ALMOST 10 years ago, when Andy Murray reached a then career-high of World No.35, he was widely eulogised. We urged restraint, detailing significant numbers of Scots ranked above him in other sports. Scotland's often under-rated heritage included competitors ranked No.1.

Murray's mum, whom I met that very same day, thanked me, saying it would keep her son's feet on the ground! Even after his 2012 Olympic singles gold dramatically denied Roger Federer, and Andy's first Grand Slam, in New York, I resisted the temptation to designate him Britain's greatest ever sportsman. I reckoned he was not yet No.1 Scot, which I felt remained the preserve of multiple world champion and six-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy. I felt Murray required more grand slam titles to frank Scottish No.1 status, far less British.

Helping secure Davis Cup victory - almost single-handed - further racked up the cv, Yet this annus mirabilis, winning a second Wimbledon crown and becoming first man successfully to defend Olympic singles gold, has helped launch Murray to World No.1. And now Hoy himself has deferred to the Dunblane dynamo.

To have achieved this in the era of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal, rising to the top in the greatest intensity of quality the men's singles game has known, has elevated Murray above any British sportsman. Selfless in his pursuit of perfection, he has honed a ferocious work-ethic and overcome crushing despair when results went against him.

So, arise Sir Andy. Knighthood is surely overdue. And not merely as a sop to the conscience of the tennis establishment whose cavalier treatment of the Murray brothers is a scandal. Andy and Jamie are a success despite, not because of, the UK tennis system. LTA attempts to bask in reflected glory, and failure to use the brothers appropriately to develop the game, is a disgrace. If they were a publicly-quoted company, their poor stewardship of assets which nudged £34m last year alone, would see the LTA management board called to account.

Like Olympic champion Allan Wells, and World champions Liz McColgan and Yvonne Murray, the brothers are a one-off, owing little to the efforts of their sport. These three track athletes have the MBE, but since their era, convention has changed. Knighthoods and damehoods for British sporting achievement has only recently become fashionable, yet still fewer than 10 of these since 2000 could be described as an award for competitive performance.

Many such honours are bestowed long after retirement. Only two British golfers have ever been knighted: Nick Faldo some 13 years after his final major, and Henry Cotton days after his death, aged 80.

Stanley Matthews is unique, knighted while still playing, in 1965, one of 14 football knights. Bobby Charlton, second player to be knighted, had to wait until 31 years after retirement, and Tom Finney for 34.

The only Scottish managers similarly honoured are Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson. One presumes that but for premature death, Jock Stein would have joined them.

Five racehorse trainers with knighthoods surely reflect royal obsession, but the only jockey to be ennobled while still in the saddle is Gordon Richards, in 1953 - first active sportsman so honoured. The same year, mountaineers John Hunt and Edmund Hillary were ennobled within days of the first ascent of Everest. Such sudden judgments did not last.

Six UK sailors have been recognised, five of them single-handed endurance specialists including the Scot, Chay Blyth. This is surely a nod to the tradition of Drake and Raleigh. The only active competitive sailing knight is Ben Ainslie (2013), a year after his fourth successive Olympic gold.

Steve Redgrave, after his record fifth rowing gold in 2000, was the man who launched the new trend, ennobled the following year, while his erstwhile crewman, Matthew Pinsent, got his a year after his fourth gold, in 2005.

Kelly Holmes was made a Dame in 2005, a year after her Olympic gold-medal double in Athens, while Tanni Grey-Thompson was created Dame the same year, following her eleventh and final Paralympic gold in 2004.

Yet swift recognition is now almost routine. Hoy was knighted in 2009 a year after after his record three golds equalled a 100-year-old individual British Olympic record haul; while Paralympian Sarah Storey was made a Dame in 2013, after eight golds in two sports. She has since won another two, in cycling.

There is perhaps something to be said for avoiding knee-jerk reaction to success, and delaying conferring of knighthoods. Think Jeffrey Archer, Philip Greene, and Fred Goodwin. And one can't help but feel that the controversy over therapeutic exemption certificates which has embroiled Bradley Wiggins and his team supremo, David Brailsford, might have had a negative impact had this occurred before they were knighted. This despite the fact that no breach of rules occurred. Even compromising the honourable spirit of sport plays badly in Britain.

And if you want the epitome of honourable spirit, look no further than Hoy and Murray. It is more than past time for Andy's knighthood.

There should be weighty consideration, too, for fellow Scots Katherine Grainger, Britain's most prolific Olympic medallist, and Heather Stanning after successfully defending the women's pairs title with Helen Glover. And also for Libby Clegg. The visually-impaired sprinter upgraded her two Paralympic silvers from London 2012, to 100 and 200m gold in Rio - a sprint double beyond any British sprinter, male or female, in either Olympic or Paralympic history.

Mo Farah's successful defence of the Olympic 5000 and 10,000m titles - a double he has also achieved twice at World level - makes him unique in track and field history. He also should be knighted.

Roger Bannister had to wait for his medical career to earn him a knighthood, such was the culture of the era when he broke four minutes for the mile. Sport has now moved on. Yes, it is about earning a living, but it is also about bringing honour and distinction to one's country, and becoming exemplars for society.

Andy and the class of 2016 have done this in style.