaping, Cesc Fàbregas
despite their impressive form. Real’s 3-1 win over Real Zaragoza booted the rebound high over the bar to complete a bad night
[http://tinyurl.com/7ltplgl] on Saturday was their 17th league for the visitors.
victory from 20 games, keeping them top of La Liga on 52 Messi said: “The league isn’t over yet, there is still a long way
points. to go. We just lacked a bit of luck tonight. We didn’t play as well
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
as we can do but we created chances and all we lacked was a
goal.”
Sport news in brief
FA Cup round-up • Leicester beat Harlequins to keep LV Cup
hopes alive • Crista Cullen leads as Great
Ian Holloway hails Keith Southern; Kenny Britain beat Japan in hockey
Jackett tells his players to help out Darius Press Association
Henderson; and praise for Birmingham from Leicester kept alive their hopes of a place in the LV Cup semi-
Chris Hughton finals as Ben Pienaar’s second-half try secured a 19-9 win at the
Observer staff Premiership leaders, Harlequins.
In a tight first half, Andy Forsyth’s converted try gave the
Ian Holloway hailed Keith Southern after watching Blackpool’s Tigers a 7-3 lead at the interval, and tries from Alex Lewington
captain for the day marshal his side to a 1-1 draw, two months and Pienaar pulled Leicester clear to inflict Quins’ fourth defeat
after having a tumour removed. The 30-year-old, playing his in the past six games.
first match since November, received a rapturous ovation Wasps’ disastrous season continued as the Exeter captain,
at Bloomfield Road as Blackpool earned a replay via Kevin Gareth Steenson, kicked 15 points to keep his side in the hunt
Phillips’s last-gasp penalty. Holloway said: “I gave Keith the for a semi-finalplace.
captaincy because he thoroughly deserves it. I’ve never known Bath shook off their mid-winter blues with a bonus-point
a bloke mentally as strong as him on and off the pitch. We’re one 46-14 win against Northampton, who were missing 10 players to
big family here.” England and the second-string Saxons. In the last quarter, three
Kenny Jackett told his Millwall players Darius Henderson tries in seven minutes from Olly Woodburn, Stephen Donald
cannot do it all on his own after his late strike against and Charlie Beech sank Saints.
Southampton sealed a replay. The 30-year-old striker, who had The cup holders, Gloucester, progressed with a convincing
scored two hat-tricks in his past two appearances, popped up 40-3 home win against Cardiff.
with the equaliser four minutes from time. Jackett said: “Darius Crista Cullen continued her good run of form with a goal
is on a very good run at the moment and it was a good finish as Great Britain beat Japan 3-0 in the opening match of their
from him for the goal – he put in a good performance and was Champions Trophy campaign in Rosario, Argentina.
a real threat for us again. But we really didn’t do enough off of Cullen, who scored three in a warm-up event last week,
him, we didn’t quite capitalise enough on his skills although I opened her team’s account in the 21st minute with a powerful
didn’t think we deserved to get beaten.” drag flick from the first penalty corner of the game.
Chris Hughton heaped praise on his Birmingham, side after Helen Richardson and Alex Danson also scored to put Great
they reached the fifth round by thrashing Sheffield United. Britain on top of Pool A.
Adam Rooney scored twice with Nathan Redmond and Wade
Elliott also finding the net against the League One side.
Hughton said: “I’m as delighted with the clean sheet and the Olympics fever will help to make 2012
performance as I am with the goals. We had to weather a bit
early in the game. They were certainly a threat but then we got
the year of the bike
into our rhythm and the timing of our goals was important.
We’re enjoying playing and that breeds confidence.” The success of Mark Cavendish and
The new Stevenage manager, Gary Smith, was delighted expectations for the Games have raised
by the outcome of his first match in charge – the win secured cycling’s profile – and the sport is now
via an own goal from Damion Stewart. Stewart almost made
bringing a £3bn boost to the economy
amends at the end but Chris Day clawed his effort off the line.
