Beyond Beckham: The longest lasting players in sport...

DAVID Beckham’s retirement was a sad moment for me because it marks the end of someone, like Scholes, Owen and Carragher, who has been playing for as long as I can remember.

As I am 22, for someone to have been playing for 16ish years is a pretty long time and there are not many of them left anywhere in sport. Even Federer and Xavi, O’Driscoll and Wilkinson, for example, all emerged long after Becks had shot to fame, quite literally, from inside his own half.

In fact once those sports less restrictive on age – like Golf, Darts and Snooker – have been removed, there are not many at all. So here goes my list of the longest lasting sportspeople. Some remain greats, some used to be great, and others are, well, Emile Heskey...

Floyd Mayweather Jr: I think it’s fair to say that Mayweather is not a particularly nice man, but after 17 years as a pro, world titles at five different weights, 44 wins in 44 fights and just one jail sentence (I think) he is a legend of the ring. Before all that he enjoyed a four year amateur career culminating in a medal at the 1996 Olympics. And he’s not done yet, beating Robert Guerrero in 2013 and still aspiring a dream showdown with Manny Pacquiao...

Jacques Kallis: Cricket is certainly a sport where there are a lot of records to break, but Kallis has broken more than his fair share. Unlike his one-time rival Freddie Flintoff he has fought on against a battle-weary body to amass 13,000 Test runs and nearly 300 wickets in an eighteen year international career. He is the standout exception to the rule that all-rounder’s cannot prosper in the modern game, and is continuing to do the goods for the world leading South Africans today.

Gianluigi Buffon: Another who has hit peak form at an age when most players have long departed for the TV Studio, Buffon has just won Serie A with Juve and his penalty saves saw off England in last year’s Euros. OK, any village team keeper could probably do that, but since debuting for Parma in 1996 he has been consistently brilliant with the highlight being a World Cup victory in 2006. Oh, and he’s contracted to play on until 2015 too...

Simon Shaw: This might prove a bad pick as I fear retirement is imminent but Shaw is a rare relic from an amateur age whose career stretches back to 1990. A 40year old 6ft 7 giant his record dwarfs fellow World Cup survivors in Tindall and Wilkinson, and he’s probably won as many line-outs as Wilko has kicked penalties. In a way unlucky to be off the same era as Martin Johnson and Ben Kay but his enduring class has been proved by his recent success for Toulon.

Kobe Bryant: I must admit that I don’t know too much about Basketball but even I know about Bryant. Drafted by the LA Lakers in 1996, he has since won five NBA titles, been in every “all-star" team since 1997 and won two Olympic titles for good measure. Until an untimely injury ended his season last month he remained in his best form ever, and like Scholes and Carragher he is also a ‘one club man’, if American sport has such a concept.

Haile Gebresselassie: Forget Paula Radcliffe, Haile was winning world titles when Paula was still a junior, and he’s also still running well, making a title defence at the BUPA Manchester 10km next week. The ever-smiling Ethiopian was considered a elder statesman 12 years ago and with the sport now dominated by the ‘generation after the generation after’ him, his perseverance is incredible. With four World, two Olympic titles, and 27 world records he remains the only East African runner to become a household name in Britain.

Sarah Storey: Moving from the Olympics to the Paralympics, Storey has dominated in not one, but two sports and thus has versatility to match her longevity. After debuting in Barcelona aged 14 she won 16 Swimming medals at four games before swapping the pool for the velodrome and winning two golds at Beijing and four in London. Despite being due to give birth next month, she still plans to compete at this year’s World Champs...

Shrivarane Chanderpaul: Quite simply the greatest sportsman to ever come from Guyana, I have always had a soft spot for Chanderpaul since he took and introduced me to the entire West Indies team when I traveled on the same plane as them aged nine. He was already a legend then, and now, after 140 Tests in a 19 year career, he rivals Kallis for achievement. A player most renowned for his resilience, it is often forgotten he once hit a 69 ball hundred against the Aussies.

The Williams Sisters: In a sport particularly unforgiving on aging limbs, these two really are amazing and never get as many plaudits as they deserve. Since emerging in the mid ‘90s they have collectively won 22 singles slams, as well as 13 together in the doubles. Venus is still (just about) hanging in there, but Serena is dominating like never before, winning her last 24 matches and becoming the hot favourite for the French Open. Surely the greatest ever sporting siblings and two players who have revolutionized the Women's game.

Emile Heskey: Who is our generation’s best player: Messi? Ronaldo? Heskey? Some would say the best in the world; others would turn him down for their pub team. Heskey made his first team debut for Leicester in 1995 and after 500 English league appearances and (far too many) international tournament’s, he is now plying his trade for Melbourne Jets in the Aussie ‘A’ League – and as you can see on the ‘Heskey-cam’ is showing no sign of stopping.

And finally...

Sachin Tendulkar: While these names all began in the 1990s, Tendulkar played his first Test in 1989 and saw off the Willis, Lillee, Marshall generation, then the McGrath, Walsh, Ambrose one and now the Steyn, Anderson, Morkel one. 100 international hundreds speaks for itself and as such the 'little master' stands head and shoulders (metaphorically if not literally) above everyone else.