The Addle Border Medal

People with unusual names know how frustrating it is to have them mispronounced. There’s no excuse when you mangle it yourself and in any case, “Allan” should be pretty straightforward.

But when Allan Border was on stage to present the medal that bears his name, he stumbled embarrassingly on the part of the announcement that should have come naturally. Somehow his own name came out sounding like “Addle” or “Annal”.

When the ripple of polite laughter died down he corrected himself and announced that there was a tie between Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. The following day, Border explained the cause of his confusion.

“I looked down at the card and I saw the two names there,” Border said. “It caught me by surprise.”