Spot of polo to close US tour has Prince Harry champing at the bit
After a week of shaking hands with various dignitaries, Harry was happy get back on familiar turf amid the chaps and chukkas
Prince Harry rode on to the pitch at 3pm, after a morning of rain and before 400 shivering spectators. It was the last day of his week-long US tour and he was finally allowed some relief: a polo match in Greenwich, Connecticut, where the guests – who only marginally outnumbered the media – didn't require him to sympathise or offer encouragement; merely to ride a horse. (Although the match was, of course, for charity).
In contrast to rowdier responses he has had on this trip, the Greenwich crowd applauded politely. For several hours, they had been arriving in cream-coloured Rolls-Royces and silver Range Rovers, to pick their way around the sodden edge of the polo field and keep up brave smiles for the cameras.
This was not a celebrity event. Previous polo matches played by the prince in the US have attracted the likes of Madonna, but Greenwich Polo Club solicits a more discreet crowd. "Jason Wu and a bunch of models," was how one TV anchor despairingly described it, but it was older and wealthier than that, skewed less towards fashion than society; many of the women's hats were the size of unfolded tortillas, and stewards handed them what looked like small coasters, to attach to their heels and prevent them from sinking into the mud.
If Harry's stroll along the Jersey shore with New Jersey governor Chris Christie was a moment of cognitive dissonance, Greenwich was familiar turf for the prince: rolling green fields, mature trees, multi-million dollar houses and local residents who, in statements to the press that defied the mild fun being poked at them, spoke of celebrating the Queen's birthday every year and maintaining an enthusiasm for bunting.
The match itself, divided into four chukkas, was as impenetrable as polo always is to non-polo players – the whole thing might have been invented by JK Rowling – no more so than when the commentator praised Harry for "working both sides of the horse." It wasn't always clear when a goal had been scored, but during the course of the game something else become clear. To witness the prince, flame-cheeked, thunder up and down the field waving a mallet, was to understand for the first time the appeal of the game to those whose lives are otherwise lived in a straitjacket. Having watched him submit to the school-trip like earnestness of royal tour for a week, it was any wonder he didn't jump the fence and steer the horse westward to freedom.
His team won the match, and the consensus seems to be that Harry has won with this tour, cruising through his public appearances with the easy charm he displayed in Jamaica last year, and, to the palace's relief no doubt, slightly less charm than he displayed in Las Vegas. There were awkward moments, mostly brought on by the anachronism of deference in a non-deferential age (in fact, if these tours teach us anything, it's that the condition of royalty is fundamentally embarrassing.) But there were some touching ones, too, notably the prince saluting in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington cemetery and laying a wreath with a note, reminiscent of another note by Harry, on another wreath.
The biggest winner at the polo, meanwhile, apart from Sentebale, the Lesotho children's charity in whose aid it was played, was Peter Brant, the owner of the Greenwich polo venue, whose clubhouse is decorated with several Andy Warhols and a sculpture of his wife, Stephanie, cupping her naked breasts and looming out from the wall like a taxidermy stag's head. (Google it for pictures; you won't regret it). Prince Harry walked past it on his way to lunch without comment, which displayed both the advantages and drawbacks of the tactful younger royals. As with so much in life, it was a moment that really cried out for Prince Phillip.
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Sports Direct sorry for false story linking Newcastle with Wayne Rooney
• 'SportsDirect News wishes to express its sincere apologies'
• Rooney article 'published without authority … and is untrue'
The website of Sports Direct, the retail company owned by the Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, has apologised for publishing a story suggesting that the club were trying to sign Wayne Rooney from Manchester United, admitting that it was untrue.
The striker, who was targeted by Newcastle before he moved to United from Everton in 2004, is contemplating a transfer from Old Trafford, with Sir Alex Ferguson claiming after his final home game in charge that the forward has asked to leave the club. A number of clubs have been linked with Rooney and Sports Direct claimed that Newcastle were in the hunt.
The original story, which has been removed from the site, read: "Newcastle United are preparing a shock bid for want-away Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. SportsDirect News has learned the Magpies have already sounded out Rooney's agent over a potential move, with United keen to offload the 27-year-old.
"Rooney is seen as a perfect candidate to boost the Magpies' chances of a top-four tilt next season – and is seen as a man who will be hero-worshipped at St James' Park."
The article, which has appeared on the company's website, also quoted a source "close to negotiations" who said: "Newcastle see Wayne as their ideal player. He's a strong centre-forward, would relate to the fans and would be a massive boost to the club's brand name. Low-level conversations have already been held between Newcastle and Rooney's agent, though the two clubs haven't spoken directly yet."
Sceptics were quick to argue that the story was intended to increase the number of hits on the Sports Direct website in a blatant publicity stunt, and the company later published a retraction.
It read: "SportsDirect News wishes to express its sincere apologies to Wayne Rooney and Triple Sports and Entertainment Group for publishing the article 'Newcastle in shock Rooney bid', which was formulated and published without authority, merit and is untrue."
