Ben Stokes among cricketers honoured in New Year list

LONDON: Ben Stokes and several of his England World Cup-winning team mates including Eoin Morgan were recognised in Britain’s New Year Honours list.

All-rounder Stokes was made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) after scoring an unbeaten 84 as England’s won the World Cup for the first time defeating New Zealand in a dramatic final at Lord’s in July.

He scored a brilliant 135 not out securing a stunning one-wicket victory in the third Ashes Test against Australia at Headingley. Stokes was recently been voted the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Eoin Morgan, who led England to World Cup glory, was named a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), one rank below a knighthood.

Wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and England’s top run scorer in the tournament Joe Root were both awarded MBEs (Members of the Order of the British Empire), the level beneath an OBE.

England’s World Cup-winning coach Australia’s Trevor Bayliss received an OBE while England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves was made a CBE.

“I’m very proud to have been awarded a CBE. Winning the World Cup has been a dream come true and the honours and awards that have come since that day at Lord’s really mean a lot to everyone connected with the team,” said Morgan.

West Indies legends Clive Lloyd and Gordon Greenidge have received knighthoods. Lloyd hit a superb century as the West Indies beat Australia in the inaugural 1975 World Cup final at Lord’s.

As captain he also played a key role in transforming the West Indies into the dominant side in Test cricket during the 1970s and 1980s. The knighthood means Lloyd will be officially known as ‘Sir Clive’.

Opening batsman Greenidge has been knighted on the recommendation of the government of his native Barbados. Greenidge spent part of his childhood in England and against whom he gave many of his best Test performances, including two hundreds at Old Trafford in 1976 and a match-winning unbeaten double century at Lord’s in 1984.

Lloyd and Greenidge played against England’s Alan Knott, one of the best wicket-keepers cricket has known, who received a MBE some four decades after he played the last of his 95 Tests.