One has returned, one has retired and the other is in danger of being pushed out, and it remains unknown as to which will be remembered as the greatest.
‘Sporting greatness’ is an ambivalent and often overused concept.
To be ‘great’ one must be a champion, winning the biggest prizes available. This must be done several times, ideally by scaling the precipice against successive generations to display true magnificence.
Ideally a great would also have a great rival to provide a challenge like never before, and the greatest will bounce back from defeats to triumph over this rival in the final campaign.
The recent death of Joe Frazier has reawakened the tail of one of the greatest sporting rivalries. Muhammad Ali coming back from defeat to defeat Frazier not once but twice: surely the ultimate great?
Ali is the benchmark against whom all must be judged. In our generation Roger Federer holds that accolade. Yet even he has struggled against the young upstarts, and one more great triumph may be necessary to truly cement his place alongside Ali.
Other names spring to mind: Messi, Armstrong, Woods and Bolt. All are contenders but are they fully deserving of greatness?
So what of the three Australians? Ian Thorpe was the greatest teenage swimmer the world had ever seen and he also won swimming’s ‘Thriller in Manilla’ when he won the 200m Freestyle ‘Race of the Century’ in 2004.
Yet he did not have the longevity of a Federer or an Ali, retiring after losing favour with his sport in 2006. His return so far has been unsuccessful, and while it would be wrong to write him off yet, swimming has been moved on by that other modern day great: Michael Phelps.
Darren Lockyer is certainly the lowest key of the three but in many ways the most successful. Dominant in the domestic and the international game, with a record number of caps and tries for his country along with a world cup winner’s medal. One of Rugby League’s greatest ever players.
Maybe Lockyer was less tested playing in such a dominant Kangaroo team. The way he responded to adversity against England last weekend however shows those essential qualities of perseverance, determination and success.
And so to Ponting, that great pantomime villain of English sport. A villain who combined attacking magnificence with mental capacity and an eye for the big occasion.
He may be remembered as the man who lost three Ashes series but he was one of only a few sportsmen whose mere presence created genuine fear, and who could forget his match saving 156 at Old Trafford in 2005, an innings of breathtaking brilliance.
For me Thorpe must triumph against the odds in London next year, Lockyer was a great but never had the opportunities of other sports to fundamentally prove it. Ponting may be a shadow of his former self, but his contribution to Australia’s victory in Johannesburg showed that dogmatic resilience was still there.
Ponting may be retiring soon, and as an England fan I will unsportingly say good riddance, but good riddance to a great player.
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