Ashley rebranded St James' Park the Sports Direct Arena in November 2011 but the stadium returned to its original name last year.
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Cold threatens Wiggins' hopes
• Fourth-placed Sky rider's chances of podium finish at risk
• 'I've a chest infection and a head cold,' says Briton
Sir Bradley Wiggins's chances of winning the Giro d'Italia or finishing on the podium may be compromised by ill-health, as the Tour de France winner explained after the conclusion of stage 11 in north-east Italy. "I'm not feeling very good at the moment. I've had a pretty rough 24 hours," Wiggins said after holding on to his fourth place overall at the stage finish at Vajont.
"I've got a chest infection and a head cold. Fortunately on these kind of stages, there's just a bit of fighting and you can get through them and hide a little bit. I just want to try and fight through it and hope that in a few days time I'll be all right. Most of the team has been sick. It seems to last three or four days and then you get better." Most notably, Wiggins's team-mate Dario Cataldo suffered for a couple of days after the race start in Naples, but his strong performance on Tuesday's mountain stage indicated that he had regained his best form.
With the 2012 Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal's chances of a repeat victory gone west, his Garmin-Sharp team went on the offensive on Wednesday, and with the overall contenders content to mark each other on the final climb, the American squad claimed victory through their Lithuanian Ramunas Navardauskas.
He was one of a 20-rider move that went clear after a hectic first hour of racing. No fewer than 20 of the 23 teams were represented and the move was given its head by the race leader, Vincenzo Nibali, and his Astana squad. Only three of the 20 remained to fight out the finish, with Navardauskas escaping eventually with the Italian Daniel Oss and eluding his breakaway companion with five uphill kilometres remaining.
Navardauskas carved out a lead of over a minute at the finish, sited to commemorate a disaster of 50 years ago when a landslide caused a lake to overflow into a valley, killing more than 2,000 people. This was the biggest career win for the 25-year-old, nicknamed the Honey Badger, who last year became the first Lithuanian to wear the pink race leader's jersey in the Giro.
The riders with an interest in the overall standings remained together over the main climb, the long, dragging Sella Ciampigotto, which came midway through the stage, and on the seven-kilometre ascent to the finish they were whittled down to a 26-strong group.
After two days in Friuli, the race now heads westwards across Italy. Thursday's mainly flat leg finishes in Treviso, home of the Pinarello bike company that sponsors Sky and Movistar, while on Friday the finish is in Cherasco in Piedmont, the prelude to a weekend of Alpine climbing. Both stages will have been highlighted in Mark Cavendish's diary given the paucity of opportunities for the sprinters in this year's race.
Wednesday was marked by two positive drugs tests. Ag2R's Frenchman Sylvain Georges was pulled out following a positive for the bronchial dilator heptaminol, while Lampre's Venezuelan Miguel Ubeto – who is not at the Giro – tested positive recently for a new drug called GW1516, a hormone and metabolic modulator which is marketed as an endurance and weight-loss aid but has also been linked with side‑effects such as cancers.
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Letters: Contact time a matter of degree
It's good to hear that £9,000 tuition fees are purchasing 18 minutes extra teaching per week (Rise in university fees outpaces tuition time, 15 May), but it's difficult to find out where this is being delivered to arts students at one prestigious London university college. Students are offered eight hours of contact time per week (four of lectures, four of seminars) in the first term, seven per week in the second and no contact time at all in the third term. This amounts to 21 weeks of lectures and seminars during the year ie 165 hours at an average cost of £54.54 per hour per lecture or seminar. The quality of the lectures is reported to be mainly poor. Postgraduate students run the seminars and the quality of these is reported to be of better quality than the lectures. An explanation for this is that university reputations are based on the quality of their research and researchers are required to lecture undergraduates. But good researchers do not necessarily make good lecturers.
Nicola Dandridge of Universities UK states that "tuition fees also pay for far more than contact time (and) cover all manner of services including student support facilities, employment advice and training, library services and clubs". Given that the rate for my language evening class at a different prestigious London college is £7.50 per hour, this suggests £7,755 of the £9,000 fees must go towards "services other than contact time". Ms Dandridge does not mention that arts students heavily subsidise science students who are offered between 20 to 35 hours per week of contact time. How can universities rationalise charging arts students £27,000 for a degree during which approximately 62 days (165 hours x three) of tuition have been provided?
Rosetta Delisle
London
• Are we to imagine that the nine-fold increase in most fees since 2006 ought to produce: (a) a nine-fold increase in student/tutor contact time; (b) a nine-fold increase in the "quality" of teaching; (c) a nine-fold increase in the development of students' scholastic competence? Meanwhile, concerns over value seem silent on students' actual attendance at available lectures and seminars, and equally oblivious to the online revolution that enables students to enjoy endless hours of engagement with their subject and their tutors through blended learning. Of course, to question simplistic assumptions about the relationship of the cost of the learning experience to its value is just a cynical swipe at the commodification of all human experience, isn't it? Discuss.
