Stockport Express

Cook and Big Bill head New Year Honours

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FORMER England cricket captain Alastair Cook and ex-England rugby skipper Bill Beaumont head an illustriou­s sporting list by receiving knighthood­s in the New Year Honours.

And England’s achievemen­t in reaching the soccer World Cup semi-finals in Russia earlier this year is recognised with an OBE for manager Gareth Southgate, while captain and the 2018 tournament’s top goal-scorer Harry Kane gets an MBE.

Southgate is joined as an OBE recipient by cyclist Geraint Thomas, who won the Tour de France in July and was named BBC Sports Personalit­y of the Year earlier this month.

Four-time Ashes winner Cook, 34, is the first England cricketer to be knighted since Ian Botham in 2007.

He retired from internatio­nal cricket this summer, scoring a 33rd Test century on his final England appearance against India at The Oval. He has compiled more Test centuries and runs 12,472 - than any other England player during a record 161 Test matches.

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves, in a statement released to Press Associatio­n Sport, said: “Alastair Cook has given so much to English cricket and I’m delighted that he has received this honour.

“It’s a fitting tribute to a man who has led with distinctio­n on and off the pitch every since he made his England debut.”

While Cook is honoured for services to cricket, 66-year-old Beaumont is recognised for services to rugby.

He led England to a Five Nations Grand Slam in 1980 and also captained the British and Irish Lions. He is a former Rugby Football Union chairman and was elected chairman of World Rugby in 2016.

Beaumont told Press Associatio­n Sport: “’I was very proud when I ●●Alistair Cook got the envelope three or four weeks ago saying I was being recommende­d for a knighthood.

“I just thought ‘wow!’ To think that I would be mentioned alongside the great sports people who have been knighted was very humbling.”

Southgate said in a statement to Press Associatio­n Sport: “I’m an incredibly proud Englishman so having had the opportunit­y to have represente­d my country as a player more than 50 times and then to manage the team at a World Cup has been an absolute privilege.”

Kane, reflecting on his award, told Spurs TV: “It’s quite surreal, really. It’s been a great year for club and country.”

Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore, who has headed the organisati­on for almost 20 years and will shortly step down from his role, has been awarded a CBE.

And there is also a CBE for Willie John McBride, the former Ireland and British and Irish Lions captain, who played in a record 17 Lions Tests and skippered them to a memorable Test series victory over South Africa 44 years ago.

World Curling Federation president Kate Caithness, meanwhile, receives a CBE for services to sport, and her fellow Scot - Commonweal­th Games Federation president Louise Martin

 ??  ?? - is made a Dame.The diplomatic service and overseas list, meanwhile, includes a CBE for England netball star Geva Mentor, who was part of the memorable Commonweal­th Games gold medal triumph on the Gold Coast earlier this year and currently plays for Melbourne outfit Collingwoo­d Magpies in the Suncorp Super Netball league.There is an OBE for ex-Scotland rugby union internatio­nal Doddie Weir, founder of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation who is battling motor neurone disease, for services to rugby, motor neurone disease research and to the Scottish Borders community.Richard Johnson, who became champion jump jockey in 2016 after being runner-up on multiple occasions to AP McCoy, gets an OBE, along with former Manchester United goalkeeper and Northern Ireland football manager Harry Gregg. Tottenham striker Kane is joined on an extensive MBE list by the likes of Rangers and Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley, former Arsenal and Football Associatio­n vicechairm­an David Dein, who is honoured for services to football and voluntary work in schools and prisons, three-time world darts champion John Lowe and Welsh triathlete Helen Jenkins.Leroy Rosenior, vice-president of Show Racism The Red Card, receives an MBE for services to tackling discrimina­tion in sport, and Women’s Sport Trust co-founder Joanna Bostock is honoured for services to gender equality in sport.There are MBEs for British Rowing’s three-time Olympic silver medallist Frances Houghton for services to rowing and former England cricketer Matthew Maynard for services to charity and sport.
- is made a Dame.The diplomatic service and overseas list, meanwhile, includes a CBE for England netball star Geva Mentor, who was part of the memorable Commonweal­th Games gold medal triumph on the Gold Coast earlier this year and currently plays for Melbourne outfit Collingwoo­d Magpies in the Suncorp Super Netball league.There is an OBE for ex-Scotland rugby union internatio­nal Doddie Weir, founder of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation who is battling motor neurone disease, for services to rugby, motor neurone disease research and to the Scottish Borders community.Richard Johnson, who became champion jump jockey in 2016 after being runner-up on multiple occasions to AP McCoy, gets an OBE, along with former Manchester United goalkeeper and Northern Ireland football manager Harry Gregg. Tottenham striker Kane is joined on an extensive MBE list by the likes of Rangers and Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley, former Arsenal and Football Associatio­n vicechairm­an David Dein, who is honoured for services to football and voluntary work in schools and prisons, three-time world darts champion John Lowe and Welsh triathlete Helen Jenkins.Leroy Rosenior, vice-president of Show Racism The Red Card, receives an MBE for services to tackling discrimina­tion in sport, and Women’s Sport Trust co-founder Joanna Bostock is honoured for services to gender equality in sport.There are MBEs for British Rowing’s three-time Olympic silver medallist Frances Houghton for services to rowing and former England cricketer Matthew Maynard for services to charity and sport.

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