Who's our Sports Personality of the Year?

10. ANDY MURRAY 
(100-1)

FIVE tour titles, an impressive clean sweep of four Grand Slam semi-final appearances and a brief spell at number three in the rankings - on the face of it, it has been a hugely successful year for the darling of British tennis.

Yet when it comes to assessing Murray's feats, there is always an elephant in the room. Once again, the Scot has failed to break his Grand Slam duck, and in a particularly strong year in terms of British achievement, that relegates him to the bottom of the Sports Personality field.

He came close in the Australian Open, losing to the all-conquering Novak Djokovic in the final, but Rafael Nadal had his number throughout the summer and Murray ended 2011 as far away from that elusive first major as ever.

9.AMIR KHAN
(100-1)

IN many ways, it is hard to deliver judgement on Khan ahead of his world lightwelterweight title fight with US challenger Lamont Peterson, in Washington, on December 10.

Win that convincingly, and the Bolton-born fighter will have a much stronger claim on the prize. As things stand at the moment, though, he has only made the shortlist thanks to July's knock-out victory over Zab Judah.

That was an impressive performance, in which Khan unified his division in the space of five rounds, but it hardly made a lasting impression on the British sporting conscience. In part, that is not Khan's fault, with boxing all but invisible on terrestrial networks. But the former Olympic silver medallist still has some way to go to match some of the great champions of the past.

8.ANDREW STRAUSS
(100-1)

STRAUSS could hardly have wished for a better start to 2011, as he led England to an Ashes series victory down under, and the year ends with his side at the top of the world rankings thanks to a 4-0 summer thrashing of India.

The opener's form has been solid enough, but it is his captaincy that has truly impressed, as he has been at the forefront of the England Test team's transition into a formidable unit capable of excelling in any conditions.

Strauss deserves credit for that, but given that he no longer plays in the shorter form of the game and he did not top the England batting statistics in any of this year's Test series, his appearance on the shortlist owes much to the achievements of his team-mates.

England's cricketers stand a good chance of winning the BBC's team award, and that would surely be sufficient recognition of Strauss' efforts.

7.RORY MCILROY
(7-1)

ONE of three golfers on the shortlist, McIlroy appeared to have the world at his feet when he trounced his rivals to win the US Open by an incredible eight shots.

The victory provided immediate redemption for a dramatic last-day choke in April's US Masters, when McIlroy blew a four-shot lead at the start of the final round.

Having claimed his first Major, the Ulsterman was promoted as 'the new Tiger Woods', and his year also saw him pocket the most valuable prize in golf when he beat Anthony Kim at a play-off in October's Shanghai Masters.

Yet it is hard to claim he truly lived up to his potential, particularly at the Open Championship, and one suspects his greatest years are still to come.

6.ALASTAIR COOK
(50-1)

STRAUSS might be the England captain, but in terms of individual achievement, Cook has enjoyed a much more notable 2011 than his teammate.

He travelled to Australia last winter with his place in the side under threat, but amassed 766 runs in the five Ashes Tests to win the Man of the Series award.

He was arguably even better in the summer, capping a fine series against India with a remarkable 294 that was the sixth highest score ever recorded by an Englishman.

The opener, who was appointed one-day skipper, might not be the most flamboyant batsman, but his reliability has made him the linchpin of the Test side.

5.DAI GREENE
(66-1)

THE Welsh hurdler became Britain's first gold medallist at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu when he claimed the 400m hurdles crown to add to his European and Commonwealth titles.

Starting in South Korea as one of the favourites, Greene produced a series of accomplished performances through the rounds and timed his run in the final to perfection, swooping down the home straight to win by an ultimately comfortable margin.

In most years, a world title would guarantee a place in the top three, but this is not a vintage era for 400m hurdling and Greene's success was quickly eclipsed by an even greater performance on the track.

He'll be a contender again next year, though, if he wins an Olympic gold in London to become only the fifth British athlete to complete a clean sweep of major medals.

4.LUKE DONALD
(22-1)

ITis one of the subjective calls that makes voting for the Sports Personality of the Year such a tricky task - is one remarkable success better than a string of steady, if somewhat unspectacular, performances?

In the eyes of the public it tends to be, which is why Donald will struggle to make it into this month's top three despite spending half of 2011 at the top of the world rankings.

Just as Murray suffers from never having won a Grand Slam, so Donald is constantly saddled with the tag of being the best player in the world never to have won a Major. But that should not detract from the Englishman's consistent brilliance in the last 12 months.

He posted 14 top-ten finishes in his 19 tournaments this year, and is set to be the first player to top the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

3.DARREN CLARKE
(6-4)

IF Donald was golf's Mr Consistent this year, then Clarke was Mr Erratic. But he came good on the four days that really mattered to deliver easily the most emotional sporting story of 2011.

The 43-year-old's career appeared to be winding down as he teed off in the opening round of the Open Championship at Royal St George's, but he finished the weekend as the UK's first winner since Paul Lawrie triumphed in 1999.

The Ulsterman's success, at the 20th time of asking, was particularly poignant as it came five years after he lost his wife, Heather, to breast cancer.

The British public loves a story that tugs at the heartstrings, and Clarke is the joint favourite to win the big prize at the end of the month. He is certainly a huge personality, but for me there are two more worthy winners.

2.MO FARAH
(8-1)

CAST your mind back five or ten years, and it seemed inconceivable that anyone could break the African domination of male long distance running, let alone a Briton.

But in this year's World Championships, Farah, who was born in Somalia, but moved to London at the age of eight, did exactly that.

Having finished an agonising second after being out-sprinted by Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan in the final of the 10,000m, the 28-year-old returned to go one better in the 5,000m.

His long-distance gold medal was the first won by any British male at a global championships and catapulted Farah firmly into the spotlight ahead of next year's Olympic Games.

Whether he likes it or not, he will start 2012 as the face of the London Games.

1.MARK CAVENDISH
(6-4)

BRITAIN'S cyclists have become a fixture on the Sports Personality shortlist - Sir Chris Hoy won the award thanks to his achievements at the Beijing Games - but their success has normally come on the track.

Cavendish does his cycling on the road, traditionally a much more competitive environment, and after everything he has achieved this year, he can justifiably claim to be the greatest British cyclist of all time.

He has now claimed a remarkable 20 stage wins in the Tour de France, and this year's race saw him become the first British winner of the green jersey, which is awarded to the champion sprinter.

As if that was not enough, he then created more history by becoming Britain's first male world road race champion for 46 years when he triumphed over a 266km course in Denmark. A truly incredible sportsman who deserves the highest of praise.