Send us your nominations.

The Ashes urn may mean the world to cricketers, such is the passion and pride it evokes.

But as glorious prizes go, the tiny battered urn doesn't merit a second glance.

In contrast, the FA Cup is a gleaming example of cup beauty; the British Open's claret jug a beautiful object exuding elegance and class.

Send us your thoughts on sport's best and worst trophies.

This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails apppear below.

The Ashes trophy is rather like a wooden spoon prize that one gives to the duffers of a competition. Come to think of it, that's why England have it permanently.
J Smith, New Zealand

There are no end of cups to choose from, but the most important has to be one of the World Cups as these unrivalled prizes mean everything. Out of the two main World Cups (football and rugby) there can only be one choice. Only one brings sweat, blood, battles and the eventual victory of the rugby World Cup. Surely the best competition in the world especially when it's the only one England stand any chance of lifting.
Ed, English but in France

Wimbledon Men's Singles Trophy......nuff said!
Matt, United Kingdom

The football World Cup trophy is by far the best, aesthetically and in importance. The emotion associated with the World Cup far exceeds the emotion associated with any other sporting event. Plus, it is the most aesthetically pleasing.
Amanda, USA

I think the greatest trophy is the Vince Lombardi trophy, awarded to the NFL Super Bowl champions. Despite being decades old, it maintains a simplistic, contemporary charm to it, its unique design and instant recognition with what it is and what it stands for making it one of sports greatest trophies. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I don't think I've ever seen a trophy match it for beauty or style.
Luke Plunkett, Australia

I like the Webb Ellis Cup, and the Stanley Cup...it's huge. I say spray the Ashes urn with silver paint and stick some sequins on it and then we may have something to play for!!
Bruce Milchem, England

For those that haven't seen it recently, or at all, how about the Rugby League Challenge Cup? A wonderful trophy, surely the best.
Michael Hartley, UAE

The best trophy is the one awarded to the winner of the Uefa Champions League. It is imposing, but looks quite classy. The worst would be the Gavaskar-Border trophy (for the India-Australia Test series). It resembles the hat worn by Fred Flintstone at the Water Buffalos club and is totally inappropriate given the stature of the two cricketers it is named after.
Anindya Samajdar, India

The best is the Claret Jug in Golf. The worst? The Ashes. Still doesn't mean England will give it up though!
Jethro, Scotland

Bowling trophies are the greatest of sport trophies. They are ubiquitous. Every town that has a bowling league awards them. As a kid, I played street hockey with the kids of my bowling neighbours. So myself I have won the 'Stanley Cup' six times!
SJ, Canada

I quite like the Ryder Cup. It's compact, with a nice little conical plinth, looks good in gold, and somehow the little golfer on top manages not to be tacky.
Ross Bennie, Switzerland

Does it matter what they look like anyway? Does any European football team deliberately throw games because the cup looks a bit rank? I don't think so!!
Dai, Wales

Having lived in Canada it has to be the Stanley Cup. No other cup sends tingles down my spine when I think about it & what it means. The history, the presence & the passion make it soar above the others.
Dov, UK

The America's Cup for advanced yachting investment is a repellent cross between a water jug and a trombone. Few things on the planet are uglier but it's great that a little country like this one has it on the mantelpiece (for the moment!).
Dave Smith, New Zealand

Best trophy? No question the Stanley Cup. Which other trophy has the name of every player on the winning team inscribed on it from its inception over 100 years ago?

The worst has to be those god awful green jackets given out at Golf's Master's Championship. Enough said...
Gurpreet Bhatia, Canada

Best trophy: the yellow jersey in the Tour de France; a trophy you can wear!
FS, Netherlands

Without a doubt, the world's greatest trophy is the Stanley Cup. I always knew that Canadian kids grow up dreaming about it, but with the end of the Cold War I saw that European kids did as well.

Just look at the emotions on the faces of the players who win it and you will understand. Also, what other trophy does each player on the winning team get to take his home town for a day and share it with his friends and family?

Simply put, it is the holy grail of professional sports.
Dan, USA

I can't agree with criticism of the Ashes urn. It adds to the mystique of the contest that two nations would battle for such a humble and tiny reward... it gives the urn an almost magic aura.

Besides, it is this kind of understatement and emphasis on tradition that make Test cricket so special.
Brady, England (ex-pat Aussie)

There are really only two trophies that compete: international football's World/Rimet Cup and ice hockey's Stanley Cup. Both are one-of-a-kind with no close substitute (every country has an FA Cup), and everybody who wins them is called "world champion."

