Lord Ian Botham has led the cricketing tributes to a ‘remarkable woman’ as the game remembers the Queen.
Beefy was one of a number of former England captains to have met and spent time with her during one of her 26 visits to Lord’s to meet the teams on the outfield and watch some play as the only woman allowed into the pavilion during a match until 1999.
And it was his great fortune that she attended his debut match against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1977, before he took on the duties as captain alongside her in the 1981 Ashes series. Her majesty also attended the Centenary Test in Melbourne in 1977, and handed out numerous honours to players from across the world, once travelling to Barbados to knight Sir Garfield Sobers in 1975.
