castries, st lucia (cmc)
WEST INDIES BATSMAN Nadine George, the first female from the region to score a hundred in Tests, has been awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) medal for her contribution to sport.
The 37-year-old George was presented with her MBE by Prince Charles at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London in late October.
"It was a fantastic honour. I used to play the game for the fun of it but that all changed when I made the West Indies cricket team," George said.
HARD WORK AND DEDICATION
"With a new mind set and goal, I decided to live by the code that with hard work and dedication you can achieve, and this award is proof of that."
George, whose father died earlier this year, was joined at the ceremony by her sister and two cousins.
"The original announcement [of the award] was made while my father was still alive but I actually received it after he passed away," she said.
"But despite that I was still delighted and elated to receive the award."
She added: "Prince Charles congratulated me on my achievement and told me to keep up the good work and score more hundreds."
George reached three figures in her first and only Test to date, against Pakistan in Karachi in March last year.
Her innings of 118 was the highest by a West Indies female batman in Tests, surpassing the 72 made by Beverly Browne against England in July 1979.
The innings, which spanned almost four hours at the crease, helped the West Indies to avoid defeat after they had been forced to follow on.
George, a Corporal of the Royal St Lucia Police Force Marine Unit, has played for St Lucia since 1999.
She made her ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2003 and was part of the West Indies line-up that took part in the International Women's Cricket Council Trophy in the Netherlands in 2003 and this year's Women's World Cup in South Africa.
She has played one Test and 31 One Day Internationals, Ann Browne-John, the coach of the West Indies Women's team, said George was deserving of the award. "Her achievements have inspired young ladies in the Caribbean to pick up cricket and she now plays a part in the promotion of sport in the West Indies," Browne-John commented.
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