West Indies cricket great Clive Lloyd has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.
Lloyd, 75, joins a long list of West Indies cricketing alumni to receive the award, including the likes of Sir Gary Sobers, Sir Everton Weekes and Sir Viv Richards.
Although Lloyd received a CBE in 1993, the belated nature of Lloyd's award might be explained by his hailing from Guyana, which became a republic in 1966, coincidentally the year in which Lloyd made his Test debut.
Whilst Richards, plus the likes of Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Richie Richardson in 2014, were knighted directly by the government of Antigua, Lloyd has had to wait for his opportunity.
In addition to his success with the West Indies, Lloyd played for almost two decades for Lancashire, with whom he retains a strong affiliation.
The impact Lloyd had during his playing career at Old Trafford was emphasised by the county's then captain Jack Bond, who said: "His value to Lancashire cannot be measured by ordinary standards."
Lancashire chairman David Hodgkiss said: "I am absolutely thrilled that Clive has been awarded a knighthood for his extraordinary service to cricket.
"What he achieved for both the West Indies and for Lancashire was outstanding. He was without doubt one of the finest and most entertaining players of his generation.
"He was the focal point of the Lancashire side that was so successful particularly in one-day cricket and will certainly go down as one of the Club's best ever overseas players.
"He is still a great friend of the Club and we look forward to welcoming him back to Emirates Old Trafford next summer."
Lloyd was named captain of the West Indies in 1974, three years after being awarded the prestigious title of Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
At the time the West Indies were far from a dominant force in world cricket, and after an embarrassing Test series defeat in Australia in 1976, Lloyd vowed: "I promise we will never get another flogging like this while I am captain."
ARISE SIR CLIVE Congratulations to West Indies Great Clive Lloyd who is set to receive a Knighthood in the New Year for his outstanding service to Cricket 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/bFRO9KVaOR — Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) December 27, 2019
Lloyd was true to his word as he went on to establish the West Indies as a global force, as well as returning statistics which make him one of the finest Test captains of all time.
He led the West Indies in 70 Tests of which they won 36. He also led them to two World Cup wins in 1975 and 1979 and was the first West Indies player to achieve 100 international caps.
After retirement, Lloyd became a respected international referee and also served as both a director of the West Indies Cricket Board and briefly as its chairman of selectors.
During his latter role he was forced to apologise after West Indies players forced the abandonment of the 2014 tour of India over a pay dispute.
