:00:09. > :00:14.Welcome to the BBC sports centre, I'm Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes and we
:00:15. > :00:17.have plenty to packing, including the latest sports news, previews and
:00:18. > :00:32.features. This is Saturday Sportsday.
:00:33. > :00:39.It is FA Cup third Round weekend, and one match is getting underway,
:00:40. > :00:44.where Blackburn Rovers are playing Manchester City. We will keep you up
:00:45. > :00:52.at the latest. Today is the start of the BDO world championship, and
:00:53. > :00:56.Martin Adams is confident he can take the title again. Biathlon has
:00:57. > :01:02.been part of the Winter Olympics for decades, but funding issues means it
:01:03. > :01:06.could be the last one for British biathletes. And today marks 200 days
:01:07. > :01:10.until the start of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. We will see how
:01:11. > :01:14.their preparations are going. All that to come, but a look at some of
:01:15. > :01:18.the sport stories making the headlines. And another torrid time
:01:19. > :01:22.for England in the fifth and final Ashes Test. Alistair Cook made just
:01:23. > :01:28.seven as England were all out in their first innings for 155.
:01:29. > :01:33.Australia closed the second day on 140-4. Chris Rogers making an
:01:34. > :01:38.unbeaten 73. Australia leading by more than 300 runs. More from Sydney
:01:39. > :01:41.in a moment. The battle is on to protect many of the weekend's
:01:42. > :01:46.sporting fixtures from the severe weather. Already a handful of FA Cup
:01:47. > :01:50.and league matches have been postponed. Motherwell's game against
:01:51. > :01:57.Inverness is off, and today's racing at Wincanton has been abandoned. The
:01:58. > :02:03.18-year-old skier Roland Cheshire has become the first woman to claim
:02:04. > :02:09.gold in half pipe World Cup event -- Rowan. She hopes that might lead to
:02:10. > :02:12.a place in next month's Winter Olympics. If you can bear it, let's
:02:13. > :02:17.go back to the cricket, another dismally disappointing day for
:02:18. > :02:29.England, all out for 155 million Australia lead by 100 -- 311. We
:02:30. > :02:35.have been winching as we watch in Sydney -- wincing. England started
:02:36. > :02:41.with real ambitions of a first-innings lead having bowled out
:02:42. > :02:46.Australia for 326, but by the end of play it seemed almost certain that
:02:47. > :02:49.they would suffer the humiliation of a 5-0 series whitewash. Let's show
:02:50. > :02:56.you the scorecard of the England innings. They resumed on 8-1 and in
:02:57. > :03:01.an incredible first hour they were reduced to 23-5. It was cricketing
:03:02. > :03:07.carnage. England's dismal tour reaching rock bottom. In the end of
:03:08. > :03:11.some resistance from Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes and England avoided
:03:12. > :03:18.the follow-on but their total still left them 171 runs behind
:03:19. > :03:23.Australia. The hosts were reduced to 140-4 by the end of play, but thanks
:03:24. > :03:30.to Chris Rogers, who was 73 not out, they have an intimidating leader of
:03:31. > :03:34.311 runs -- lead of. They will be confident of wrapping up the
:03:35. > :03:39.whitewash by as early as the third day. One of the main threats with
:03:40. > :03:43.the ball was Ryan Harris, and we'll hear from him in a moment, but
:03:44. > :03:47.first, the England under fire batting coach, Graham Gooch. Unless
:03:48. > :03:52.you get the runs in in the match, you are not in the game, and we have
:03:53. > :03:57.not been in the game is so we have to look at ourselves and our
:03:58. > :04:02.methods. Personally, I have total belief in the messages I give to the
:04:03. > :04:07.players. We will have to look at it and see if there is a better way,
:04:08. > :04:10.all the powers that be will definitely be reviewing everyone
:04:11. > :04:16.after this series, as they do, and quite rightly. We will all be under
:04:17. > :04:20.scrutiny. A lead of more than 300 is a pretty good position to be in on
:04:21. > :04:24.the second day. It is not a done deal. We have to get some more on in
:04:25. > :04:32.the morning and bowl like we did today. We figured they have two fire
:04:33. > :04:36.at some stage. I hope they don't. You never know in this game. It's a
:04:37. > :04:41.funny game. I don't think the wicket is getting easier, so if we bowl out
:04:42. > :04:45.today, we should be all right. Australia piling on the agony. I
:04:46. > :04:48.caught up with former England captain Michael Vaughan at the end
:04:49. > :04:53.of play and here is what he made of the team's lamentable batting
:04:54. > :04:57.display. Through the whole series they have not been the batting unit
:04:58. > :05:02.I know. They've been well below standard. At times it's been
:05:03. > :05:07.embarrassing, and again today. The captain leaving the second ball of
:05:08. > :05:11.the day. That almost gave me the indication that his mind is
:05:12. > :05:15.completely elsewhere. It's very difficult as a captain, in that
:05:16. > :05:19.situation, when your team arrives as favourites and you put in a
:05:20. > :05:23.performance like that, you can understand why his mind is thinking
:05:24. > :05:26.about his own form and position, selection, the team moving forward.
