WHO WOULD WOOLERS CHOOSE?
PAUL NEWMAN BEN STOKES
I could imagine the reaction of the late great Woolers if someone had told him an English cricketer would one day usurp the superhuman efforts of Ian Botham in 1981 to win a Test match — and at Headingley of all places. He would not have believed it possible. But Ben Stokes did that against Australia in leeds.
Not only that but he was also at the centre of a first World cup win for England secured in the most dramatic and barely believable circumstances. of all Stokes’ achievements this year, what would have impressed Ian most was his reaction to that last ball of the 100 overs of the World cup final at lord’s.
The swashbuckler inside him, with two to win, would have wanted to win the cup in the grand manner. Instead, Stokes showed he has the most astute cricket brain by working the ball into a gap to ensure England would have at least a Super over.
His career could have been over after that night in Bristol. Instead, he has proved those of us who worried he was wasting his gifts so wrong by carving his name in cricket history. Ian would have loved that.
RIATH AL-SAMARRAI KATARINA JOHNSON-THOMPSON
To THINk, as recently as May she told a few reporters that her reading material included articles on ‘Impostor Syndrome’, owing to her sad belief that she didn’t quite belong among the elite of sport. This most honest of athletes has never hidden her pain at past disappointments and the labels that came with them.
How marvellous, then, to see what 26-yearold Johnson-Thompson (above) did at the World championships in doha, obliterating one of the most dominant women of recent years, Nafi Thiam, and breaking Jessica Ennis-Hill’s British heptathlon record to win gold. one of the finest ever triumphs by a British athlete, and a great vindication for a woman who likely never expected it.
MIKE DICKSON KANE WILLIAMSON
WoolErS loved cricket more than any other sport and would have been captivated by this summer’s World cup final.
More than that, he would doubtless have purred his approval at the sportsmanship shown by New Zealand’s captain kane Williamson when the gods had conspired so cruelly against his team.
The kiwi skipper’s dignified acceptance of his ill-fortune showed a man who could keep his sport in perspective, a quality Ian admired above virtually any other. It seems almost incidental that he also confirmed himself as one of the world’s finest players.
of all the features of that giddy afternoon of summer sport, Williamson’s good grace stands out as perhaps the most remarkable.
DEREK LAWRENSON TIGER WOODS
TIgEr had won 12 majors by the time Woolers passed away in 2007. He witnessed four of Tiger’s Masters victories in person, plus his three open triumphs and considered him alongside Muhammad Ali and rod laver as one of the three finest sportsmen that he had seen. Who knows what he would have made of the years of scandal and injury that followed, although one suspects his pen would have been dipped in sternness and sympathy in equal measure. What is beyond doubt is that he would have been in rapture as Woods (below), at 43, triumphed at Augusta this year, painting an unrivalled portrait. Then he would have retired to the clubhouse and toasted a comeback for the ages.
CLAIRE BLOOMFIELD MEGAN RAPINOE
TESTAMENT to her bold, unforgiving and extrovert ways, FIFA Player of the Year Megan rapinoe has commandeered a global platform having helped steer the uSA to a record fourth Women’s World cup win this summer. From heating up debates on politics and equal pay, calling out racism and homophobia — and putting donald Trump firmly in his place after snubbing an invitation to the White House, it’s been a monumental year for the flamboyant co-captain. rapinoe arguably has the most powerful voice women’s sport has ever heard and you figure she’s only just getting warmed up.
IAN HERBERT JACK LEACH
For a long time, Jack leach did not seem a born international sportsman. Some have stories about his early days on the club scene in Somerset when he was reserved and by no means a world beater. one club didn’t even invite him back. He has overcome a lot, not least health problems, to get a shot at Test cricket. But his batting this summer, particularly with Ben Stokes in the third Ashes Test at Headingley in August, revealed that the quiet and understated individuals — the ones who need to clean their spectacles between balls and overs — really can prevail in sport. The corinthian spirit, which this award celebrates, was an antidote to the swashbuckling feats of sport’s early professionals. leach is its embodiment: an understated everyman who gives hope to all who dream of making it to the highest stage.
JEFF POWELL NEW ZEALAND
THE two most splendid acts this year of the corinthian sportsmanship cherished by Ian have been by New Zealanders.
The kiwis took their freakish defeat by England in cricket’s World cup final without a murmur of complaint about their misfortune. The All Blacks reacted to their loss of the rugby World cup in semi-final defeat by England by warmly congratulating the victors on their finest performance for years.
Woolers would have toasted long into the night these shining examples of the spirit in which he believed every game should be played.