30/11/2013 Saturday Sportsday

Welcome. Over the next 15 minutes, we will have a mix of sports news,

previews and features for you. This is Saturday Sportsday. Coming up on

the programme, we will hear about a memorable year for Paralympic

champion Sarah Storey. She was made a dame and she had a baby, but she

is back on the track this weekend. We will find out about British

skater Nick Buckland, after he had heart surgery with just three months

to go till the games. And we will be in Belgium to discover the secrets

behind the success of their national football team. Let's look at the

headlines. England's cricketers have made hard work of their warm up of

the second Ashes test match. The good news is that Graeme Swann is

picking up wickets. He took four. We will have the latest from Ellis

Springs in a moment. Things are going better for Rory McIlroy in

Australia. He is in contention to win his first title of the year. He

goes into the final round of the Australian open in Sydney for shots

off the lead. And there has been a gold medal at this World Cup event

in Canada for Great Britain. The British competitor was originally in

second place, but she was upgraded after an appeal I the British team.

It is a big boost for her. England's cricketers are preparing

for the second test against Australia after being heavily

defeated in the Ashes test match opener. They drew their warm up game

after a difficult start to the tour. Joe Wilson is with the team.

A rousing call to arms are just part are? In Ellis Springs, England's

pace bowlers steamed in and look at it. -- and looked tepid. A brave

approach for the second test would be to play to spin bowlers. The

opposition look at -- the opposition looked a bit second-rate. The

afternoon also sought the departure of the stadium announcer, after

apparently introducing Monty Panesar in an Indian accent. I did not heed

it that way and the England players were not aware. Monty Panesar took

two more wickets. The makeshift home side enjoyed themselves and went

past England's total before declaring. England have welcomed a

promise not to use Jonathan Trott's illness as a subject for sledging.

It does not mean it will be any easier. After their excursion and

exertion heeding the Northern Territory, one England player who

has really made a strong case to play in the second test matches Tim

Bresnan. He did his preparation over in Brisbane. Joe Wilson, BBC News,

Ellis Springs. -- Ellis Springs. And that second Test gets underway on

Wednesday night. Now, onto today's Rugby League World

Cup final. It's a repeat of the last one when New Zealand surprised

Australia to win the trophy for the first time. The match is live on BBC

One and our correspondent, Andy Swiss, is at Old Trafford ready for

kick-off. At 2:30pm, this stadium will be a

wall of noise. 74,000 fans, a record crowd for an international rugby

league match. Australia are very much the favourites. They have

scored 210 points in their last four matches but they will remember all

too well that New Zealand beat them in the last World Cup final. Nothing

will ever make up for that. The New Zealand buys one that and they will

always be the champions. We just want to go out there and play the

best we can. If that results in a win, that is great. If we play the

best we can as a team and it is not good enough, so be it. They are very

consistent. They are the best around. It will be a great challenge

for us. Obviously what has happened before does not count for much

coming into this one. New Zealand will start very much the underdogs.

The only just squeezed past England in that nail-biting game at Wembley

last weekend. It should be thrilling and you can watch it live on BBC

One. Rugby union's series of autumn

internationals comes to a close this weekend. But the final match is

certainly one to look forward to as Wales take on Australia in Cardiff.

You can see the game live on BBC Two from 4:30. Wales will be keen to end

on a high after two wins out of three in the series. Last year they

played the Wallabies four times, only to lose narrowly on each

occasion, including at the Millennium Stadium 12 months ago,

when a Kurtley Beale try in the last seconds gave Australia a dramatic

win. It is a great challenge for us, and something for us to look forward

to. They have got some real quality players on their team, but so have

we. For all of us, it is a real game to look forward to in terms of

world-class players on the field. Now, 11-time Paralympic champion

Sarah Storey is returning to competitive action this weekend. She

won four cycling golds at London 2012, and will be back on the track

in Newport later, competing at the Para-cycling Cup. Remarkably it's

the first international para-cycling event to be held since last summer's

games. But that means she hasn't missed any tournaments after what's

been a rather eventful year. Tim Hague has been to meet Sarah Storey.