Smith said: “This finishes off what has been a great week. It Zoe Wood
is a long time since I have met a group of players so spirited.
It is only January, but this year has already been christened the
Some people said there was a lot of pressure on me because the
“year of the bike”. The international success of British stars
team were on the up but it is nice to come in and win to keep
such as Mark Cavendish and Victoria Pendleton has already
momentum. Those guys still have things to get used to about
raised expectations that the Olympics will result in a cycling
me but they’ve been great and settled so quickly.”
[http://tinyurl.com/cmc3t7] boom.
As the countdown to the Games continues, retail sector
*
watchers at investment bank Barclays Capital think 2012 will be
big for both Cavendish’s professional racing outfit, Team Sky,
and the general public, who are embracing the grassroots Sky
Ride campaign, which aims to get a million more people cycling
regularly by next year.
Compare and buy “We expect the cycle market to grow by 5% in 2012, with
Use our free independent comparison the Games the main driver of growth,” said the investment
services to switch suppliers and save bank’s retail analyst, Christodoulos Chaviaras. He thinks this
money on all your household bills. summer’s Games will deliver welcome news for chains such as
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page 7 G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
Halfords, which has bicycles designed by both track sprint star boost, or “gross cycling product” as he puts it, to the UK
Pendleton and Chris Boardman, the former world champion economy in 2010, if you include manufacturing as well as retail
time trialistVictoria Pendleton and commentator. sales and jobs. His study estimated that 13 million Britons
“We expect the 2012 Olympics to act as a substantial catalyst are now cyclists, and reported that 3.7 million bikes had been
for Halfords cycle sales,” said Chaviaras. “We expect Boardman sold in 2010, almost a third more than in 2009. “The growth
bikes especially to pick up given the association of the name in involvement we’ve witnessed in recent years feels like a
with the British cycling team’s success.” sustainable trend for the first time,” he said.
The signs look good. After Team GB’s medal bonanza at the Halfords boss David Wild said its new Pendleton range,
2008 Beijing Olympics, Tesco reported a 130% rise in bicycle which goes on sale in March, would provide another “strong
sales in the following weeks. opportunity” for its cycle business, which has continued to
After years buried in newspapers’ sports sections, cycling grow over the last year despite the high street downturn. The
is now big news, thanks to the likes of Cavendish and his Sky Ride campaign runs women-only events through its Breeze
teammate Bradley Wiggins [http://tinyurl.com/6ne5ejr], network and Wild said the bikes, which will start at around
who won two gold medals on the track at Beijing. Cycling’s £300, “should appeal to women who want to make cycling a
rise to its position as one of the most popular sports in the part of their daily lives”.
UK was highlighted in December when Cavendish, who last Bike shops and websites such as Wiggle are also benefiting
year became the first Briton to win the world road racing from a growing obsession with cycling and triathlons among
championship for 46 years and the first ever to win the Tour “Mamils” – an analysts’ acronym for “middle-aged man in
de France’s green jersey for top sprinter, was voted BBC Sports Lycra” – who have swapped teeing off at the golf course on a
Personality of the Year. Cavendish used his acceptance speech Saturday morning for gruelling climbs.
to point out that winning the BBC accolade in a non-Olympic Another important group has been dubbed the
year – triple gold medal winner Sir Chris Hoy was awarded it “performance activists”. These train as if they too are chasing
after the Beijing Games – demonstrated just how fast the sport’s a gold medal, clocking up several hundred kilometres on their
appeal was growing. bike every week. “They push themselves hard in their training,
Cycling’s ever-increasing popularity comes as further details it’s not just about keeping fit,” says Cobbold. “They are happy
emerged of film director Danny Boyle’s plans [http://tinyurl. to spend the same amount of money on their bike as on a
com/7apmvc9]for the £81m opening ceremony at the Games. decent secondhand car.” These 25- to 45-year-olds only account
A 27-tonne bell inscribed with a line from Shakespeare’s The for about of 30% of cyclist numbers, but some 70% of the
Tempest – “Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises” – will form spending in the £1.5bn-a-year market.
