ANDY MURRAY is obviously a very forgiving man. How else can we explain his appearance on the Jonathan Ross programme on the BBC the other week. Murray and the BBC have history, you see. In his recently published autobiography he tells us so.
Now, a cynic might suggest it's a load of padding but in any event there's an entire chapter on the erosion of his relationship with the Beeb. Don't worry, we've read it so you don't have to.
Dunblane's finest didn't like Auntie going big on his r
evelation that there was corruption in tennis, didn't take too kindly to them reporting that he was nicknamed Lazy English at his old training camp in Spain – "I never, ever heard anyone calling me that" – and was seriously annoyed at a radio presenter asking if he was jealous of his brother when Jamie won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon last summer.
All of it added up to a BBC ban, à la Sir Alex Ferguson.
"In the end, I put all these things together and decided it wasn't worth speaking to the BBC any more," writes Murray in his book.
"Some people might think this is all very petty – the media have a job to do and I should get over it – but I don't think it's a bad thing to ask people who can influence millions of listeners, viewers and readers to get their facts right, and present them honestly, especially if it makes my life and work really difficult when they get it wrong."
So why the appearance on the Jonathan Ross programme, then? Could it be that Murray's highly principled stance against the national broadcaster was conveniently forgotten when he had a book to sell?
Let us hear no more from the young man about the standards of the media.
The full article contains 317 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
