A few other great sportspeople
I missed a few, I must admit. There are obviously some who are open to debate, and that's fine, but there are also some who I can see now I was wrong to miss out, plain wrong. Most of these would slot in somewhere between 200 and 100, but there are a couple who seriously merit consideration for the Top 100.
They are
Adrian Moorhouse, a gold medal-winning swimmer
Carl Fogarty, a multiple world champion motorcyclist (though not in the most prestigious bike discipline)
Jimmy Anderson, cricketer, whose absence from the list I hope will look increasingly absurd as the years progress. He just needs to get the bowling average down a bit
Ken Barrington, cricketer, whose average, like that of Herbert Sutcliffe, is in the very highest stratum
Phillips Idowu, triple jumper, world, european, commonwealth champion, olympic silver medallist, but his failure at the 2012 Olympics hangs heavy
Nat Lofthouse, footballer, whose goal scoring record at international level is second to none for England
Bob Willis, cricketer, rather like Jimmy, a top class fast bowler, though not considered as such one of the greats of the game
Peter May and Ted Dexter, both fine England cricket captains, and the best England batsmen of the 50s and 60s. Their records do not stand out, however. Old timers would no doubt scoff at the likes of Gower and Strauss going above them
and three who should really be in the list, undoubtedly ...
Chris Brasher, athlete and founder of the London Marathon, an Olympic gold medal winner in the steeplechase
Jeremy Guscott and Will Greenwood, rugby players, princely centres, who scored fast numbers of tries, and both were central to England actually playing really good rugby for a while. Who is more annoying on TV though?
Oh, and now I'm thinking about it, John Barnes. A brilliant footballer, a very intelligent man, a victim of racism and stupidity, as yet a failure as a manager.
There may be other rugby players, particularly Welsh players of the 70s, who miss out by the absence of a World Cup in their era. Some consider the Lions tours as the pinnacle of rugby, and it's certainly fun, but now we have a World Cup, that's not an idea that deserves serious consideration.
They are
Adrian Moorhouse, a gold medal-winning swimmer
Carl Fogarty, a multiple world champion motorcyclist (though not in the most prestigious bike discipline)
Jimmy Anderson, cricketer, whose absence from the list I hope will look increasingly absurd as the years progress. He just needs to get the bowling average down a bit
Ken Barrington, cricketer, whose average, like that of Herbert Sutcliffe, is in the very highest stratum
Phillips Idowu, triple jumper, world, european, commonwealth champion, olympic silver medallist, but his failure at the 2012 Olympics hangs heavy
Nat Lofthouse, footballer, whose goal scoring record at international level is second to none for England
Bob Willis, cricketer, rather like Jimmy, a top class fast bowler, though not considered as such one of the greats of the game
Peter May and Ted Dexter, both fine England cricket captains, and the best England batsmen of the 50s and 60s. Their records do not stand out, however. Old timers would no doubt scoff at the likes of Gower and Strauss going above them
and three who should really be in the list, undoubtedly ...
Chris Brasher, athlete and founder of the London Marathon, an Olympic gold medal winner in the steeplechase
Jeremy Guscott and Will Greenwood, rugby players, princely centres, who scored fast numbers of tries, and both were central to England actually playing really good rugby for a while. Who is more annoying on TV though?
Oh, and now I'm thinking about it, John Barnes. A brilliant footballer, a very intelligent man, a victim of racism and stupidity, as yet a failure as a manager.
There may be other rugby players, particularly Welsh players of the 70s, who miss out by the absence of a World Cup in their era. Some consider the Lions tours as the pinnacle of rugby, and it's certainly fun, but now we have a World Cup, that's not an idea that deserves serious consideration.
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