International Trade Secretary Liz Truss says Ian Botham will 'bat for British business Down Under'; the 65-year-old is well known for his previous clashes with Australia on the cricket field and has now been appointed as a government trade envoy to the Oceania country
Monday 23 August 2021 12:29, UK
Former England cricket captain Lord Botham has been appointed by the Government as a trade envoy to Australia.
Lord Botham has been announced as one of the Government's new envoys that they hope will help in "delivering an ambitious global trade agenda".
The peer, who was ennobled last year by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, led the England Test cricket team between 1980 and 1981, including in two Ashes series against Australia. He made 102 Test appearances for his country in total between 1977 and 1992.
The other nine new envoys are all parliamentarians, sitting in either the House of Lords or as MPs, and have been selected from across different political parties.
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said Lord Botham would "bat for British business Down Under".
She added: "By boosting exports, promoting inward investment and creating high-value, high-paying jobs, our trade envoys will help us build back better from Covid-19, ensuring every part of the UK benefits from our trade strategy."
Botham is one of 10 new parliamentarians to have been given a new role as a trade envoy, which takes the total number of MPs and peers installed in unpaid trade and ambassadorial roles to 36.