Football is the world's most popular sport, and the best-of-seven series to decide the Stanley Cup creates such great drama, it's impossible for a third trophy to try to compete with them.
Grant, United States of America

The greatest trophy definitely has to be motor racing's Indy 500 trophy. It was in a picture a while ago and it is brillant.

The Stanley Cup and the Davis Cup aren't far behind but it's definitely the Indy 500!
Timmy Hanna, Ireland

The Davis Cup. A silver bowl with a border of clusters of primroses and acanthus leaves as decoration. Four tiers tall, 102-years-old and still cherished by male players everywhere.
James , England

My vote for the worst trophies ever has to got to those presented at the Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix. They are a horrible watery lime green colour, representing blocks of ice cut from a stagnant pond.

Best ever? Has to be the FA Cup really, doesn't it? It's the stuff dreams are made of!
Rob, Huddersfield, England

Classic trophies include: Jules Rimet World Cup (sometimes gold does work), plus the FA Cup and Rugby League Challenge cups just have the ability to arouse superb memories by looking at them.

Stinkers include: Super League Grand Final Trophy (�20 completely wasted), Champions League cup (far too big to be classy) and the men's cup at Wimbledon (too fussy, looks like it belongs with my grandma's old tea service).

And why doesn't an F1 driver just refuse those monstrous pieces of tack given at the end of any Grand Prix?
Rodney Lowe, England

The FA Cup has got to be one of the best trophies around. Silver, with handles, has a lid, as well as all of the history and memories behind "her"!
Motus, Wales

It easily has to be the Stanley Cup (ice hockey). This is the reward to players who have to push themselves through an 82-game regular season and then through four best-of-seven play-off games to win it (and footballers complain about two games a week!).

It is also the oldest trophy in pro sports. It's tradition is immense, as is the cup. Truly a classic, beautiful trophy.
Jon, Hull, UK

Nothing can beat the men's Wimbledon Cup. The new cricket World Cup is also really good. It is good that finally the cricket world came up with something permanent for the mega event.
Dinesh Selvaraj, Starkville, USA

Ice Hockey's Stanley Cup has to be the best trophy. It's huge...and to think winning players skate around the ice with this thing hoisted over their heads! Not very aesthetically pleasing mind. For that, it has to be the Fifa World Cup.
Dunstan Bentley, England

Having that on your sideboard would not just break the sideboard but give you nightmares.
Mark, UK

It's got to be the football World Cup, it realy is a true piece of beauty. Worst cup goes to the Premiership trophy. Remake it I say.
Gurinder Dulai, UK

The FA Cup is by far and away the greatest trophy. Its history and tradition make it the most exciting cup competition in the world and one every youngster dreams of lifting some day.

Surely it is not just what it looks like that makes it a great trophy, but what it means to those who have the pleasure in holding it aloft... long live the FA Cup.
Jason Allen, UK

Melt down the huge variety of trophies awarded at each Formula One Grand Prix. All over-sized, all ugly and more often than not as pointless as the race itself.
Mark Wiles, England

A note on the worst trophy. Not that we're bitter or anything, but the Ashes urn is hardly the most inspirational of trophies, and the image of 15 Antipodean brutes huddled around a three inch wooden pot hardly did much for the all-conquering Aussies' masculine credibility. Let them keep it!
Adam, London, UK

It would have to be football's European Cup. It has perfect aesthetics and a huge amount of history, despite being less than 50 years old. It even made Emelyn Hughes look good!!

I can't help thinking the Premiership trophy might have been modelled on it, although that ended up looking more like Thunderbird 1.

As for one for the smelter, I'd go for every single trophy ever given out in Formula One. I know it can't be easy to come up with three (four, including constructor's trophy) every year, but most of them would get the thumbs down from your average cat burglar.
Howard Waddington, England

The Rugby League Challenge Cup is a classic of the genre.
Jonathan Palethorpe, London, UK

While I agree with your choices, I must add an appropriate North Amercian perspective. Look at Lord Stanley's Cup, the holy grail of North American professional ice hockey. It meets almost all your criteria. Silver, with no plinth and very big, and it's tough.

"The Cup" has a wonderful history of abuse by those who have won it that has become part of the NHL's lore. Moreover, its historical pedigree is fascinating (given by Lord Stanley, governor general of Canada) and entirely appropriate for this forum.

Even though it has no handles, raising the Cup above your head has become the traditional way of celebrating hockey's greatest triumph. It seems the perfect example, and stands head and shoulders above the other North Amercian sports. Given that the NHL is the most international of the four major North Amercian sports - Lord Stanley's cup deserves a mention.

And melt down the baseball, american football and especially basketball trophies. They're all reproduced every year anyway.
Tom Best, US/UK living in US