Andy Murray will miss BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards in order to prepare for Australian Open The BBC's 60th Sports Personality of the Year show will have to go ahead without the runaway favourite, Andy Murray, who has decided to keep training in Miami rather than make the trip back to the ceremony. Murray is keen that his decision should not be seen as a snub, and privately he insists that he would have loved to attend the show. But he is working against the clock to be ready for his first tournament of the year - the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, which starts on New Year's Eve. Returning to the UK before then would mean losing a minimum of two days" work, as well as hampering the rehab that Murray must still undergo in the wake of his back operation in September. Some might argue that two days is not a lot to sacrifice, especially as Murray is being quoted at 25-1 on for the main award. But success in modern tennis often comes down to preparation, both physical and psychological. The last thing he needs, when facing Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic over five sets, is to find himself wondering if he left himself undercooked. If Murray does win the main award - which is voted for by the public - he will become the fifth man to receive it in absentia. The list includes three cricketers who were all on tour at the time: Jim Laker (1956), Ian Botham (1981) and Andrew Flintoff (2005). The odd man out is Steve Davis (1988), the snooker player who saw Sports Personality as a spurious award. The BBC do at least have two identical trophies. If the vote goes as expected, one of them can be admired on stage in Leeds - where the programme will be recorded - while the other is presented to Murray in Miami. But they would be wise to double-check the satellite link after last year's fiasco, when the boxer Lennox Lewis was supposed to present Murray with a miniature replica after he finished third in their annual beauty parade. An earpiece malfunction left Lewis staring confusedly at the production staff while Murray chuckled in mild embarrassment and picked up the trophy himself.