:05:27. > :05:32.I could understand that from Alistair Cook. For England, the
:05:33. > :05:37.whitewash is looming. When you consider they came into the series
:05:38. > :05:40.as favourites it really is remarkable how quickly their
:05:41. > :05:45.fortunes have been reversed. Their only consolation, perhaps, that it
:05:46. > :05:48.will all soon be over. And there's ball-by-ball coverage of Day Three
:05:49. > :05:50.from Sydney on Radio five Live Sports Extra from 11:00pm tonight.
:05:51. > :05:54.Now, after Michael Van Gerwen secured his first world title this
:05:55. > :05:57.week to become the PDC Darts Champion, attention now turns to the
:05:58. > :06:04.BDO World Championship which starts today. Scott Waites is the current
:06:05. > :06:07.champion and begins the defence of his title this afternoon. Among
:06:08. > :06:10.those trying to stop him is the longest serving player in the BDO,
:06:11. > :06:14.Martin "Wolfie" Adams. He was knocked out in the opening round
:06:15. > :06:25.last year. But he's back, going for his fourth world title. Tim Hague
:06:26. > :06:33.has been to meet him. Game, shot, and the new champion, Martin Adams.
:06:34. > :06:36.Chances are, if you have ever watched the BDO world darts
:06:37. > :06:45.championship you will recognise the face and the name of Martin "Wolfie"
:06:46. > :06:50.Adams. Adams has won at the Lakeside country club three times in the
:06:51. > :06:55.past. And as he told me at his local pub near Peterborough, times have
:06:56. > :06:59.been tough more recently. I had a lot of issues last year, personal
:07:00. > :07:07.issues. I went through a divorce and it does your head in. My form was
:07:08. > :07:12.gone. You have to fight back and work at it. How much did your
:07:13. > :07:16.personal life impact on it? Massively. I was devastated with at
:07:17. > :07:20.all. It has been a hard-fought road to get back in there and actually
:07:21. > :07:25.come up with the goods to win tournaments again. He had been
:07:26. > :07:29.trying to win at the Lakeside for 13 years before eventually strutting to
:07:30. > :07:35.his first title. Despite some big disappointments, unlike many of the
:07:36. > :07:38.other organisation's top players, he has refused to move across the
:07:39. > :07:44.divide and joined the rival professional darts Corporation. I am
:07:45. > :07:47.happy to be the statement -- statement for the BDO. There are two
:07:48. > :07:54.organisations and great players on both sides. I've got nothing against
:07:55. > :07:58.any of the players. It is just the political side of things is a bit
:07:59. > :08:04.tiring at times. Would you like a single body of darts? Not really. We
:08:05. > :08:09.have two different outlooks. I can't see them coming together. It would
:08:10. > :08:15.be like trying to merge British home stores and Marks Spencer 's.
:08:16. > :08:21.Excuse the pun. Playing darts is not as easy as it looks. Just 140 for
:08:22. > :08:26.me. Those are mine, I threw them. Martin has been playing
:08:27. > :08:30.professionally for 32 years, and this will be his 21st consecutive
:08:31. > :08:39.appearance at the Lakeside this year. And the Wolf is hungry for
:08:40. > :08:43.more titles. I want the title. There are lots of players vying for their
:08:44. > :08:51.first title. Scott Waites, he is someone to stop. Will he get it, we
:08:52. > :09:02.have to wait and see. Can you stop him? Yes, of course I can. Yeah!
:09:03. > :09:07.And there's coverage of this year's BDO darts across the BBC, starting
:09:08. > :09:13.this afternoon on BBC One from 2.30pm. Next to the sport of
:09:14. > :09:17.biathlon, which combines skiing and shooting. It's been part of the
:09:18. > :09:20.Winter Olympics for more than half a century. But next month's Games in
:09:21. > :09:23.Sochi could be the last time British biathletes take part. Almost
:09:24. > :09:26.entirely made up of soldiers, the squad has never come close to
:09:27. > :09:30.winning medals and now there's no money left to keep going. But, as
:09:31. > :09:33.Ollie Williams reports from their training camp in Sweden, leaving
:09:34. > :09:39.their sport behind is a daunting prospect. You kind of fall in love
:09:40. > :09:44.with it. You have to keep your cool and mentality. The adrenaline
:09:45. > :09:48.through your body is fantastic. They love this sport and work hard for
:09:49. > :09:52.it, but time is running out. Just weeks before the Winter Olympics in
:09:53. > :09:56.Sochi, Britain's by athletes have been told the governing body which
:09:57. > :10:03.runs the sport in the UK has run out of cash -- by athletes. There were
:10:04. > :10:06.crucial cuts in the military and we were one of those sports that would
:10:07. > :10:11.not be funded by the military any more. Before Sochi we are starting
:10:12. > :10:15.to think about what we would can do and if there is still a future in
:10:16. > :10:18.the sport, and the future for me. Winter sports in Britain get a tiny
:10:19. > :10:24.fraction of the summer sports cash, so they are used to funding crises.