Paul McGilchrist
London Metropolitan university
• This phenomenon – the rise in tuition fees being accompanied by less hours of tuition – started well before I retired from university teaching in 2004. Students are encouraged to apply to the best universities. These are graded according to their research ranking. University administrators, understandably, expect lecturers to prioritise their research and publication records. Not surprisingly, departments resort to all sorts of wheezes to reduce the number of hours their staff devote to teaching and increase those they spend on research. Even though they are being short-changed, students don't object as all they want is a good degree (which their tutors ensure they still get). Until universities are funded according to the excellence of their teaching and not the excellence of their research, this sorry state will continue.
Arthur Gould
Loughborough, Leicestershire
• It is easy to underestimate the real costs of development of high-quality distance learning materials and robust methods of assessment (Will Moocs be the scourge or saviour of higher education, 13 May). High-quality distance learning cannot be developed and delivered on the cheap. That maybe why the current drop-out rates for massive, open, online courses (Moocs) are estimated at greater than 90%, which would be unacceptable for most university degree programmes.
Moocs are important and exciting for opening up access to higher education. But for those in government and elsewhere who think it's going to provide a quick fix for escalating deficits associated with student loans, think again. Development of personalised learning by harnessing technological advances is going to transform higher education. But it will require substantial, long-term investment and, for those who pay the bills, considerable patience in realising a return.
Professor Stephen Caddick
Vice provost enterprise, UCL
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Michael Gove admits he may scrap plans for single tougher GCSEs
Climbdown of education secretary over ending tiered exam system would avoid turf war with Ofqual
Controversial reforms to the national curriculum and GCSE exams could be watered down, Michael Gove told MPs as he acknowledged that criticism of the changes from teachers and experts was being taken into account.
The education secretary told the Commons education select committee that he was considering scraping plans for single, tougher, GCSE exams and that he might bow to arguments favouring retaining a tiered system with two exams aimed at pupils of different abilities.
"My overall instinct is to try and move away from tiering. But of course, I want to take a pragmatic approach," he told the MPs. "If the strong advice, not just from [standards watchdog] Ofqual but also one of the awarding bodies, is that it would be easier to have more reliable assessment if you had some form of separation, then I will take that into account."
What form the second tier exam would take remained under consideration, with Gove suggesting that it could be altered to a stand-alone test with a lower-grade ceiling or be an extension paper.
A climbdown over the issue means the department for education would avoid an embarrassing turf war with Ofqual, which has defended the use of tiered exams.
In March, Glenys Stacey, the head of Ofqual, told the committee: "It is Ofqual's job to determine whether or not new GCSEs will be tiered."
Gove also indicated that proposals to change the history, and design and technology, curricula – which have both attracted considerable criticism – could also be modified.
In response to a charge from the Bristol North West MP, Charlotte Leslie, that "people who didn't know how to teach were drawing this up", Gove said the curriculum proposals had been put together by DfE staff with input from experts, and approved by ministers.
He said: "I'm conscious that there are some very precise suggestions that have been made in respect to English and mathematics which have come from teachers, which I think we will acknowledge.
"And there are also other aspects of the curriculum, with respect to history and design and technology, which have attracted more controversy and where changes may be proportionately greater."
Ian Mearns, the Labour MP for Gateshead, confronted Gove with comments by Richard Evans, Regius professor of history at Cambridge University, suggesting the reforms were changing the history curriculum into "little better than a pub quiz".
Gove replied: "He's a great historian. His comments in no way diminish my respect and admiration for his work."
The education secretary also claimed that the extent to which [the history curriculum] was "exclusively British has been overstated", telling the MPs: "If we included the history of every civilisation from the dawn of time until now, there wouldn't be any time for anything else."
Graham Stuart, chair of the education select committee, asked Gove about his recent assertion that Mr Men characters were being used to teach second world war history, based on the single example of an online lesson plan.
Gove said he had done most of the research for the speech himself, and found the Mr Men reference in a blog by a teacher writing under the pseudonym Andrew Old. "Of course, just because something appears on a blogpost, even if it is by a well-respected individual, you check. I visited the original site and I saw the material and was actually surprised by it," Gove said.
In a separate development Gove has written to schools informing them that aspects of a pay policy checklist circulated by the NUT and NASUWT unions were unlawful.
The unions had sent out the advice in advance of schools adopting performance-related pay policies from September.
But the DfE's lawyers said that one clause of the advice – regarding the automatic progression of teachers into upper pay scales – would break the law.
"Although NASUWT and NUT have threatened schools [saying] failure to comply with all aspects of their checklist could lead to strike action, schools are under no obligation to adhere to the checklist, and our advice is that they do not," the DfE said.
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Stuart Meaker hurts Nottinghamshire for Surrey and targets England
Nottinghamshire 273-9 v Surrey
Stuart Meaker accepts his hopes of playing a part in either of this year's Ashes series are based in part on attrition, his theory being that in the face of the relentless schedule of international cricket that starts at Lord's on Thursday, it could be a question of who stays fit.
