D'Oliveira awarded CBE

Basil D'Oliveira, the former English allrounder, has been awarded a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours and is now a Commander of the British Empire, a step up from the Order of the British Empire which he had received earlier. D'Oliveira is one of cricket's most significant characters - in 1968 the South African government refused to play an English side with a 'coloured' man in it, and this prompted the MCC to boycott the tour. England never again played South Africa during the apartheid era.

D'Oliveira, originally born in South Africa in 1931, was designated Cape coloured, and hence had no chance of establishing a career in cricket in his home country. He was then persuaded to move to England, by John Arlott, the noted cricket writer. D'Oliveira went on to play 44 Tests for England and made a name for himself as an allrounder, scoring 2484 runs at an average of 40, and picking up 47 wickets.

D'Oliveira, now 74, is in ill-health, but his son Damian was elated on the honour. "We are all proud and delighted that he has been honoured in this way," he told BBC Sport. "It seems the older he gets, the more awards he collects."

In other good news for cricket Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, the former Hampshire captain, was awarded an OBE. Ingleby-Mackenzie played 343 first-class matches and scored over 12,000 runs, and in 1961 he also led Hampshire to their very first county championship title.