There’s no point in ranking the best sportsmen of the decade. We can argue forever over their relative positions, but it’s quite obvious that Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Lance Amstrong, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt dwarf everyone else. Here, then, are five sportsmen who are consistently forgotten by list-makers.

1. Darren Bent

A habitual goalscorer for Sunderland in the English Premier League (and before that for Spurs, Charlton and Ipswich), Bent has still only made five appearances for England. Yet Michael Owen still keeps getting selected, coasting on past deeds.

2. Marcus Trescothick

The Ashes of 2005 are forever associated with Andrew Flintoff but Tresothick blazing away at the top of the order was equally important. Bowlers always felt they had a chance with Trescothick thanks to his non-existent footwork, but like the similarly stationary Sehwag, he bludgeoned attacks mercilessly.

3. Nikolay Davydenko

Tennis is so dominated by big-hitters that the 5’10 Davydenko will always struggle to impose himself against the best. His lack of personality will always hinder his popularity. But the hardest-working man in tennis has been in the top 10 since 2005, won the season-ending championships this year and is unerringly consistent. Shame he will always be remembered for alleged match-fixing.

4. Nick Heidfeld

So much is dependent on the quality of cars in Formula One that it can be hard to rate individual drivers. Overtaking abilities is perhaps the best commonly used barometer to separate one racer from the other. What usually gets ignored are the defensive abilities of drivers. It is here that Heidfeld is peerless. Even when drivers like Alonso and Kimi were clocking in at 0.5/lap faster than Heidfeld, they couldn’t overtake him.

5. KJ Choi

Many golfers less worthy than Choi have won major championships and for that they will forever be rated more highly than him. But his seven PGA Tour wins and consistent showings in the majors make him one of the finest golfers in the world. He’s a serious contender week in, week out and its only a matter of time before he wins a coveted major, most likely at the US Open which is more forgiving of players who don’t hit the ball a long way.