the centrepiece of the ceremony, and Cavendish is one of the The two groups have fuelled demand for weekend races,
main contenders to lead out the British team. or sportives, which have mushroomed from around 30 a year
Nearly 900,000 viewers tuned in to watch the “Manx to more than 300 in the last decade. Tickets for events like the
missile’s” astonishing burst of speed over the final 250m of the 190km Dragon Ride, which involves huffing and puffing over
cobbled Champs Elysées in last year’s Tour de France. ITV4, the Brecon Beacons, sold out within two hours.”It feels like
which broadcast the whole race, revealed the audience tuning there are enough things going positively for us,” said Cobbold,
in for the Tour highlights had been more than 30% bigger than who added: “So there’s a reasonable case that this year’s going
the previous year. to be the year of the bike.”
“Cycling has come back into the mainstream in the last FITNESS
five years,” said Humphrey Cobbold, who runs the cycling Bike computer apps such as MapMyRide (free), BikeMateGPS
and triathlon website Wiggle, where sales have more than (£1.99-£2.73), and Cycle Meter (iPhone, £2.99) offer both a
quadrupled over the same period to reach nearly £90m. In an route map and the ability to log your location, speed, distance
otherwise bombed-out retail sector, sales of bikes and cycling and even calories burned, as well as linking results to social
kit are holding up. Cobbold said specialist shops were now networking sites to track the progress made by you and your
considered recession-proof, not least as soaring petrol prices friends.
meant commuting to work on two wheels made financial sense.
SAFETY
Last year the membership of British Cycling, the national
Free dedicated bike GPS apps such as CycleStreets and the
governing body, broke through 40,000 – double its 2007 figure
Bike Hub Cycle Journey Planner let you plan bike friendly
– and the organisation now hopes to have 100,000 members by
routes in both the city and countryside within the UK, noting
2013.
the quietest roads as well as bike paths and short-cuts to avoid
Cycle clubs are reporting a rise in recruits, while the internet
traffic.
is abuzz with forums such as those on bikeradar.com [http://
tinyurl.com/224w9g], where more than 200,000 enthusiasts log MAINTENANCE
on to swap tips on hot topics such as “commuting in the dark”. Bike Doctor (£1.79-£2.99) gives expert advice and instruction
Another sign of the sport’s growing appeal is the success of on bike maintenance, from puncture repair to the best way to
David Millar’s recent memoir, Racing Through the Dark, [http:// clean and fine tune your bike as well as a pictorial system to
tinyurl.com/7wby3f7] which recounts his comeback from a help you find the source of problems and more than 30 detailed
two-year doping ban in 2004 to winning the silver medal in the tutorials.
world championship time trial four years later. The gripping tale ALTERATION
has clearly made it on to the bookshelves of many non-cyclists. Not one for beginners, the Bicycle Gear Calculator (iPhone,
Alexander Grous, an academic at the London School of £2.99) lets you calculate gear ratios and gear inches using your
Economics, has calculated that cycling provided a near £3bn bike’s measurements, making it invaluable for conversions,
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
refits or anyone building a bike from scratch. movement: make the twist into one motion and the launch into
LONDON a second…
Ideal for bikers in the capital, London Bike Shop (iPhone, That was the morning routine for a number of weeks. But
£1.49) quickly finds your nearest specialist if you have on that first day none of these routines had been established.
mechanical trouble, plus useful locations such as cycle-friendly Everything was new and everything was frightening. The
cafes, and call-out repair services. For casual bikers London compass of my vision was now widescreen and slotty, its outer
Bike (iPhone, 69p) and Cycle Hire (free) both offer tips and edges a blur. Nausea hung in me like fog. The sensation of
location maps for the TfL Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. pressure in the front-right quadrant of my head felt hydraulic. I
would surely feel better soon.
