ENGLAND duo Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan are among the sporting superstars on the New Year Honours list.
The pair have been rewarded for their incredible efforts after England won their first ever Cricket World Cup this summer.
Stokes, newly-crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, has been awarded an OBE after he grabbed the headlines in a dramatic summer of cricket.
The 28-year-old scored an unbeaten 84 as England became world champions with victory over New Zealand before he produced a match-winning 135 not out in the third Ashes Test at Headingley.
One-day international captain Morgan, 33, gets a CBE and teammates Root, 28, and Jos Buttler, 29, become MBEs.
Morgan, 33, said: “I’m very proud to have been awarded a CBE.
“Winning the World Cup has been a dream come true and the honours and awards that have come since that day at Lord’s really mean a lot to everyone connected with the team.
“The events of that day at Lord’s were the result of many years of hard work and dedication.
“I see this honour – and the honour for my team-mates – as honours for the whole team, for everything they put into winning that tournament and getting over the line.”
Aussie coach Trevor Bayliss, 57, is made an OBE and Clive Lloyd, 75, a former West Indies team captain, sees his CBE upgraded to a knighthood for services to the game.
England midfielder Jill Scott, 32, who also receives an MBE for services to women’s football, said she initially feared the serious-sounding phone call was to do with a parking fine.
She said: “I had a phone call when I was in Marks & Spencer. I nearly dropped all my Christmas decorations.
“I thought I was in trouble at first, I thought I hadn’t paid a car parking fine or something.”
Susan Campbell, director of women’s football at the Football Association, becomes a dame for services to sport.
Taekwondo champion Jade Jones, who received an MBE in 2013 in the wake of her initial Olympic triumph, has been upgraded to an OBE in recognition of another stellar year at the top of her sport.
Having retained her Olympic title in Rio in 2016, Jones finally claimed an elusive first world title in Manchester in May and will target a third straight Olympic crown in Tokyo next year.
Olympic bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton also received an MBE.