She is one of the most successful Paralympic and is one of the most

successful Paralympics of all time, I woman two is always eyeing her

next challenge. Yet her life has changed dramatically since her for

has changed dramatically since four gold medals in London. She is now

onto Louisa and has been adjusting to perhaps her biggest challenge

yet. I have definitely had to become more efficient. You have to plan

your day around feeding. There is no pattern to it, so you have to be

ready to go. From that perspective, if I want to bring in the income

from being an athlete, I need to be as competitive as before, so I do

not think it will change me. And unsurprisingly bullish view from

women who has won 22 Paralympic medals and who is so committed to

cycling she was training until the moment she went into labour. The

accolades continued to come story's way, because she received a dame

head. -- Storey's. This is something I never imagined would happen. When

I received the letter, I can to keep rereading it. -- I had to keep

rereading it. I will have to say to Louisa when she sees the photograph,

that bomb, that was you. All these people have come out to see Sarah

Storey and the unveiling of her very own statue. Another honour for this

remarkable woman who has done it all. Surely there is nothing more to

achieve? My greatest achievement is probably yet to come. That is the

thing with sport. I am very patriotic. I love pulling on a GB

tracksuit and racing for Great Britain. I cannot turn my back on

it. Her rivals have been warned as Dame Sarah Storey is tough, and

competitive. But she has a soft and affectionate side that is saved for

others. Even Storey's year can't compete

with Nick Buckland's. Heart surgery three months before you're set to

compete at the Winter Olympics is hardly the best preparation. But

that's just what happened to the British skater. Buckland has put up

with a racing heartbeat known as tachycardia since the Vancouver 2010

Olympics, but this year doctors decided it was getting dangerous and

it was time to operate. Ollie Williams reports. It is not very

nice. It is really disgusting. This is the device that old Nick Buckland

they needed heart surgery. The first time I really noticed it was in

Vancouver. An average adult heart beat 60-80 times a minute, but Nick

Buckland's condition means that his heart can hit more than 240 beats a

minute. You definitely cannot compete like that, and it keep the

life-threatening. The device in his chest monitors the problem. Doctors

had to operate. When someone mentions heart surgery, initially

you think, that is the Olympics gone. Surgeons discovered the

problem was out of place nerve that they could quickly fix. Almost

overnight, Nick Buckland was back. He was fine. It was incredible. With

all these ups and downs, it was nice to have a positive after something

so serious. Just weeks later, he was skating with his partner in

Sheffield. A clean performance should book their places in Sochi.

And for more stories like Nick Buckland's, watch Inspire this

afternoon, here on BBC One. Gabby Logan can tell us more.

This month we feature three different women, three different

sports and three very different journeys. I am in Manchester with

Becky James. Matthew Pinsent will join heavily -- Heather Stanning as

she returns to rowing. Inspire, today, at 1:15pm.

After being booed off in their recent friendlies at Wembley, you

could argue that the relationship between the England players and

their fans is frosty to say the least. Well, perhaps the Football

Association could learn a thing or two from Belgium. Not that long ago

they were putting in poor performances and playing to

virtually empty houses but they came up with a novel idea, employing a PR

agency to help bring fans and players together. It's worked, and

Belgium go into next week's World Cup draw with a new spring in their

step. Frances Tomkinson went to find out all about the blossoming

relationship. The Belgian squad is filled with

Premier League stars and unlike England, the head to the World Cup

next year full of confidence. But is there a hidden secret behind the

qualification success? The main idea was that for every match we had a

challenge. The players challenged the fans to do something, like

colour the country read because we are the red Devils. When the fans

succeeded, the players did something in return. It was nice, because that

the end, we had the balloons full of paint. We want to show that we are

good friends. We want them to be part of the campaign. They were the

main carriers of the campaign. It was very good to involve the fans.

Three years ago, the national team was an adept. I remember the first

time I was called up for Belgium, there was no one in the stadium.

Eden Hazard, he was amazing. We had a challenge where you have to put

something on your window, and we went to visit them. People were

completely shocked that he was there. It was nice to go to their

houses and say hello. Helping children with their rims and things

like that. You can see the emotions in their face. We have sold out the

stadium eight times in a row, which never happened before. We had an

average of about 20000 and now we are full of the time. It is not just

the challenges that made that happen, we have played really well

qualified for the first in 12 years. But that combination between the

bonding and the fact that have played really well has made the

campaign successful. I love to play for the national team. The

supporters are crazy. They are bunch of nice guys. That is how they

position themselves, and that is what the fans like. I believe it may

be a good approach for England as well. Commentary of Arsenal against

Cardiff on BBC Radio 5live Sport. And the Rugby League World Cup Final

is on BBC One from 1:45 this afternoon. And that's it for

Saturday Sportsday. Have a good weekend. Goodbye.