I didn’t though. Not unless you count the slide into oblivion
Nick Coleman: I fought going deaf with a every night, ushered in via the soft hands of Temazepam, or
the hungry euphoria that followed digestion of the morning’s
day at the football steroid dose; the euphoria was short-lived, of course, and
swiftly followed by a slump into inanition. Instead, as day
When the writer lost his hearing, he lost his followed day, the overbright world darkened and I sank like a
ability to enjoy the pastimes he loved. Here stone. With neither diagnosis nor prognosis to act as a line to
he describes his comeback drag me into the future and with no sense of improvement to
buoy me from within, I plunged into depression; not any old
Nick Coleman depression but a kind I did not recognise from past experience.
I opened my eyes, then closed them again. Everything was too The sense of separation from self bordered on the total.
bright – the ceiling, the walls, the light coming through the That’s the trouble with cognitive breakdown. When your tools
windows, the light reflected in the edges of the white-painted for interpreting the world stop working, you cease to feel like
bookshelves which line the loft in which we sleep. The edges of the same person. You are not the same person. Not really. And
my vision were unstable; something – I’m not sure what – was you know that things may well get an awful lot worse before
moving there. I dragged myself together and felt every nerve in they start to get better – if they’re to get any better at all – and
my body shape itself as full consciousness returned. who’s to know what “better” might mean, because no one’s
This much at least was clear to me: I was fresh out of hospital telling you anything anyway. “Better” might just mean “no
and I was not at all well. But how unwell? And unwell with worse”. And that’s when words like “disabled” start to incur on
what? The hospital clearly hadn’t much of an idea. your thinking.
“Am I going to get it back?” I asked, repeatedly, trying not to You then stop thinking.
be a bore. “My hearing is my most important sense. Well, to me After two months’ bed-bound misery, I’d had enough. I
it is. I need both ears for work. Music is my greatest passion in decided that I would do what any rational Saxon housecarl
life. I do it a bit, too. I’d rather lose an eye, a foot…” would do when he is no longer in a position to stand up straight
“Sit tight,” they’d said. “Sudden Neurosensory Hearing or sit unsupported, walk fluently, see clearly, hear properly
Loss can arise for a number of reasons and can have a variety or countenance any sound louder than the intimate scrape of
of impacts, none of them very comfortable. Trouble is, it’s a turning page. I decided to go to the football.
impossible to give a clear picture of what they might be or My wife Jane has since rationalised this decision as the
precisely why you lost your hearing in the first place. Literally neurotic reflex of a tightwad: I simply couldn’t bear the waste of
impossible. So sit tight and see what happens.” my Arsenal [http://tinyurl.com/3fh47r] season ticket. And it’s
And so, following five days’ immobilisation in a hospital bed, true. I was missing game after game after game. Other people
benefitting from the occasional lordly but uninformative visit were using my ticket, to sit on my seat at the Emirates among
from a senior doctor and from the ingestion of a lot of steroids my friends. Unbearable. But there was more to it than that:
and oxygen, I’d been discharged without a formal diagnosis or something quite weird and atavistic in the impulse.
any form of prognosis. I hadn’t a clue what was going on. It was an arousing feeling. There was a cold rush in the very
This much was evident: I had no hearing whatsoever in thought of it. Fuck. Yes. Football. That would hurt. Let’s do it.
one ear, ruined hearing in the other, and the inside of my head So I donned earplugs, headphones and a thick woolly hat
raged with tinnitus, which fizzled, hissed and clanked around that covered the lot, heaved myself out of the car on Highbury
the clock like a detuned radio. I was unable to stand or even Hill and shuffled with two sticks towards the stadium, bent
sit up unsupported. I felt terrifying pressure inside my head. like a tiny cripple in a strange hat in a crowd in a painting by
I couldn’t see terribly well. Bruegel.
