JEREMY CROSS Legends’ curtain call
WE MUST ADORE THE GOLDEN OLDIES WHILE WE STILL CAN
IT feels like a puzzling part of life that we do not appreciate people until it’s too late.
That someone’s absence makes people realise how fortunate they were to have been able to enjoy them in the first place.
And nothing quite demonstrates this quirk more than the world of sport.
Take Ben Stokes for instance. He has asked not to be selected for this summer’s T20 World Cup.
He wants to use the time off to improve his fitness, so he can return to cricket at some stage in the future and extend his remarkable career.
It means England will look to defend their T20 crown without someone who is arguably their greatest ever cricketer.
It also means something else – that the beginning of the end has started for Stokes.
The ‘Superman’ of his sport has been battling a chronic knee problem for longer than he cares to remember – and it’s a fight he will not win. But Stokes is not the only sporting legend to find themselves embroiled in one of those long goodbyes.
Andy Murray will play at Wimbledon for the last time in July.
It promises to be an emotional farewell for the two-time champion, at the place he likes to call home.
It might even be the last time we see him wield a racket full stop.
And how much longer can fellow tennis icon Rafael Nadal continue at the highest level?
Like Murray, Nadal is battling long-term injuries which have seen him withdraw from countless tournaments.
Murray will be 37 before walking into SW19 again, while Nadal will be 38.
Over in the United States, Tiger Woods pulled out of the recent Players’ Championship in Florida, casting doubts on how well equipped he will be to compete in the Masters next week.
In Miami, meanwhile, Lionel Messi is watching
the sun set on his own astonishing career at the age of 36.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 10 months shy of his 40th birthday, is doing the same thing in Saudi Arabia.
We won’t witness these two footballing gods perform on the biggest stages again, like the World Cup or Champions League.
How many more boxing fights can Tyson Fury put himself through at the age of 35, while Lewis Hamilton is much closer to the end of his F1 career than the start, or even middle.
And it’s more than likely American gymnast Simone Biles will compete in her final Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
All of those mentioned above have nothing left to prove to their chosen sports.
But the fact they still want to speaks volumes for their characters.
Yet fighting time is futile for the true greats, never mind the mere mortals.
And the curtain is coming down in front of all of them.
The void those discussed will leave behind is impossible to fill, considering what they have achieved in their respective sports.
They have provided moments in history which might never be repeated or bettered.
In some cases it is almost sad to witness the likes of Murray,
Nadal and Woods attempt to rekindle the greatness they once had.
But then again, even this remains a pleasure of some sorts and should be cherished.