Ian Botham, the former England cricketer, and Salman Rushdie, the acclaimed author whose novel The Satanic Verses provoked worldwide protests from Muslims, have been awarded knighthoods in the Queen’s birthday honours list.

“Sir Beefy”, as he will doubtless be known, tops a list of almost 1,000 sports stars, entertainers, business people, public servants and even a former KGB spy who are to be honoured.