The Greatest British Sportspeople 40-31

40. Virginia Wade (Tennis, 1960s-1980s)

There was something a little annoying about the recent meme suggesting egregious sexism was responsible for Virginia Wade being entirely forgotten about in the various descriptions of Andy Murray being the "first British winner of Wimbledon since 1936". For starters, Jonny Marray won Wimbledon in 2012, as did Jamie Murray in 2007 - sexism was entirely not the case, it was just a little journalistic laziness which prevented people saying "the first British winner of the men's singles title since 1936".
And Virginia Wade is no forgotten woman. Her 1977 Wimbledon win is one of the most celebrated achievement's in British sport and she has been an almost constant presence on screens since. The fact it was in the Jubilee year gave it particular eclat (perhaps Ann Jones and Angela Mortimer are the forgotten women), but Virginia Wade won two other Grand slams was a Top 10 player for many years. It may be that Murray will surpass her achievements, but has not quite done yet.

39. David Weir (Wheelchair racing, 1990s-2010s)

 Really the star of the 2012 Paralympics, with his four golds, a huge feat of endurance, and generally the best wheelchair racer for many, many years, Weir has won medals in everything from the 100m to the Marathon. I have no hesitation about his high position - he is a clear example of where Paralympic sport should not be viewed in terms of "relative merits" against Olympic sports. He's the greatest in a vast field, full stop.

38. Ted "Kid" Lewis (Boxing, 1910s-1920s)

It's really, really hard to judge old boxing - more than anything else in sport really. It's hard enough to judge today's boxers against each other, what with the different weight categories, different governing bodies, different meanings of different types of records.
With the boxers of days of yore, their records are totally different from modern day boxers, because they fought so much more - this guy almost 300 times as a professional, for heaven's sake, and he lost plenty. And there's almost no worthwhile footage, with some of them none at all. So how can we possibly know how good they were? Someone's been told by someone else, whose built it up and written it down ... and boxing writers are such bullshitters - boxing historians, more than in any other sport, reckon the modern sport doesn't hold a candle to the past ... but the thing is, in boxing more than any other sport, it may just be true.
This is because boxing was so much of a more popular sport back then, so the very best athletes would go into it, also because the weight categories are defined, so (apart from the heavyweights) the competitors haven't actually got bigger - 160 lb in 1924 is the same as 160 lb now. Also, boxing is a simple sport - tactics and coaching will not really have advanced much. In fact, the historians say the opposite,
So I say all this to excuse the fact that what I actually know about Ted "Kid" Lewis and other British boxers from days of yore like Jimmy Wilde and Jack "Kid" Berg (hey, kid!) is limited and may be wrong. It's secondary evidence, and even when one has primary evidence (like watching footage of LaMotta vs Robinson from the 1940s) it's very hard to just watch it and see how good they are. Stats are so, so important for judging how good sportsmen are, unless you're fabulously expert.
I've read grandiose lists from bullshitting boxing historians who probably never watched him who say that Ted "Kid" Lewis was the best British boxer, I've seen what he achieved, winning titles in many different weights, so I've put him here on the list.

37. Ben Ainslie (Sailing, 1990s-2010s)

 We know a bit more about Ben Ainslie - we know he's won four Olympic golds and one silver and he's the most successful sailing Olympian ever we've seen him interviewed and we know he's a bit of a badass. Still, I imagine very very few of us understand what techically he's doing to make him a great sailor - sailing on TV is basically occasional footage from a distance of boats moving at roughly the same speed. There are tactics, there's timing, there's tacking. Slotting him in high on this list was not tricky.

36. Matthew Pinsent (Rowing, 1990s-2000s)

 The definitive nice posh superman, and another winner of four Olympic golds, there's plenty to admire about him as sportsman, sports administrator, broadcaster, man who once was seen to have the largest lung capacity of all sportsmen. Could he be higher? He's a great establishment sportsman, a knight of the realm. Well, it depends what you think of rowing. This list does, as I've said, involve considering the relative merits of achievements across a range of sports, and I'll get to why Pinsent and his even more distinguished buddy aren't right at the top of the list in time.