:10:25. > :10:27.But biathlon is different because it is dominated by the military. All
:10:28. > :10:33.but one of the squad are soldiers. After a decade or more of competing
:10:34. > :10:37.in biathlon, they face life back in the regiment if they can't find the
:10:38. > :10:41.money. I think it will be difficult to adapt to being a full-time
:10:42. > :10:45.soldier. It will be hard not to get up and train every day, just going
:10:46. > :10:49.back to military new -- duties. I am a clerk, so the thought of sitting
:10:50. > :10:54.at a desk and doing peoples payslips is terrifying, actually. In the end
:10:55. > :10:58.I've still got employment when I finish with the sport. They've been
:10:59. > :11:02.very supportive over the last 17 years that I've done the biathlon,
:11:03. > :11:06.and if I need to go back and show that gratitude and do my day job, I
:11:07. > :11:12.guess I have to do. One British man and one woman will compete at the
:11:13. > :11:16.Olympics and the team is decided soon. As the return to Army life
:11:17. > :11:21.looms, they are determined to prove that their sport deserves to carry
:11:22. > :11:25.on. It means more to go out with a bang this season, having achieved my
:11:26. > :11:31.goal, to get to the Olympics. We have got a future. Not just on the
:11:32. > :11:33.scene doing biathlon. There are competitive nature and we want to
:11:34. > :11:39.get better and win medals in the future. Well, Sochi is little more
:11:40. > :11:42.than a month away, and 2014 will be a busy year for Glasgow, hosting the
:11:43. > :11:45.Commonwealth Games in July. Organisers say they're on track to
:11:46. > :11:48.deliver the biggest sporting party Scotland has ever seen. Today marks
:11:49. > :11:50.200 days to go. Our Commonwealth Games reporter Chris McLaughlin
:11:51. > :11:58.reports. At the turn of the year as the world
:11:59. > :12:03.watches, Scotland's biggest party takes place in Edinburgh, but in 200
:12:04. > :12:09.days time, the focus will shift 50 miles west. Where will you be when
:12:10. > :12:16.the world comes to Scotland? When a city becomes an arena? When legs
:12:17. > :12:24.turned to pistons, and feet turned to spikes? Organisers say it will be
:12:25. > :12:28.the biggest cultural event in Scotland's history. You don't have
:12:29. > :12:33.to look hard evidence that the games is coming, but with 200 days to go,
:12:34. > :12:37.will Glasgow be ready? The organisers say 94% of tickets are
:12:38. > :12:43.already sold and that they are on budget, and they say the venues are
:12:44. > :12:46.almost ready. We are doing some refinement on transport planning,
:12:47. > :12:50.that is critical. We are doing work to make sure the athletes village is
:12:51. > :12:53.the right environment. That is the kind of detailed work we need to do
:12:54. > :12:57.to make sure everything is special for all of us, for the spectators,
:12:58. > :13:01.the athletes, the teams and all the members of the media that we need to
:13:02. > :13:12.entertain in Glasgow in 200 short days. But who will compete? Mo Farah
:13:13. > :13:16.says he has other priorities. The fastest man in the world has yet to
:13:17. > :13:23.secure Commonwealth gold, and so far Usain Bolt is yet to commit. An
:13:24. > :13:26.event the size and stature of the Commonwealth Games, you want to have
:13:27. > :13:29.the best athletes in the Commonwealth attending. It would be
:13:30. > :13:34.great to have the top names here, and I'm sure they will be. It might
:13:35. > :13:41.be a bit of a media ploy to tease everyone a little bit. 2014 is upon
:13:42. > :13:47.us, and the countdown to Scotland's biggest ever party continues. It is
:13:48. > :13:52.goalless in the early FA Cup third Round game between Blackburn and
:13:53. > :13:55.Manchester City. I will be here at 6:30pm on the BBC News Channel.
:13:56. > :13:57.Until then, goodbye.