Sir James Anderson has been knighted by Princess Anne at Windsor Castle for his services to cricket.

The legendary English cricketer was recognised by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is known as a big cricket fan, as part of his resignation honours list.

 

The Lancashire player holds the record for the most Test wickets taken for England, with 704, only outranked by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and the late Australian great Shane Warne.

Sir James made the last of his 188 Test appearances a couple of years ago against the West Indies, but still plays domestically.

He is in talks for a contract extension for one more year with Lancashire, which would see him play beyond his 44th birthday.

He played six Rothesay County Championship matches during the 2025 domestic campaign before picking up an injury, ending his season early.

The legendary cricketer’s career stretches back to 2000, when he debuted for Lancashire, before being part of the England team for over two decades.

Some 70 individuals were part of the investiture, including Graham Gouldman, the frontman of the rock band 10cc.

Sir James Anderson

Sir James Anderson is still playing cricket domestically for Lancashire

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Sir James Anderson shaking hands with Princess Anne

Sir James was knighted by Princess Anne at Windsor Castle

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The award-winning songwriter and musician was made an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for service to music.

Mr Gouldman was one of the founding members of 10cc, co-writing hits such as The Things We Do For Love and Dreadlock Holiday.

The legendary artist said: “I didn’t realise until I got the letter how much it would mean to me. The first thing I thought about was my mum and dad and how proud they would be. It’s just been a wonderful experience.”

He explained that meeting Anne was “lovely”, adding: “She was so well-informed. We talked about touring, a bit about the charity work I’ve done. She was very informed, very relaxed.”

\u200bSir James' legendary career stretches back to 2000

Sir James’ legendary career stretches back to 2000

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\u200bGraham Gouldman was made an MBE as part of the King's Birthday Honours

Graham Gouldman was made an MBE as part of the King’s Birthday Honours

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In 2014, he entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.

The band sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and is the only founding member of the band touring around the world.

The BBC’s chief economics correspondent, Dharshini David, received an OBE for services to economics, being part of the King’s New Year Honours list.

Ms David is an honorary fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, where she studied economics.

\u200bDharshini David received an OBE for services to economics

Dharshini David received an OBE for services to economics

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The broadcaster started her career in the world of finance, working for the Government Economics Service before being appointed senior UK economist for HSBC Investment Bank.

Ms David began working for the BBC as a financial correspondent in 2000.

She also worked on BBC News, appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme and the broadcaster’s investigative series, Panorama.

She joined the business team at Sky News in 2009, before returning to the BBC in 2018.

Ms David also authored The Almighty Dollar, a guide to the global economy, and Environomics: How The Green Economy Is Transforming Your World.