And now I was back home in my own bed. This was the first There is something emotionally ravaging about not being
morning of my new life. able to stand up straight. It is wounding to the point of
I braced myself to turn on to my side and contrive the series humiliation. Not for nothing do we straighten our backs when
of lunging yet smooth movements I’d have to make to get to the we are beset. We straighten them and we face down whatever
bathroom. When every little movement you make ends with it is that’s coming. Our pride is in our straightened backs. It is
a struggle not to throw up, you not only limit movement but literally there, in the electricity between the vertebrae.
you predetermine it. You look at the space and make plans. You I shuffled and shuffled. Squinted. Sucked in the burger
think: OK, from here to the corner of the bookshelves you can stench. I adopted the language the warrior would understand.
do in one longish stride; but getting up from the bed is going Used it out loud to myself. “Come on, come on. This is fucking
to be awkward because it will entail twisting and travelling in easy.” And as I approached the stadium a new thought formed.
two directions within the same movement – so break up the Oh no. They search bags. You can’t take stuff into the ground,
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
least of all weapons or things that might be used as a weapon, Afterwards, he walked me up Highbury Hill to where Jane
like gnarly old walking sticks. They’ll have my sticks off me. I’ll waited in the car. I was high as a kite. Deaf as a post, squinty,
have to go straight home. Jesus, after all this… unsteady as a pig on a frozen mere. But high as a kite. It was
At which point a familiar burly figure in a luminous steward’s as high as I have ever been legally. I went straight to bed and
jacket disengaged himself from the thicket around turnstile D stayed there for four days.
and approached at a saunter. What do you learn from such experiences? From losing
‘Yes, all right, sir?’ he said. faculties? You don’t learn anything – you just do the losing and
Oh well. Here we go. Wonder if he’ll bother to be polite. then carry on. For sure, you discover that words like “better”
Wonder what he’s been trained to say. Wonder if any of my and “worse” have infinitely more calibrations than you ever
friends are in the queue. If so, maybe the stewards would hang thought possible before, and you become almost infinitely
on to the sticks while I get walked into the ground in the grip of patient in your study of what those calibrations reveal. But
Matt or Paul or Kevin? I could pick them up again when I come there isn’t anything to be learned; only endured.
out at half-time. Yes, that would make sense. And you endure it all by becoming all function, no reflection.
“All right, sir, here we go.” And I felt a hand on my shoulder. You become very bloody-minded, almost dumbly so. Once you
“Easy now. Would you like some more help?” have sufficient strength to marshall yourself, you go to war.
Oh. Right. No, I’m fine, thanks. Just a bit slower than usual. This is an edited extract of The Train in the Night: a Story of
Um, so you’re not going to take the sticks off me then? Music and Loss [http://tinyurl.com/7rrg5m4], with additional
“Wha’? ‘Course not. OK, here we go…” And the steward, one material by the author. To order a copy for £13.59 with free UK
arm out in front clearing a path, the other resting protectively p&p, click on the link or call 0330 333 6846
on my shoulder, gently shoved me through the throng to the
turnstile, where he offered to put my ticket through the reader,
then reached over my head to push the metal bars of the The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
turnstile to keep the momentum going and ensure my ingress – review
was as smooth as a greased baby’s. Once inside, tears came
suddenly like a sneeze. They came because of the steward’s
gentleness and kindness – and because this is what it is to be
College baseball is the backdrop to an
handicapped. There was a kind of reeling self-pity in the tears. engrossing if sometimes implausible tale of
I waited for them to dry in the gents, facing the wall, as male bonding
warriors do, then made my way to my seat where football
Adam Mars-Jones
convention required that no verbal fuss was made. Instead I
was patted a lot and given plenty of elbow room. It felt churlish Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding [http://tinyurl.com/
to point out that elbow room was the last thing I needed. What 6pgtn6f] cross-breeds two genres with limited gene pools,
was actually desirable was a jovial cramming together, so that the baseball novel and the campus novel, and comes up
I’d be clamped in an upright position. But what can you do? The with a vigorous hybrid, entertaining and engrossing, though
hubbub in the stadium before kick-off was grotesque. While almost absurdly high-minded. There are only a few passages
I wobbled and grinned and nodded as if I had a clue what they of unrelieved sporting technicality (“Rick O’Shea laced a
were saying, Matt, Paul and Kev filled me in on everything I’d one-hopper to the Amherst third baseman, who set in motion
missed in the season so far, against the background chat of an easy double play”) and even these are supported by the
60,000 other souls. emotional narrative.
