Botham honoured with knighthood

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Botham honoured with knighthood



Former England cricket hero Ian Botham, who has raised more than £10m for leukaemia charities, has been awarded a knighthood by the Queen.

Manchester United's nine-time Premier League title winner Ryan Giggs is appointed an OBE while veteran striker Teddy Sheringham becomes an MBE.

Former snooker world champion Terry Griffiths becomes an OBE.

Ex-Great Britain rugby league star Kris Radlinski and Dunfermline manager Jim Leishman are both appointed MBEs.

Botham, 51, made his name as a flamboyant and influential all-rounder.

Through 11 long-distance walks, many from Land's End to John O'Groats, he has helped to dramatically increase the survival rate of leukaemia sufferers.

Nicknamed "Beefy", he played 102 Tests for England in a career that lasted from 1974 to 1993.

He took 383 wickets, which remains an English record, and scored 5,200 runs.

"I'm delighted and very honoured, not just for myself but also the people who have helped me get there," Botham told Radio Five Live.

"There'll be a very good party. It will be a very proud moment for me to go to Buckingham Palace again."

The highlight of his career came during the series against Australia in the summer of 1981, which came to be known as "Botham's Ashes".

He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Sport Personality of the Year Awards in 2004 and was appointed an OBE in 1992.

Other sports stars honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours List include former Wales and British Lions rugby union prop Graham Price and boxer Jane Couch (both MBE).

Yachtswoman Dee Caffari, who last year became the first woman to sail solo non-stop around the globe against the prevailing winds, is made an MBE.

Tim Phillips, chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, becomes a CBE.

FA chairman Geoff Thompson, who last month was named as the new British Fifa representative, is made an OBE.

British Show Jumping Association chief executive Jacqueline Wood also becomes a CBE.

Sporting honours:

Knighthoods
Ian Botham - services to charity and to cricket

CBE
Timothy Dewe Phillips, chair All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club - services to sport
Alison Gail Odell, life vice president British Universities Sports Association - services to sport

OBE
Ryan Giggs, footballer - services to sport
Geoffrey Thompson, former chair Football Association - services to sport
Terry Griffiths - services to snooker,
Jacqueline Wood, chief executive British Showjumping Association - services to sport
John Vernon Ayling, trustee Lord's Taverners Charity - services to sport

MBE
Teddy Sheringham - services to football
Kristian Radlinski - services to rugby league
Graham Price - services to rugby union in Wales
Jane Couch, boxer - services to sport
Jim Leishman, manager Dunfermline FC - services to sport
Dr Robert Appleyard, founder Yorkshire County Cricket Club Charitable Youth Trust - services to sport
Michael Uzebu-Asije, coach Eastleigh Amateur Boxing Club - services to sport
Margaret Borley, coach Tonbridge Bobcats youth baseball team - services to sport
Dee Caffari - services to sailing
Carolyn Christophersen - services to skiing
Joseph Cohen - services to Maccabi Youth Sports Trust
Alan Fennell, coach Glossop Amateur Swimming Club - services to sport
Tommy Gilmour - services to boxing and to the community in Scotland
Mitsusuke Harada - services to karate
Katherine Edith Hardman - services to school sport
Eric Hardwick - services to the Hastings Half Marathon
Jean Mary Hawes - services to hockey
Samuel George Henderson - services to youth football in Northern Ireland
James David Hendry - services to cycling
Ivan Leslie Jones - services to charity and to sport in Minehead, Somerset
Lynsey Denise McVicker - services to hockey in Northern Ireland
Madge Morgan- services to lawn bowls for visually impaired people
Joan Slater, chairman British Ice Teachers Association - services to ice skating
Maurice Edward Sly - services to swimming
Clasford Stirling, manager Broadwater Farm Football Club - services to sport
Michael Wilkins, lately director of sports, University of Kent - services to higher education and to sport

Credit - BBC Sport