Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu and former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff have been awarded honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), it was announced on Wednesday.
Tutu, a keen cricket enthusiast, and Flintoff were awarded the life memberships in “recognition of their diverse achievements on and off the cricket field,” the MCC said.
Tutu’s honour “acknowledges his tireless work for truth and justice in all walks of life”, the MCC said.
“Last year on his retirement he said that he hoped now to watch more cricket,” MCC president Christopher Martin-Jenkins said. “He may now do so at Lord’s whenever he pleases, and he will always be welcomed.”
Flintoff, meanwhile, joins a select group of former players, including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar and Sir Ian Botham, who are life members of the MCC. — Sapa-AFP