Splash crash lash. Nod. Grin… The story begins and ends with Mike Schwartz, all-
Oddly though, once the match started and the volume level round undergraduate athlete and driven man, and Henry
in the stadium increased to operational norms, I felt less pain: Skrimshander, who can do only two things, namely place his
there was a focused rhythm to the communal bellyaching that catcher’s mitt exactly where the ball will arrive off a player’s
was almost soothing. I seemed to notice the discomfort less, bat and then throw it with great force and accuracy to where
even as it crashed through my head like a train. it needs to be. He is a natural genius as a shortstop, possessor
Boxers talk about how a good punch will set off an explosion of something closer to a superpower than a talent. Henry’s
inside your head. And then the lights go out. It is as if the profound knack isn’t integrated into anything much resembling
delivery of the punch and the receipt of the punch are two a personality, so he must learn to function socially and
events and the explosion is a third one. It is not a pain that emotionally, and also to deepen his game in areas other than
you feel on the point of your chin, but a discrete event that his mysterious gift, his ability to respond to a response almost
takes place inside your skull as a consequence of the punch, before it has taken place. All of this Mike Schwartz, unresenting
disconnected in feeling from the point of impact. Boof! Salieri to this unlikely Mozart of the baseball diamond, makes
Afterwards, you do not remember the punch landing. possible by getting Henry accepted at his own college of
Similarly, after labouring prettily for nine 10ths of the match Westish in north-eastern Wisconsin.
against a resolute Wigan defence, Arsenal scored, the captain This sort of relationship between young men once attracted
William Gallas burying a header. I know this because that is no attention by the intensity of its innocence. The feelings it
what I was told, but I can’t actually remember the ball hitting channelled were the ones that powered not just sporting events
the net. What I remember is the explosion in my head as the but armies and empires. Then the Kinsey report was published,
crowd reacted. The neural jolt. And I remember the lights and innocence seemed either self-deception or ruse. The
flickering, and I remember being caught by Matt, who thought buddy movie has never gone away, though recently renamed
he was giving me a hug. the bromance, but it can often seem unsure of itself. Even the
simplest attitude is mined with contradictions, as when Homer
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page 10 G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
Simpson, unreflecting homophobe, on being informed by The Art of Fielding seems to set out to destroy, singlehanded
tactful Marge that the local antiques dealer prefers the company if need be, any idea that college sport is an overfunded
of men, replies, “Who doesn’t?” and culturally narrow distraction from the real business of
One classic way of making it easier to examine non-sexual education. When Owen says to coach Cox, “I trust you don’t
closeness between men is to include in the story someone who object to having a gay man on your team,” he replies, “The only
is unambiguously gay (think of Richard Griffiths as Uncle Monty thing I object to is Schwartz playing football. It’s bad for his
[http://tinyurl.com/7rbzvrj] in Withnail and I), reassuringly of knees,” which can hardly be the whole truth. There’s a Mormon
a different species. This seems to be happening in The Art of on the team, too, but he seems equally accepting. Crowds at
Fielding when a character introduces himself to Henry with ball games seem to find nothing funny about a player named
the words, “My name’s Owen Dunne. I’ll be your gay mulatto Quentin Quisp (conceivably Harbach’s homage to Queequeg).
roommate.” Such generically engineered characters are To paraphrase a remark made at one point by the chairperson of
usually solitaries or else in stable relationships, their sexuality the Committee for Student Affairs, I know Westish is supposed
safely earthed. That’s how it is with Owen, happily involved to be a liberal arts college, but can it really be that liberal?
with Jason, but then the formula mutates and becomes more There are so many references to high culture that college
challenging. baseball comes to resemble some sort of offshoot of Mensa.
