Cricket quartet lead sporting honours
Four of England’s World Cup winning team are recognised in New Year’s list in change from rewarding entire successful teams
FOUR of England’s World Cup-winning cricketers have been rewarded in the New Year’s Honours list in a move away from the blanket recognition of sports teams.
Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jos Buttler are the only cricketers singled out following England’s dramatic World Cup final victory in July.
It marks a shift away from England’s rugby World Cup win in 2003, when 31 players received honours, and the Ashes victory in 2005 when the entire squad were all rewarded with at least MBES.
The decision was made by an independent sports committee, which is chaired by Sir Hugh Robertson, a former sports minister, and it represents a decisive move towards celebrating outstanding individual
‘I’ve been part of some very special teams over my career. It’s an honour to play cricket for England’
contributions and the wider context of an entire career.
Paul Collingwood, the England cricketer, was famously ridiculed by Australia’s Shane Warne for being made an MBE after playing in only one match and scoring just 17 runs in the 2005 Ashes. Sir Geoffrey Boycott, who was knighted last summer, previously said the decision to honour Collingwood had rendered his own OBE, after scoring 8,114 Test runs, meaningless.
There has also been concern that the decision to knight so many athletes who were still competing after both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics was hasty.
The decision to overlook so many players who contributed to England’s first cricket World Cup win, as well as all the rugby union players who reached this year’s World Cup final, will still be controversial.
Initially, several members of England’s 1966 World Cup winning football team were overlooked for honours, but the final members of the team who beat West Germany at Wembley did belatedly receive honours in 1999 following a campaign.
Captain Harry Kane and manager Gareth Southgate were both also honoured when England reached the World Cup semi-final last year, but there are still members of the wider 1966 squad who have never been recognised. Jimmy Greaves, one of the greatest English goalscorers, is the most famous 1966 player overlooked. Morgan, the captain of England’s World Cup-winning cricket team, received the highest honour among the players, the CBE. Stokes, who was man of the match in the World Cup final and also a huge star in the subsequent Ashes series, was made an OBE while Root, England’s Test captain and Buttler, the wicketkeeper who scored 59 in the final, were both made MBES. Root said the honour came as a surprise and was “extremely humbling”. He added: “When you play a sport like cricket, you are playing a team game, and I’ve been part of some very special teams over my career. It’s an honour to play cricket for England.” Morgan said: “Winning the World Cup has been a dream come true, and the honours and awards that have come since really mean a lot to everyone connected with the team. I see this – and the honours for my team-mates – as honours for the whole team.” Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach during the cricket World Cup, was made an OBE while Colin Graves, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, was made a CBE. Clive Lloyd, who captained the West Indies in their era of dominance between 1974 and 1985 and later became an international match referee, is knighted. His former team-mate Gordon Greenidge was appointed to the order of St Michael and St George for his services to cricket. A major feature of the list was recognition for women in sport. Baroness Sue Campbell, the former chair of UK Sport, now head of women’s football at the Football Association, was made a dame. Jill Scott, the England player, was made an MBE in recognition of a career that has included 146 international matches and helping England to the semi-finals of the last two World Cups. She said: “I had a phone call when I was in Marks & Spencer. I nearly dropped all my Christmas decorations.” Catriona Matthew, who captained Europe’s golfers to victory in the Solheim Cup, netball players Serena Guthrie and Jo Harten, BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan, former athlete Kelly Sotherton and taekwondo world champion Jade Jones were among other sportswomen honoured. David Muir, the RSPCA’S equine consultant, was made an MBE for his work to improve safety for racehorses. Over two decades, he helped secure a number of changes to high-profile races, including the Grand National, to reduce the number of horse deaths. Racecourses are now equipped with “safety hurdles” and fences have been lowered and made more forgiving. Sport, pages 12-13