The Greatest British Sportspeople 180-171

180. Kevin Pietersen (Cricket, 2000s)

So there is going to be a Kevin Pietersen. He's great enough, he's British enough and he's sportsperson enough. However much KP may be an oddity who upsets team spirit, his runs have been a vital part in the most prolonged successful period in English cricket for over 50 years, so he can't be that disruptive, can he? Pietersen has of course been a fabulous innovator, a destroyer of bowling, but he's also been a serious-minded matchwinner countless times. Unlike, say, Chris Gayle, he may be at the heart of the brash new cricket, but Pietersen has played test cricket like it's the most important thing in the world, and he will deservedly be looked on as a great. Two or three more good years, maybe an average of 50, 10,000 runs, good luck to him, I say.

179. Pat Jennings (Football, 1960s-1980s)

It's pretty impossible to compare goalkeepers to other footballers - in truth, they do something completely different. But it is possible to assess them as sportsmen, and Pat Jennings was a record holder in both club and international appearances, a PFA Player of the Year, part of the most successful period in Northern Irish history, and sometimes considered the best goalkeeper in the world. And he had great hair.

178. Gavin Hastings (Rugby union, 1980s-1990s)

When I think of Scottish sporting greatness, I think of Gavin Hastings saying "I'm absolutely delighted with that". One of the last great amateurs, he has countless great moments to remember, captained the Lions in 1993, and, if Englishmen remember him missing one in front of the posts in the 1991 World Cup semi-final, well, they would, wouldn't they?

177. Sandy Lyle (Golf, 1980s-2000s)

Another Scottish great. The image of Sandy Lyle suffers rather, since, as a previous winner of both of the world's biggest golf tournaments, the Open and the Masters, he's been allowed to turn up and play them spectacularly badly for the last 20 years. But he won them both. Before Faldo, before Woosnam. He was a Top 10 player for three straight years, and his winning of the 1988 Masters is one of that tournament's great moments.

176. Alan Shearer(Football, 1980s-2000s)

Alan Shearer scored goals and then celebrated like this. That's what he did. Over and over again. He was almost a true English sporting hero in 1996, but not quite, and the sad thing is, after that, he rarely scored goals at the real sharp end ever again. Going to Newcastle may have been the right thing in his heart, but while at Blackburn he was the Premier League's most relevant force, at his hometown club, he was just "Oh Shearer's scored again. What does that make Newcastle? 7th?" And his England record is only a little better than Peter Crouch's. I'm being overly damning aren't I, but Shearer's raison d'etre appears to have been to score goals, rather than to win trophies, and it's a shame the two didn't coincide more often.

175. Danny Blanchflower (Football, 1950s-1960s)

 "Football is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom". One of the most famous of all sporting quotes comes from Danny Blanchflower, and he is known as one of the game's great cerebral men. He was the only person to turn down 'This is Your Life'. He captained Northern Ireland to the 1958 World Cup quarter-finals. He captained Spurs to the double. He was twice Footballer of the Year. I never saw him, of course, but this is all the kind of greatness I like.

174. Andrew Flintoff (Cricket, 1990s-2000s)

When Andrew Flintoff retired, I reminded myself that he was one of those few cricketers that was far better than his final statistics suggested, but I seem to have fallen into underestimating his greatness now. He was so terrible for the first four or five years of his test career that he could only ever make his final numbers so impressive. Yet in his prime, for three years or so from 2003 to 2006, he was one of the best cricketers in the world and he was a joy to the British (well, English) nation.
I don't blame him for his injuries, of course not, though he could have done without his various sillinesses, but he never quite made the most of his talent in either batting or bowling. As a batsman, his technique was really without much fault, but I could spot he was going to get out soon if he hit two good shots which were stopped and didn't go for four. So there were far too many 60s and 70s, not enough 100s, while as a bowler, there were far too many twofers and threefers, not enough pfeiffers, he never let go and took risks as a bowler.
Still, 2005 really was Freddie's Ashes, and I was there, that morning at Lord's in 2009, when he bowled England to victory to make 2009 possible as well. And he made England fall in love with cricket again for a while, and since cricket is one of my favourite things in the world, he's all right with me.

173. Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1, 2000s)

Though he initially looked like he was going to be all-conquering and it really hasn't turned out like that - indeed he may not be World Champion again, the way it is looking, Lewis Hamilton's first two years in Formula 1 were so spectacular he achieved greatness very early on. The number of Grand Prix he still wins shows he's still a great driver - if he's ever a champion again, he'll deserve all the plaudits he gets.

172. Geoff Boycott (Cricket, 1960s-1980s)

Rather pricelessly, the Greatest Living Yorkshireman has been giving Kevin Pietersen lessons in team spirit recently. Still, the most famous selfish cricketer ever has a record of the highest order, and no participant in a team sport has as much right to be selfish and single-minded as an opening batsman in cricket.

171. Jane Sixsmith (Hockey, 1980s-1990s)

Such a staple as the token woman on Question of Sport in the early 1990s it was almost comical, was Britain's most famous and lauded hockey player. Again, the fact that a sport doesn't get much TV coverage doesn't mean it's not widely played and highly skilled. Hockey has always been a sport with equal prestige for both genders, as well, which means that the women's game is not catching up on quality as it is in the likes of cricket and football.