The Surrey fast bowler may be right, but in order to benefit he will need to position himself at the head of the rank of England seamers in waiting. He is not there at the moment, but a few more efforts like this will not do his cause any harm.
The 24-year-old, who took four for 70, was helped by the conditions, as pace bowlers so often are at Trent Bridge. In that respect it was a bad toss lost for James Taylor, standing in as Nottinghamshire captain in the injury-enforced absence after 98 consecutive championship appearances of Chris Read. Coming in from the Radcliffe Road end of the ground, Jade Dernbach immediately swung the ball away from the right-handed batsmen and Alex Hales, suspicious and only half-forward as he tried to play the ball late, looked back to see only one stump standing.
As left-handers the Australia Test opener Ed Cowan and Michael Lumb could at least look to cover up, and did so effectively until Cowan, stretching forward and driving at Meaker, was bowled off the inside edge by a delivery that seemed to beat him with both pace and movement.
Having been regularly discomfited by Dernbach, Lumb played across the line once too often and got a leading edge off Meaker that looped high into the hands of mid-off, but Taylor and Samit Patel put on 60 for the fourth wicket in increasing comfort until Tim Linley gained reward for his nagging early accuracy with an excellent delivery that Patel edged to first slip.
After missing out for the Lions against New Zealand last week, and watching his England rivals Joe Root and Jonathan Bairstow score heavily, Taylor batted with impressive style and restraint in going to 47, when an attempt to force Linley through the off side off the back foot succeeded only in diverting the ball into his stumps.
Meaker was too fast for Wessels, but Steven Mullaney got his head down, and with Paul Franks and Ajmal Shahzad lending support, saw Notts past 250 and to a second batting point before being trapped in front by Linley.
"It was really nice to have everything click," said Meaker, who after taking five for 60 against Somerset at The Oval in Surrey's opening championship match then missed the next two with a thigh strain before returning against Durham last week.
"It's been frustrating, but it's a case of getting back into a rhythm. Technically I'm not 100% yet, but the body copped a bit of a hammering this winter going on a few tours, and with the cold weather it's taken a while to adjust.
"I've spoken briefly to the Lions management, and they were honest and said they wanted to see me get back to nailing my lengths and knocking a few poles over, and days like today will hopefully say: 'Don't forget me.'
"Having said it was going to be a battle for international bowlers to stay fit this summer, I suppose it was ironic that I should be the first to get injured, but hopefully that's it out of the way now, and if I'm back on form I can throw my name into the hat."
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Derbyshire's Shivnarine Chanderpaul fails against Sussex on landmark day
Derbyshire 158-6 v Sussex
Shivnarine Chanderpaul took his place among cricket's batting greats by playing his 300th first-class match but marked the occasion with one of his meekest dismissals for Derbyshire.
Only six men in the history of the game reached such a landmark of appearances with a higher average than Chanderpaul's 56.19, a list headed by Denis Compton and also comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Garfield Sobers, Ranjitsinhji, Graeme Hick and Barry Richards.
But the lively surface and sporting atmospheric conditions meant that even one of the elite was troubled. The 38-year-old Guyanese left-hander was given a sustained working-over by a Sussex attack that improved once early giddiness, prompted by the green-tinged pitch, subsided. Twice he survived confident appeals for caught behind, and Michael Yardy floored a low chance at second slip off James Anyon, before he succumbed in a most un-Chanderpaul manner, bunting a delivery from Steve Magoffin that stopped on him to the substitute, Andrew Miller, who, stationed at extra cover, was the only fielder in front of point on the off side.
Derbyshire's return to the top flight of the County Championship has been undermined by a lack of consistency in their batting. However, having spent the best part of a fortnight simmering at their Headingley humbling – when they lost by an innings despite posting 475 – their top order appeared over-anxious to impose themselves.
The one constant for Derbyshire this season has been at the toss – six tosses in domestic cricket, six losses, six times inserted. This time, once the morning showers subsided, they raced out of the blocks with a flurry of cuts and pulls – one cross-batted blow from Chesney Hughes leading to a lost ball as early as the third over – to reach tea at 97 for two.
But the final session of an opening day restricted to 56 overs belonged firmly to the visitors after they realigned their lengths. The floodlights, switched on after a brief shower, were no longer necessary when Dan Redfern, unnerved earlier in the over by a blow to the groin, was pinned lbw by James Anyon.
Two further blows before the close further altered the complexion of the contest. Derbyshire's captain, Wayne Madsen, succumbed to a brute of a delivery from the indefatigable Chris Jordan in the penultimate over for a composed 63, and when the Championship debutant Ally Evans' nightwatchman shift was culled after three deliveries by a Monty Panesar arm ball in the next, the home team had lost four wickets for 45 runs.