For one thing, Owen tries out for the baseball team and Mike Schwartz quotes Schiller in a pre-game pep talk. Owen
is accepted. His style is fluid, utterly unmacho, but no less reads Kierkegaard in the dugout. Introduced to Pella, Schwartz
effective for that. Then he breaks up with Jason and becomes correctly identifies her name as that of a city sacked by the
involved with the college president Guert Affenlight, across Romans in 168BC. Even Henry’s point of view dwells on Homer
a number of boundaries – race, age and previous orientation, rather than Homer Simpson. All of this would be laughable if it
since Affenlight has never before had feelings for a man. Indeed was done with less conviction.
he has a grownup daughter, Pella, who arrives back at Westish On the book’s first page there’s an elementary slip in the
at about this point in the plot, after the break-up of an impulsive point of view, with a reference to Mike Schwartz letting
marriage that derailed her academic career. “his huge aching back” relax against a chain-link fence. Any
These four principals in the story are all young, in their creative-writing instructor would point out that Mike may
early 20s, but each has been supplied with some paradoxical feel the ache but hardly the hugeness, which is information
element cutting across mere youth. Mike Schwartz’s body is aimed squarely at the reader. Perhaps Harbach has let it stand
already letting him down, his knees above all, since his athletic with the affectionate confidence of a driver who decides, after
versatility brings with it continuous punishment. Henry, passing his test, not to respray the scratch in the coachwork that
aside from his gift, is like a reclusive little old man. Owen’s happened the first time he took the wheel.
intellectual precocity and self-protective fogeyish manner
age him, while Pella’s precocious sense of failure gives her the
complex attraction of the older woman. Then there’s always Super League ready to keep on trucking
her father, 60 but very spry, to act not as a shortstop but as a with some eye-catching changes
longstop for those readers unable to identify with puppies,
however wounded.
Henry the genius shortstop has links with Roy Hobbs in
With new sponsorship, a new stadium at St
Bernard Malamud’s The Natural [http://tinyurl.com/87l4b5k] Helens and a rebranded London Broncos,
(Hobbs calls his bat Wonderboy, just as Henry calls his mitt Super League is going places
Zero), but The Art of Fielding has deeper affinities with William
Andy Wilson
Maxwell’s [http://tinyurl.com/88geyaj] wonderful novel The
Folded Leaf, published in 1945, at about the last possible Visibility has been rugby league [http://tinyurl.com/63subf]’s
moment before Kinsey’s report made lack of definition seem biggest problem since well before the switch to a summer
like evasion. Maxwell’s heroes, Spud and Lymie, have feelings Super League [http://tinyurl.com/4axm5w] season in 1996,
for the same woman, just as Mike Schwartz and Henry both and the clash with the London Olympics – an unavoidable and
become involved with Pella. unwinnable issue for all other sports that are operating this
The book’s references, though, are mainly to Melville. July and August – presented the threat of the code’s lowest
There’s some pretext for this, since Guert Affenlight as a young profile yet. But on Wednesday the faces of some of the game’s
man discovered the transcript of a historically unlikely lecture leading players will become more familiar to anyone who has
given at Westish by Melville in 1880 (he went on to write a the misfortune to spend a large chunk of their time on UK
book on, guess what, “the homosocial and the homoerotic in motorways, as a fleet of Eddie Stobart lorries rumble along
nineteenth-century American letters”), but a baseball trophy the M62 from their Widnes base to Old Trafford to launch a
is not a white whale and Mike Schwartz, stern team captain controversial new sponsorship deal, and the 17th Super League
though he is, bears no resemblance to Ahab. Henry’s surname, season.
