Cricketers who are knighted

To honour a man for his achievements during his life and for his contribution to a sport, art, army or work to his country, a person can be awarded with the title of knighthood. Paul McCartney, Alex Ferguson or Sean Connery, just to mention a few, are now “Sir” in appreciation for their outstanding career as a member of the British Empire. 

Being entitled as a knight is probably the most important personal achievement for athletes, despite being football the most followed sport in Great Britain, as stated on FredCode, there are so many cricketers who were adjudged with knighthood title for their contribution to British cricket in the world. It is singular how some non-British athletes are now “Sir” as well, being their home country part of the Commonwealth. 

Here are a few  British and non British cricketers who are knighted for their meritorious service to Commonwealth cricket.

Sir Clive Lloyd

Sir Clive Lloyd was a great attacking batsman for West Indies during the golden era between the 70es and the 80es. While he was the captain of West Indies he won two World Cups (1975 and 1979) being one of the best players of his generation. He is recognised for his height and his power as a middle-order batsman and occasionally as medium-pace bowler. 

Sir Clive Lloyd was Test captain as well, being very successful in this role, too. He scored over 9000 international runs in 110 Tests and 87 ODIs. The former cricketer became knight in 2020 for his contribution to cricket in the world. 

Sir Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook is undoubtedly the greatest Test opener ever in cricket’s history. He holds the record all time for the most centuries among the English batsmen and his temperament and hunger on the cricket ground are legendary. Cook was the first English batsman to score ten thousand Test runs becoming a legend for the British supporters. 

Despite his amazing successes, Sir Alastair Cook retired at a young age with 12.472 runs in Tests. Alastair Cook was the captain for the English National Team for quite some time, being knighted during the 2019 New Year Honours. 

Sir Vivian Richards

West Indies’ batsman Vivian Richards is a true legend in the world of cricket. His contribution helped West Indies to reach new levels in the international scene and his way of batting and scoring was unique. Sometimes Sir Vivian Richards was able to lead the entire match on his own, being the most important cricketer on the pitch for his national team. 

His statistics are tremendous: 8540 runs during his 121 official Test Matches…and he lost only 8 times! More than 36 thousand runs in first-class cricket, 7 thousand runs in One Day Internationals, average of 50,23 in Test Matches and 24 centuries. Those are some of the astonishing numbers for Vivian Richards, who is now a cricket commentator and team mentor occasionally. 

Sir Vivian Richards was knighted for his great contribution to the game and he is a legend for the West Indies’ supporters and for the cricket’s fans in general.