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Gove stands by Mr Men history attack
Roberto Martínez to let Wigan know of plans after visit of Aston Villa
• In-demand Wigan manager will be released if he wishes
• Dave Whelan wants more players for Europa campaign
Dave Whelan expects to hear next week whether Roberto Martínez wishes to remain at Wigan Athletic and believes his manager should stay for the crucial challenge of returning to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Wigan became the first club to win the FA Cup and suffer relegation in the same season when they fell to a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal on Tuesday. Eight years in the top flight and the largesse of their multi-millionaire chairman have left the club in a stable financial position ahead of the drop into the Championship, but they now face the break-up of their Cup winning team and the potential departure of the manager.
Martínez was among the leading candidates for the Everton job before the FA Cup triumph over Manchester City, though no approach has been made from Goodison Park so far. Everton's chairman, Bill Kenwright, has confirmed the club will take their time to consider a successor to Manchester United-bound David Moyes and has several options, with Celtic's Neil Lennon, Vítor Pereira of Porto and Malky Mackay of Cardiff also in the frame.
The Wigan manager's future, and Whelan's championing of Martínez, has become a regular end-of-season issue at the DW Stadium. The Spaniard rejected Aston Villa and signed a three-year contract extension with the Latics in 2011 and was approached by Liverpool before their appointment of Brendan Rodgers last summer. Whelan does not expect relegation to deter would-be suitors this year.
"We'll have a meeting after the final match and he's so honest he will tell me then whether he is staying or going," said the Wigan chairman. "He has had numerous offers. There's clubs bigger than Everton looking at Roberto every season because he's a quality manager. We have a partnership, we have complete trust in each other, that's how we operate. Of course we would love him to stay but what he decides, I will accept."
Whelan admitted it is crucial for Wigan's financial health to win immediate promotion back to the Premier League as "the parachute payment is the biggest [in the first season after relegation] and we should have the same core of players." The future of key players is already in doubt, however, with the Republic of Ireland midfielder James McCarthy coveted by several leading clubs, Arouna Koné impressing in his debut season in English football and Callum McManaman rising to prominence during the FA Cup run. Antolín Alcaraz, the Paraguay defender whose injury problems had a major impact on Wigan's league campaign, and the established left-back Maynor Figueroa are both out of contract at the end of the season.
"We've got one ambition now and that is to come straight back up next season," the Wigan chairman added. "We'll look to come back within that first season, it's so important. I hope Roberto waits and has another one or two years with us. When the days dawns – and it will – when he says: 'Chairman, I want to go to this or that club,' I will release him immediately. He is aware of that, and if that time is now, so be it. But somehow I don't think it will be. I'm just hoping Roberto waits and has another one or two years with us, because he will eventually go to a top European club."
Perversely, and unlike Everton, Wigan will have European football with which to tempt Martínez next season, having qualified for the Europa League through the FA Cup. "We are going to have to have more players," said Whelan. "Take into account the Community Shield against Manchester United and we could end up playing 60 games. We will need a bigger squad."
The Wigan chairman also said it was impossible to choose between lifting the FA Cup at Wembley or remaining in the Premier League for a ninth season in succession. He said: "The FA Cup is monumental and historic but to be in the Premier League is so important commercially and financially. What made the difference this season is that Lady Luck deserted us. We had the most horrendous luck with injuries – sometimes eight first-choice players out with injury. We accept that overall we were not quite good enough but we also feel hard-done-by."
Andy Hunterguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Sam Warburton urges Lions selectors to make him fight for starting spot
• Lions captain eager to justify selection in opening Test XV
• Welshman pleased with first week's training as a squad
Sam Warburton's first act as Lions captain was to tell the coaches that he would not expect to play in the first Test against Australia next month if his form did not merit selection. The Wales flanker sees himself as a first among equals and does not want his status to grant him any favour.
The British & Irish Lions, or at least 27 of the 37 players who are not involved in cup finals or league play-offs, have spent the week at Wales's training base in the Vale of Glamorgan and, after a weekend off, will gather again in Dublin on Monday for five days in the Irish capital.
"Everyone has gelled really quickly, as I thought they would," said Warburton, who is sharing a room with one of his rivals for the captaincy, Ireland's Paul O'Connell, who led the 2009 Lions in South Africa. "The schedule could be better, but when the home unions come together before domestic international periods, they only have two weeks to prepare.
"We are getting to know each other and we are coming up with things off the pitch. We have formed some committees to get the boys together and get some bonding together. I have said in senior meetings that the senior players will be vitally important but everyone will have an input. There is a lot of onus on the players to do their analysis off the pitch, making sure we all know the calls and hit the ground running.
"What Warren Gatland [the head coach] has emphasised is that he feels he has a squad where everyone can compete for a Test starting place, and that's the best way to be, putting everyone on edge in training. Watching everyone working on weights and fitness, you can tell people have lifted it from international level. The bar has been raised.
