Botham to be knighted for his charity walks

Former England all-rounder Ian Botham is to be knighted for raising 10 million pounds during his charity walks.

London, May 26 : Former England all-rounder Ian Botham is to be knighted for raising 10 million pounds during his charity walks.

Beefy, as 51-year-old Botham is known, has completed 11 gruelling walks in a personal crusade to help children with leukaemia.

A senior Whitehall source was quoted by The Mirror as saying that, "Ian Botham was a fabulous cricketer ,but his selfless charity work is out of this world.""His fund-raising is first-class and no one, absolutely no one, deserves an honour more than him, he added.

His award in next month's Queen's Birthday Honours is sure to be popular in Britain and beyond.

The cricket legend - who is already an OBE and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 - will be delighted when the list comes out on June 16.

The celebrated Mirror columnist went on his first 900-mile slog from John O'Groats to Land's End in 1985 after an emotional visit to a hospital in Taunton, Somerset. The star - England's finest all-rounder - had broken his toe while playing for the county and needed an X-ray.

He walked into a ward of seemingly well children and was stunned when a doctor told him they were dying of leukaemia.

Then, the fatality rate among young people was 80 per cent. Now, better diagnosis and treatment - thanks to research he has helped pay for - has cut that to 20 per cent. But the dedicated dad of three and grandfather insists his work is far from over.

The England hero - who also played professional football for Scunthorpe - broke several records in his 102-Test career. He carved his name in history with a magnificent Ashes-winning innings at Headingley in 1981.

But his fundraising feats match those with the bat and ball. He says: "I have walked thousands of miles for Leukaemia Research, and every step was worth it."

His last walk saw him visit 17 cities in just nine days last October - the equivalent of a marathon a day.

ANI