Sunday, January 04, 2004
Aussie sporting greats
The BBC has, on the occasion of Steve Waugh's retirement, put together a ranking of the top 10 Aussie sportsmen who competed in international sports. Needless to say, the incomparable Sir Don Bradman towers over all comers at rank one. Well, to be fair, I don't think any sportsman anywhere in the world (minor sports aside) has dominated his/her game the way Sir Don has dominated cricket. He is so stratospheric that the most you can do as a player is to look to him for inspiration.
But, I digress. Second on the list is Rod Laver, the last man to win the tennis grand slam and swimming great Dawn Fraser comes in at three. Steve Waugh figures at rank five. The interesting omission from this top ten list is Allan Border. I can't imagine why the most prolific run-getter in test cricket does not find a place in this list. For that matter, Allan Border was also responsible for laying the foundation (after the disastrous captaincy of Kim Hughes) for an almost unbeatable Aussie cricket team. Strange omission indeed.
But, I digress. Second on the list is Rod Laver, the last man to win the tennis grand slam and swimming great Dawn Fraser comes in at three. Steve Waugh figures at rank five. The interesting omission from this top ten list is Allan Border. I can't imagine why the most prolific run-getter in test cricket does not find a place in this list. For that matter, Allan Border was also responsible for laying the foundation (after the disastrous captaincy of Kim Hughes) for an almost unbeatable Aussie cricket team. Strange omission indeed.