"I have told the coaches that a part of captaincy I do not like is that you don't want to become complacent and think you have got a starting place in the team. I like it when you go into the team announcements and you are on the edge because you do not sure if you are going to get picked. Knowing that you might not be involved is what keeps you going in training and keeps you dedicated off the pitch as well. I do not like to think that the captain will always start."
Despite the Lions only coming together as a full squad a couple of days before they leave for Hong Kong at the end of the month, they are regarded as the favourites to win the series against Australia. Some former Lions have said they expect a 3-0 series whitewash, but Warburton, who has led Wales six times against the Wallabies without success, expects close, hard-fought encounters.
"I have been very impressed with the Australian sides in the Super Rugby tournament this year," he said. "The key players seem to be playing very well at the right time. Whenever there is a Lions tour, the national side we are playing against – whether it is Australia, New Zealand or South Africa – always seem to come good in a Lions year, which shows how much it means to them to be involved in the Test series.
"Momentum is key. There may be setbacks on the tour and it will be a matter of learning from them and putting things right the following week. The great thing about bringing four teams together is that you cover all the bases: there are similarities to what we do with Wales but there are also bits from the other camps.
"As captain, it is pretty similar to Wales when players from four regions come together, but it is on a bigger scale. I have told everyone not to call me skipper but Warby. That's boring, I know, but it is the way I like it. We are all in this together."
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The absolutely fabulous school of fashion: The publisher of Vogue now has its own college
Can Ergen, from Turkey, leans forward as if to let me in on a secret. "Vogue magazine is a storyteller," he says. Ergen, 21, is one of 45 students who recently embarked on the first 10-week Vogue Fashion certificate course at the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design which is based in London's Soho, just minutes away from Vogue House.
Chalk Talk: A cheering legacy of the summer of contentment
The Olympic legacy means different things to different people, as we could see from the article on these pages earlier this month about the school that inherited the athletes' dining hall to use in place of its burnt-out arts block, .
Europa League final: Benfica v Chelsea - in pictures
We bring you all the best images from Amsterdam where Chelsea claimed a second successive European crown
Jonny WeeksMove to block performance-related pay in schools 'illegal'
Paolo Di Canio threatens to cut short Sunderland players' summer break
• Sanction depends on Sunday's performance against Tottenham
• Manager already introduced fines for missing shirt signings
Paolo Di Canio has warned his Sunderland players that their summer breaks could be curtailed if they do not perform well at Tottenham Hotspur in their final match of the season on Sunday.
It is a gesture that is bound to delight Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, whose side are competing with Spurs for the final Champions League place. "I told them we can win, draw or lose with dignity, respecting the club's name and the fans who follow them. But if not, I will reduce their holiday," said Di Canio, whose team are now safe from relegation.
"I will give them the minimum I can give to them, which is four weeks – 28 days instead of probably 38, 40 or 41. I am sure that four or five individuals don't need this kind of situation, but many others have to realise we need to change mentality or we have to use punishments in some way. Until the day I am sure that my players can go on the field, and in some ways I can remain at home, I have to use anything I can to help change their mentality."
Sunderland's manager has aimed to accelerate this retuning process by introducing fines for rule transgressions including failing to attend weekly shirt-signing sessions.
"It's not because they are bad guys, but in the last five days, I have given into my players' hands individually seven fines for silly things – seven," he revealed. "Every Friday morning, there's a signing session upstairs, up seven steps.
"It is a rule in their contract that they must do the signings but many times they've forgotten, but they didn't get fined. Now they are fined because you have to start somewhere, otherwise we are never going to change and it's not fair on the children [who receive the shirts]. Small things like this become big problems. We have to respect the rules, otherwise we are never going to change. This is crucial."
Di Canio acknowledged some players have found his regime easier to cope with than others. "For some, it was easy; but for many of them, it was, and is, still difficult because what I ask is very heavy for some of them," he said.
"For me, it is normal; for John O'Shea, it is normal – he came from an environment [at Manchester United] where people used to throw boots in people's faces, the best manager in the world – thanks Alex – if they didn't behave well."
Sunderland's manager has told his players to cancel any plans they had to take flights abroad from Heathrow or to remain in London after the Spurs game. "We are a team so we will fly back together as a team," Di Canio said before confirming that his squad will be expected to train for a few days on Wearside next week.
Louise Taylorguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Education Secretary Michael Gove reveals radical rethink on grades in new GCSE revolution
Pupils will find it harder to gain a top grade GCSE pass under a radical change to the traditional ABC grading system being planned by Education Secretary Michael Gove today.
Michael Gove reveals radical rethink on grades in new GCSE revolution
Pupils will find it harder to gain a top grade GCSE pass under a radical change to the grading system being planned by Education Secretary Michael Gove today.
