Joe Root is number one

[GirthQuake]

While Kohli is miles away from reaching 10K and looking at a rapid end to his test career averaging 45.

It took a while but the wheat and chaff are finally separated.

 

[Molehill]

I’ll be honest, I tend to almost exclude individual sports from my thinking when I make these statements but

Hamilton - I’d beat him in my old corsa. Not a sport
Farah - belongs in the argument but Root has been world class for a decade now, has achieved at the highest level in multiple formats like Farah, and has never advertised quorn
Fury - Boxing isn’t a sport, you might as well mention Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre
Hoy - Come back when his best move on the bike is as good as Root’s ramp
Wiggins - questions to answer
O’Sullivan - pub game, not a sport
Wilkinson - doesn’t even need a joke answer

I would probably put Farah in the 'questions to answer' category too.

The answer is always Murray though. Successive Olympic Golds, 3 Grand Slams (11 Finals), a Davis Cup, a Year End Championship, World Number 1, 3 SPOTY's, and frankly, just a decent bloke too. If he hadn't been born within a week of Djokovic he'd have won a shitload more.

 

[MW1304]

Wherever you rank him alongside other sportspeople (impossible thing to answer tbh), he's the best bat we've produced in the lifetime of basically anyone on this forum and I don't think he'll be beaten within mine.

 

[BazBall21]

I have a soft spot for Fury but Murray is the leading candidate.

 

[Molehill]

Wherever you rank him alongside other sportspeople (impossible thing to answer tbh), he's the best bat we've produced in the lifetime of basically anyone on this forum and I don't think he'll be beaten within mine.

Heard a discussion on TMS yesterday basically saying that whenever he stops, he will probably never be beaten by anyone else coming after given how Test Cricket is gradually being reduced.

 

[BazBall21]

Heard a discussion on TMS yesterday basically saying that whenever he stops, he will probably never be beaten by anyone else coming after given how Test Cricket is gradually being reduced.

I think he will finish 2nd, but if he catches Tendulkar, he will be the top Test run scorer forever.

 

[BazBall21]

I obviously hope he does, but I don't think Root catches Tendulkar. I don't think batting is as much of an adverse grind to him as it was to a Cook who was less talented, but I also don't think Root is as insatiably obsessed with batting as people like Tendulkar, Steve Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul etc. And while he has sorted his conversion issues out, he can get bored and suffer lazy dismissals when runs get cheaper; which reduces his chances of catching Tendulkar a bit. Obviously, you can't knock a guy who made 143 too much. But stick Tendulkar or a Smith etc in that situation yesterday and he's almost certainly finishing 200*.

I'm going to estimate he bows out in the 2027 Ashes.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I would probably put Farah in the 'questions to answer' category too.

The answer is always Murray though. Successive Olympic Golds, 3 Grand Slams (11 Finals), a Davis Cup, a Year End Championship, World Number 1, 3 SPOTY's, and frankly, just a decent bloke too. If he hadn't been born within a week of Djokovic he'd have won a ****load more.

So we're counting Scots?

 

[Molehill]

So we're counting Scots?

'These shores' usually includes them.

Another not mentioned and falling into the 90's/00's camp would be Calzaghe.

 

[TheJediBrah]

'These shores' usually includes them.

Another not mentioned and falling into the 90's/00's camp would be Calzaghe.

Even if you want to count him (I wouldn't, not that I can actually lower myself to an English mindset to know for sure), in the last 20 years alone he's at best 4th in Tennis. You're really telling me that is the best sportsman Britain has to offer?

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

'These shores' usually includes them.

Another not mentioned and falling into the 90's/00's camp would be Calzaghe.

Nah

 

[Burgey]

Another not mentioned and falling into the 90's/00's camp would be Calzaghe.

Tremendous fighter. Loved watching him

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Even if you want to count him (I wouldn't, not that I can actually lower myself to an English mindset to know for sure), in the last 20 years alone he's at best 4th in Tennis. You're really telling me that is the best sportsman Britain has to offer?

Who would be the best Aussie male? Ian Thorpe? Cadel Evans? Lleyton Hewitt (who was a lot worse than Murray)? James Spithill? Jonathan Thurston? Steve Smith?

Gotta say the British options are far better


Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Israel Adasanya, Scott Dixon, Peter Burling, Bond & Murray, Hamish Kerr etc. are better than the Aussies too.


Edit: Also since McIlroy is Northern Irish the UK can claim him too, and he's better than the Aussies.

 

[Burgey]

If it’s 90s/00s you’re talking about, then John Eales trumps any Pommy sportsman and probably every kiwi save McCaw and Carter. And no one even really plays rugby here. And Warne, Smith and McGrath top all of them.

And let’s be honest. Ian Thorpe’s achievements crap all over Andy Murray’s. Come on ffs. Murray is Rafter/ Hewitt level at best. Thorpe was a world champion at 15 and a multiple Olympic gold medallist at 17. It’s an insult to mention these fellas in the same sentence as him

 

[TheJediBrah]

Who would be the best Aussie male? Ian Thorpe? Cadel Evans? Lleyton Hewitt (who was a lot worse than Murray)? James Spithill? Jonathan Thurston? Steve Smith?

Gotta say the British options are far better


Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Israel Adasanya, Scott Dixon, Peter Burling, Bond & Murray, Hamish Kerr etc. are better than the Aussies too.


Edit: Also since McIlroy is Northern Irish the UK can claim him too, and he's better than the Aussies.

Gary Ablett Jr, Chris Judd, Michael Voss, James Hird, Dustin Martin, Lance Franklin, Nat Fyfe, Patrick Dangerfield

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Gary Ablett Jr, Chris Judd, Michael Voss, James Hird, Dustin Martin, Lance Franklin, Nat Fyfe, Patrick Dangerfield

Who? I think Ablett played Aussie Rules. Did the other ones as well.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

If it’s 90s/00s you’re talking about, then John Eales trumps any Pommy sportsman and probably every kiwi save McCaw and Carter. And no one even really plays rugby here. And Warne, Smith and McGrath top all of them.

And let’s be honest. Ian Thorpe’s achievements crap all over Andy Murray’s. Come on ffs. Murray is Rafter/ Hewitt level at best. Thorpe was a world champion at 15 and a multiple Olympic gold medallist at 17. It’s an insult to mention these fellas in the same sentence as him

Yeah Eales was very good but he played his last test in 2001

Re Thorpe swimming is a pretty boring sport

 

[Burgey]

Mate, we’re extolling rugby players and test cricketers here. I’m not sure we can throw stones at other sports

and someone mentioned Lewis Hamilton earlier.
I mean, it’s a sport where someone passes another driver four times a year on average.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Gotta say the British options are far better

Rubbish. Ours are still better despite all our best athletes not even playing an international sport. It's embarassingly one-sided. Much like an Ashes series in Australia

 

[Molehill]

Who would be the best Aussie male? Ian Thorpe? Cadel Evans? Lleyton Hewitt (who was a lot worse than Murray)? James Spithill? Jonathan Thurston? Steve Smith?

Gotta say the British options are far better


Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Israel Adasanya, Scott Dixon, Peter Burling, Bond & Murray, Hamish Kerr etc. are better than the Aussies too.


Edit: Also since McIlroy is Northern Irish the UK can claim him too, and he's better than the Aussies.

Seeing this list made me think of a couple of others not mentioned in UK.

For some reason a 4 times Tour de France winner gets little attention (Froome). And then there's the sailor that won gold medals at 4 consecutive Olympics and followed it up with an America's Cup too (Sir Ben Ainslie).

And those that tried to compare Murray with Rafter/Hewitt should start a career in stand up comedy!!