Skrimshander, suggests scrimshaw, the whittling of whale ivory Anyone stuck behind a smiling Sam Tomkins or Kevin
as practised by sailors, and his team-mate Starblind recalls Sinfield might briefly wonder if this is a strange new form of
Melville’s Starbuck. Harbach is shrewd enough to withhold fuel protest, and Castleford are so short of players they might
a reference where it would seem to be compulsory [http:// consider asking the former Great Britain prop Dean “Diesel”
tinyurl.com/7vhgp2a], when Affenlight the Melville scholar Sampson to come out of retirement. But the Super League
is surprised by the quality of the chowder turned out by the clubs who voted 9-5 to accept the Stobart deal, which does not
college kitchen. involve any hard cash, ahead of an alternative offer from Betfair
coming in at around £750,000 per year should be congratulated
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk
Page 11 G24 Sport Sunday January 29 2012 02:57 GMT
for having the vision to allow the sport to enjoy a rare spell on he won 13 caps for Italy.
the moral high ground. The reborn Broncos take on Saints at The Stoop next
The winter’s major controversy – Hull’s cover-up of a Saturday afternoon in one of the highlights of the opening
positive drug test for the former Great Britain centre Martin round.
Gleeson last season – provided a reminder of Gleeson’s previous
spell in the headlines and the dangers of aligning too closely
with the sports-betting business. Gleeson and Sean Long,
the mostly lovable rogue who has made an intriguing switch
from poacher to gamekeeper by joining the coaching staff at
Salford – literally in his case, as he used to make night raids on
the fields of south-west Lancashire as a lad, looking for rabbits
with his father – used Stan James rather than Betfair when they
bet against their own St Helens team in a game at Bradford on
Easter Monday 2001.
By choosing Stobart over Betfair, the clubs have gained
access to marketing exposure worth up to £2.5m per year,
according to professional experts, in exchange for less than
£50,000 each in cash – the cost of a jobbing overseas player.
There are plenty of those around already, with the usual bunch
of unlikely and undistinguished imports joining the clubs who
have tended to occupy Super League’s lower reaches as they
scramble to strengthen their squads sufficiently to challenge for
a play-off place.
But there are some attractive additions, too, especially at the
top end of the table, as fears that the growing financial strength
of the National Rugby League and the Australian dollar would
prevent any high-calibre overseas signings have so far proved
alarmist, with nine former NRL Grand Finalists on the move.
Warrington, who finished top of the table, for the first
time, in 2011 only to be denied a first Grand Final appearance
by Leeds, have signed Trent Waterhouse, a tall ball-playing
forward who played five times for Australia, and 12 for New
South Wales. St Helens, for whom the pain of a fifth consecutive
Grand Final defeat last autumn has given way to excitement
about a new era in their stylish new Langtree Park stadium
– complete with a halo-shaped roof – have bolstered their
backs with the experienced New Zealander Lance Hohaia,
and their pack with the tough Australian Anthony Laffranchi.
They should be the early pacesetters, despite the loss of their
irreplaceable captain James Graham to the Canterbury Bulldogs
in Sydney, with Warrington, Wigan, the champions, Leeds, and
possibly the Catalan Dragons the most likely challengers as the
season goes on.
Even battling Wakefield Trinity have signed Steve Southern,
a nuggety second-row from Newcastle Knights although his
Grand Final appearance came with the North Queensland
Cowboys back in 2005. Southern and Trinity will open the
Stobart Super League at the Stobart Stadium in Widnes on
Friday night as the Cheshire club, who have been backed for
a while by the pukka truckers, have been awarded the first
televised fixture of Sky’s new five-year deal to mark their return
to the elite after a six-year absence.
But the most eye-catching recruitment has been carried out
further south. London Broncos have not only been rebranded,
after six seasons as Harlequins, but also refinanced, and their
dozen new signings include five former NRL Grand Finalists –
Michael Robertson and Shane Rodney, who were both members
of the Manly team who beat Hohaia’s New Zealand Warriors
last September, plus Antonio Kaufusi, Mark Bryant and most
intriguingly Craig Gower, an Australia tourist as far back as 1997
who returns to league after four years in rugby union in which
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 guardian.co.uk