DENIS LAW should have got a flea in his year for his date gaffe when naming Ben Stokes “219* Sports Personality of the year.
But instead it all added up eerily well for cricket fans as the number he said instead of 2019 is the total of England all-rounder Stokes’ two award-clinching knocks over the summer.
After helping to seal victory in the greatest ever World Cup final with a flashing 84, Stokes hit 135 in arguably the most heroic Ashes knock in history, snatching Third Test glory at Headingley.
So even though Manchester United legend Law went back 1,800 years as he announced Stokes winning the BBC-run poll, stats buffs soon had it all figured.
George Rainsford was quick off the mark, tweeting: “When Denis Law accidentally said that @benstokes38 had won the 219 #SPOTY, how freaky is it that #BenStokes got 135 in that Headingley innings & 84 before the super over in the World Cup Final. 135 + 84 = 219. Meant to be!”
BUT BAD NEWS FOR LEWIS…
But another poster reckons the creepy mistake could throw Lewis Hamilton off track in his bid to win a record eight world F1 titles.
Hamilton, SPOTY runner-up this year after winning it in 2014, is two crowns short of surpassing Michael Schumacher‘s seven heaven.
And Tandy Court tweeted; “Oh dear…that means Lewis Hamilton has to wait until 4013 before winning SPOTY if these figures play by the same rules!”
So maybe: Sum you win, sum you Lew’s…