35. Willie John McBride (Rugby union, 1960s-1970s)

So a couple of issues to deal with here 1. This is an Irishman, isn't it? He played over 60 times for Ireland. But I did strictly allow Northern Irish rugby players as British sportspeople, I couldn't really not. Sp no O'Driscoll, but there is a McBride. But I think that dilemma played on me a little, as 2. Willie John McBride is not the only great Northern Irish rugby players. There are, in particular, two others, Jack Kyle and Mike Gibson. I knew, growing up, that Mike Gibson was the don of Irish players, and so I wonder now if I've erred, putting all my eggs in this one basket.
In any case, Willie John McBride went on 5 Lions tours, captained the winning 1974 tour, managed the 1983 tour, and is generally one of the all time great legends of rugby.

34. Jack Hobbs (Cricket, 1900s-1930s)

 One of the few cricketers whose name plays a key part in an Oscar-winning film, Hobbs was the only Englishmen to be one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the 20th Century - he scored more runs and made more centuries than anyone else, had a test average in the high 50s, and there's really not much room for doubt. As the list progresses, more and more people are knights or dames. Not all of them, though, thankfully.

33. Kelly Holmes (Athletics, 1990s-2000s)

 Or Dame Kelly, of course. A genuinely heartwarming tale. I'm a big athletics fan, have been since the mid-80s and it's an individual sport where you really follow people's stories over the years, you see the numerous agonising injuries they pick up, you see athlete after athlete not quite fulfil their potential. You suspect that British athletes who almost get to the top but not quite are not on an even playing field - that though there might be the odd rogue British doper, the culture is so anti and the testing here so comparatively rigorous, that actually a Brit who looks like a let down coming 5th isn't actually a let-down at all.
And Kelly Holmes, a Sergeant in the army, was better than that. Despite the injuries, despite the opponents, she picked up medals consistently, bronzes and silvers often, occasional golds in the Commonwealths or Europeans, without ever quite being a world beater. I remember she was a training partner for the great Mozambique 800m runner Maria Mutola, and when Mutola won the 2000 Olympics, it was almost like Holmes, though she got bronze, was her pacemaker, her subservient.It didn't look like she believed she could win.
Then in 2004, she did, She went stride for stride with Mutola down the home straight and won the battle of wills. As the field came back, she held her composure - at the end, you could tell she couldn't believe she'd done it. But then, a few days later, in the 1500m, belief had come in floods. She won easily, smoothly, perfectly.
In all my years of watching British athletics, that may have been the personal high point. She was 34, she's had a whole career, and then in one week, it all came together and became history.

32. Rebecca Adlington (Swimming, 2000s)

 Not a dame yet, rather too young for that, as you'd have thought she's a little young to have retired, but retire she has, at 23. Bit of a shame, but that's often the way with swimmers.
The best British swimmer of the modern era, winner of four Olympic medals, including two tremendous golds in 2008. Seemed totally gutted to get bronzes in 2012 despite the fact that was more than the rest of the British swimming team put together.

31. Martin Johnson (Rugby union, 1990s-2000s)

 Another immense Lions captain second row, who has the edge on Willie John McBride as a World Cup winning captain. Could he be higher? Well, I actually think his unsuccessful spell as England coach taints him slightly. It was meant to be about Johnno the man, the inspiration, but the fact he couldn't apply that same magic as a coach makes you look at his successes as a captain again. Not that he wasn't great, but you begin to give even praise to McGeechan, Woodward, and, of course, the other players.
Johnson was a palpably great second row forward, in the line out, in the loose, but again, it's interesting what the greatness entails. An example: the famous drop goal that won the 2003 World Cup final. In the build up, Matt Dawson made an electric break which made 15 yards and got England far enough up the pitch for Wilkinson to be in position for drop goal. But Dawson was scrum half, so who would be in position to supply the pass to Wilkinson. So Johnson took the ball and formed another ruck, which allowed time for Dawson to get back in position to make the pass.
This is cited as an example of Johnson's greatness, and fair enough. Crucial. But also incredibly basic, something that any strong sentient rugby player could do.
Johnson was a great leader, a great player, but rarely a thrilling, brilliant player, and perhaps that stands against him in my books.