Epsom Oaks fancy Liber Nauticus wins the Musidora Stakes at York
• Sir Michael Stoute-trained filly now 4-1 for fillies' Classic
• Victorious Society Rock back on course for Royal Ascot
The best Classic trials are those which inform and intrigue in equal measure, and the Musidora Stakes was just that here on Wednesday as it added another name to the crowd at the top of the Oaks market. Liber Nauticus, the one-and-a-half-length winner, is now a 4-1 chance to win at Epsom on 31 May, yet it is possible that her price owes as much to her colours and connections as it does to the bare form of her performance.
Liber Nauticus runs in the pale blue silks of the Weinstock family's Ballymacoll Stud, which were successful aboard Islington in the 2002 Musidora and have had Classic winners including Troy, Sun Princess, Golan and North Light. Her dam Serres, meanwhile, is a near-relative of the St Leger winner Conduit, and there was more grit than electricity about the way Liber Nauticus worked her way into the lead two furlongs out and then defended her advantage over Romantic Settings.
In her favour, this was only her second race, following a maiden win last September, and she is bred to appreciate another furlong and a half at Epsom. The runner-up, though, won a lowly handicap earlier this month, while Woodland Aria, in third, did not see out the trip.
There was nothing in the form to set Liber Nauticus apart from either Secret Gesture, the Lingfield Oaks Trial winner and 7-2 Oaks favourite, or Aidan O'Brien's Moth, third home in the 1,000 Guineas and 4-1 for Epsom. It is quite possible the Classic market will still be 7-2 the field on the day of the race.
"It's difficult, the ground changed earlier on and it was a muddling pace," Peter Reynolds, Ballymacoll's general manager, said, "so I don't think we saw quite what she's capable of today. She's a filly that's bred to stay, she probably hit the front a little sooner than Ryan [Moore] wanted and she seemed to idle when she hit the front, which can happen. It's up to [Sir] Michael [Stoute, her trainer] where she goes next. She's entered in the Irish Oaks and the Ribblesdale [at Royal Ascot], we'll see what Michael says. It's not cast in stone [that she will run in the Oaks]."
Society Rock, one of the mainstays of James Fanshawe's yard for the past four years, won his seasonal debut for the first time in his career when he took the Duke Of York Stakes by a head under a strong ride from Kieren Fallon. The six-year-old will now head to the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, a race he won in 2011 before finishing a close fifth behind Black Caviar after a slow start last season.
"He normally takes a bit of warming up in the spring," Fanshawe said. "We've been working away at the stalls, and if he gets a smooth start, that's half the battle with him.
"He's an exciting horse to have for the season, and he loves it as Ascot. He missed the break completely last season, and hopefully that won't happen again this year. Kieren gets on very well with him, they're both characters and they suit each other. He's maintained his appetite for racing and he's got better and stronger."
Frankie Dettori, who will return from a six-month suspension for a drugs offence at Leicester racecourse on Monday, will admit to taking cocaine for the first time in public in an interview with Clare Balding to be screened on Channel 4 News on Thursday evening. Dettori will say in the interview that he took the drug in "a moment of madness", and that he is "very ashamed and embarrassed" by his actions.Society Rock is now top-priced at 9-1 for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes behind Shea Shea, from Mike de Kock's stable in South Africa, who looks a less formidable opponent than Black Caviar last time around.
"I was brought up in jumping and I've seen horses fall at the last when you think they're going to win, so a result's a result," Fanshawe says of last year's race. "He missed the break and that's what happened. Lots of people have said [that he might have beaten Black Caviar with a better start], but you'd drive yourself mad thinking that way."
Greg Woodguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Murray may miss the French Open
• Murray forced to retire in Rome against Marcel Granollers
• 'I will make a decision on Paris after the next five days'
Andy Murray, as disconsolate as he has been for some time after being struck down again by a chronic back injury, said on Wednesday, his 26th birthday, that he would be "surprised" if he were ready to play in the French Open, which starts a week this Sunday.
The world No2 retired from his match against Marcel Granollers after fighting back from a set and 1-4 down to force and win a tie-break and level their match in the second round of the Rome Open. He informed the umpire he could not continue and hurried from the Campo Centrale for treatment, leaving behind a puzzled crowd, who had cheered one of his most impressive comebacks.
This was only the second time in 529 singles matches that Murray has quit a match injured. Six years ago, he retired in Hamburg with a wrist injury that would keep him out of the game for several months. It quite ruined his 20th birthday celebrations that night, and here he looked equally despondent, so close to the second grand slam of the season.
"I've pulled out because there was a good chance I wouldn't be playing [in the third round on Thursday], even if I was to get through," he said. "I'll have to wait and see on Paris but I would be very surprised I were playing there. I will speak with the guys, chat with the physio, come up with a plan, then make a decision on Paris after the next five days. [At the moment], it's unlikely "I was in a bit of pain, the same sort of thing as in Madrid [last week, where he lost in the quarter-finals to Tomas Berdych], when I took a few days off. I hit yesterday, was feeling a little bit better, but it's still sore today.
"It's not been perfect for a long period and obviously I want to try to start feeling very good again, because you always go into matches with little niggles and whatnot, but it is frustrating when for long periods you're hurting."
