Aussie Govt honour Sir Gary for cricket

SYDNEY: Sir Garfield Sobers, regarded as the greatest cricketer ever has been honoured by the Australian Government. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Gary is on the Government’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list, and will be named an Officer of the Order of Australia (OA), a largely ceremonial honour. Sir Gary, a Barbadian held the record for the highest score in Test cricket, 365, before it was broken by Trinidad and Tobago’s Brian Lara in 1994. He is a former West Indies captain and possesses an outstanding all-round record in First-Class and Test cricket. He played for South Australia in the state championship from 1961 to 1964. He was also married to an Australian national. Also on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list is Australian Test captain Steve Waugh also named an Officer of the Order of Australia for his charity work at an Indian orphanage. “I don’t see myself as being any different to anybody else,” Waugh said after learning that he would receive the honour. “It’s only a sport and people do tend to forget that.” Waugh’s work in India is at the Udayan Orphanage, which is a home for the children of leprosy sufferers. Others also honoured with the OA are former Australian players Norm O’Neill and Peter Philpott, and administrators David Richards and John Mitchell, were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).