Ben Stokes and other members of England’s Cricket World Cup-winning squad have been recognised in Britain’s New Year’s Honors List, which also highlighted trailblazers in women’s sport.
All-rounder Stokes was awarded an OBE — Officer of the Order of the British Empire — by Queen Elizabeth II after he grabbed the headlines in a dramatic summer of cricket. He scored an unbeaten 84 as England became the ICC World Cup champion by beating New Zealand in final in July, and followed it up six weeks later with a match-winning 135 not out in the third Ashes Test at Headingley.
Manchester City footballer Jill Scott, part of the England squad which reached the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup in France earlier this year, received an MBE — Member of the Order of the British Empire — as do England netball stars Serena Guthrie and Joanne Harten.
Sue Campbell, the Football Association’s director of women’s football, was made a dame, the female equivalent of a knighthood, in the list of honors made public late Friday. Double Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones got an OBE.
In golf, former major winner Catriona Matthew was awarded an OBE after captaining Europe to a Solheim Cup win over the U.S.
Apart from the honor for Stokes, Eoin Morgan, who captained England at the World Cup, has been made a CBE, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, while wicketkeeper Jos Buttler and test skipper Joe Root both got MBEs.
West Indies cricket greats Clive Lloyd and Gordon Greenidge, who played key roles in the side that came to dominate the sport in the 1970s and 1980s, were nominated for knighthood. Llyod, who captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985, will join the likes of Gary Sobers, Everton Weekes and Vivian Richards to receive knighthood.
The honors are awarded twice a year, at New Year’s and to mark the monarch’s official birthday in June.
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