India’s Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath among 18 cricketers awarded MCC life membership
London, Oct 19: India's Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath were on Tuesday awarded life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), joining 16 other cricketers who were given the honour this year.
The MCC, based at Lord's, is the custodian of cricket laws.
Harbhajan and Srinath both enjoyed fine international careers. Harbhajan is India's third-highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 417 dismissals in 103 Tests and more than 700 plus international wickets across formats.
Srinath, currently an ICC Elite Panel Match Referee, is one of the greatest fast bowlers with 315 ODI wickets and 236 Test victims.
"Eight of the 12 Test-playing nations are represented within this year's list, which includes some of the most recognisable names in the modern game," said the MCC in a statement.
England's leading Test run-scorer Alastair Cook, is joined by fellow countrymen Ian Bell and Marcus Trescothick, totalling more than 39,000 international runs between them.
A fourth England star, Sarah Taylor, returned to the field this year, appearing in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Charlotte Edwards Cup and The Hundred, and is recognised as one of the finest wicket-keepers of her generation.
Four South African legends have been awarded honorary life membership, with Hashim Amla, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis and Morne Morkel all receiving the honour. Kallis's 13,289 Test runs puts him third on the all-time run-scoring list.
Woman batter Alex Blackwell and the stylish Damien Martyn of Australia are also included.
Ian Bishop, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan all represent West Indies. Bishop took 161 wickets in just 43 matches, while Chanderpaul is West Indies' most capped Test player (164) and only seven players have scored more than his 11,867 runs.
Sarwan racked up 15 Test centuries, and his 291 against England in 2009 equalled the highest individual score by a West Indian on English soil by Sir Viv Richards in 1976.
Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka took 433 Test wickets in a career spanning almost two decades, and features in the top ten of all time wicket-takers.
Sara McGlashan is the sole New Zealander on the list, appearing over 200 times for the White Ferns over the course of a 14-year career and Zimbabwean allrounder Grant Flower has been recognised for his 10,000 international runs in 288 matches.
"Once approved by the MCC Committee, letters of invitation are sent to the individual to accept. There is no set number per year. Nominees can accept and be granted the honour at any time," the statement added.
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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