The injury is the same one that struck him down in the first set of the third round of the French Open last year against Jarkko Nieminin. He got through with a cocktail of pain-killers and reached the quarter-finals then but said on Wednesday that he does not want to go through that experience again. "You can have the injections, they can help a bit with pain and they can take some of the inflammation away, but that also didn't make me feel 100%, and I want to feel 100%."
Murray said the injury has been with him, on and off, since late 2011.
The only player in the top 10 never to retire due to injury during a match is Roger Federer, who, approaching his 32nd birthday, this year took the precaution of taking seven weeks off before returning to the Tour.
Asked if he thought it might require surgery — an option he considered last year — Murray said, "I don't know."
Kevin Mitchellguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Steve Finn's lack of shape threatens England hopes of returning to boil | Mike Selvey
Pace attack must be back at its best in the first Test after a tepid performance in New Zealand
There could be quite a ding-dong over the course of the next two Test matches. On the one hand we have an England side who underperformed on the recent tour of New Zealand and were fortunate, or at least had to battle their socks off, to emerge on equal terms. Then we have the Black Caps, who excelled in their own country, gave England a real fright, but must realise that when push came to shove on the last day of the series they dropped catches when it mattered most – so that a golden chance went begging.
So England will be double-determined to show what they believe to be their true qualities while the Kiwis want to emphasise they were no flash-in-the-pan playing above themselves at home, but rather a team to be reckoned with, whatever the ICC rankings say. There is much kudos to play for at Lord's and Headingley.
Since taking over as captain from Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook has lost only the first of his seven Tests, which may seem commendable. But in reality England have come off the boil after their series win in India. The final Test in Nagpur, before Christmas, was a proper means to an end; those in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland were far from it, although the first two did suffer from bad weather. Both sides felt deprived of a winning opportunity in these two.
It is four years since England last drew four matches in a row, following the ambush in Jamaica that kickstarted the alliance of Strauss and Andy Flower. It is 14 years before that, though, when last they drew five on the bounce, and even six as it transpired.
To reinstate his team's winning way, Cook, not to mention the bowling coach David Saker, will want to see a significantly improved performance from the pace-bowling group. The New Zealand tour was instructive in that, generally, England were outbowled in an area in which they were expected to dominate.
Using the Kookaburra ball, the New Zealand seamers managed to find movement in the air that eluded those of England, most pertinently Jimmy Anderson, two wickets away from 300 in Tests now, and regarded as the premier, genuine swing bowler in the world.
From that series it was the New Zealand left-arm pair – the indefatigable Neil Wagner and a very skilled operator in Trent Boult – who emerged with the most wickets and best average respectively, while in the final Test in Auckland, Tim Southee gave a fine demonstration of how to set up batsmen. For Lord's they might even add a fourth seamer in Doug Bracewell, whose untimely cut foot kept him out of the home series, and hope for an overcast sky and a result with the toss.
This represents an excellent quartet, more than capable of dismissing England twice, especially if there is cloud about. Their diligence has extended to them practising with the Duke ball at home in the month before their arrival.
England still have not fathomed what it was that the New Zealand bowlers were doing that they were not. There has been talk of Anderson's seam angle and his thumb position beneath the ball (although freeze-frames of this may just coincide with him using a special grip for his wobble-seam ball) but it remains a mystery. Anderson does not sound unduly concerned anyway, and says that the ball is "coming out nicely", as bowlers like to put it.
England will need this to be the case for it is important that Anderson has an immense year. Alongside this the rehabilitation of Stuart Broad, England's leading wicket-taker in New Zealand, seems to be going to plan.
He is hitting the crease hard again, and has picked up wickets for Nottinghamshire. The crucial thing for him is to discover the right length to bowl: his natural length, from the point at which the arc of his arm reaches maximum velocity, is splice-hitting.
But he does take wickets with fuller deliveries although there is a danger of the ball floating in when he is trying to pitch it up, rather as Andy Caddick, very similar in method, did. A proper balance between the two lengths is paramount.
The worry has been the form of Steve Finn for Middlesex this season. Having tried a shortened run during the winter, something Saker has been advocating in the three years he has worked with him, Finn has now reverted to something longer again.
This is fine as long as he accelerates and neither cruises nor actually decelerates as once he did.
A bigger problem at the moment is his wrist position. He is said to be trying if not to swing the ball, then to "shape" it away, which is no bad skill to have but requires considerable practice to make sure that the wrist still remains behind the ball on delivery.
Finn appears to be having trouble with this and his direction is awry. England are keen to have him as part of the attack, for his pace alone, but they need to feel that he can be trusted not to release the pressure that is likely to be exerted by Anderson and Broad.
If they feel that Finn is still short of where they hope he should be then on a pitch that is unlikely, given the weather during its preparation, to have any real pace, they could turn to the recalled Yorkshireman Tim Bresnan instead. Getting Finn back on track, shape or no shape, is a priority.
Mike Selveyguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
