Sir Ian Botham, the legendary England all-rounder, has been made member of the House of Lord's of the British Parliament. 

Botham, 64, was among 36 names announced by the government to join the unelected House and will be sitting as an independent peer. 

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This is the first cricketing inclusion since 2011, when ex-England women's team captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was awarded the peerage. Before that, David Sheppard, Colin Cowdrey and Learie Constantine were also honoured with the House of Lord's seats. 

Botham played 102 Tests for England with 5,200 runs at an average of 33.55 and 383 wickets at 28.40. In 116 ODIs, the great cricketer scored 2,113 runs at a strike-rate of 79.11 and took 145 wickets bowling at an economy rate of 4.01. 

After his retirement in 1992, Botham got involved in various noble campaigns, including the one where he raised funds for research into leukaemia, and pursued a career in commentary. 

For his incredible service to the game and charity work, Botham was knighted in 2007. 

(With PTI inputs)