Is Jimmy Anderson a dark horse for BBC SPOTY 2015?
Published:
Jimmy Anderson could be the man to back for Sports Personality of the Year 2015 ahead of the Ashes.
The England bowler recently became just the 12th man in cricket history to take 400 wickets and with the Ashes series almost upon us the Lancastrian will have plenty of opportunities to make a stake for the BBC crown.
The Burnley Express started the year out at odds of 50/1 but his recent milestone has seen his priced slashed to just 16/1 and some key wickets against the Australians in the coming weeks could see that price disappear further.
Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton is the current joint favourite at 4/1 but with little competition for the Silver Arrows driver this year many will feel retention of the award he won last year would be undeserved.
Recently-retired jockey extraordinaire AP McCoy can also be backed at 4/1 after calling time on his illustrious career but having already won in 2010 the Northern Irishman could also be overlooked.
Only three people have been crowned twice and not since Damon Hill in 1996 have we seen a multiple winner.
Andy Murray’s odds have drifted from 4/1 to 8/1 after the Scot crashed out of the French Open to Novak Djokovic so Rory McIlroy could get plenty of attention at 10/1.
However, two Majors last year weren’t enough to secure the award and after coming 4th in The Masters this year the golf ace will need to win all three remaining majors in order to go one better.
Elsewhere, Katarina Johnson-Thompson has seen her odds tumble from 25/1 to 12/1 after taking gold at the European Indoor Championships in Prague.
And, with the World Championships in Beijing still to come this year the aspiring heptathlete will also have a big chance to impress the SPOTY judges.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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