Boycott, Strauss given knighthoods
Former England captains Geoffrey Boycott and Andrew Strauss have been given knighthoods in ex-Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation honours list.
Boycott, 78, scored 8,114 runs in 108 Tests for England from 1964 to 1982 and was captain on four occasions in 1978 in place of the injured Mike Brearley.
Strauss led England to two Ashes wins, as well as the number one Test ranking, in his 50 Tests as captain.
The 42-year-old scored 7,037 runs at an average of 40.91 in 100 England Tests.
Over the course of his first-class career, Boycott averaged 56,83 with the bat with and scored 151 centuries and over 48,000 runs.
Following his retirement, Boycott has gone on to become a successful broadcaster and is part of the BBC’s cricket commentary team. The Yorkshireman was forced to apologise in 2017 after reportedly saying it would be more likely he would be knighted if he was to ‘black his face’.
Strauss joined the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as England’s director of cricket after his retirement from all forms of cricket in 2012.
He left the role last year to support his wife Ruth who was being treated for terminal cancer, and went on to launch a foundation in her name.
Former England coach Andy Flower, who was in charge during Strauss’ time as captain, paid tribute to his former skipper.
“I cannot think of a man more worthy of the honour,” Flower said.-BBC because of security concerns.
The team are due to play three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches from 27 September to 9 October.
Players were allowed to decide whether to take part after a security briefing.
Pakistan have not hosted a Test on home soil since gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in 2009.
The attack left two civilians and six security personnel dead, while six players were injured.
“The meeting was aimed at informing the players about the security arrangements during the forthcoming tour and also to find out their decision (either taking part or not) before the selection of squads for the ODI and T20I series,” a Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) statement said.
Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Suranga Lakmal and Dinesh Chandimal joined ODI captain Karunaratne, T20 skipper Malinga and former captain Mathews in choosing not to be part of the tour.
The limited-overs leg of the series had already been brought forward in August following an agreement between the SLC and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), with two Tests pushed back, having originally been set to take place in October.