GLAMORGAN cricketer Robert Croft has saluted team-mates past and present after being appointed MBE.
The spinner fondly recalled the winning Glamorgan team of the 1990s which contained the likes of Matthew Maynard, Hugh Morris, Adrian Dale, Tony Cottee, Steve Watkin and Steve James.
"They were the start of it all," he said. "They were the reason we got momentum going and why Glamorgan got taken as a serious force."
Croft, 42, was the first Welsh cricketer to score 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets in first class cricket — a feat he achieved in 2007.
He said playing for Glamorgan felt like representing Wales, while playing for England felt like representing the British Lions.
Croft, who lives in Fforest, near Pontarddulais, also paid tribute to his coaches, including Alan Jones and the great Don Shepherd.
The wily spinner joked that his MBE should be for "bowling into the wind" rather than services to cricket.
Croft glided into the wind at St Helen's for the last time this summer, snaffling four wickets in 23 balls to end his 23-year Glamorgan career on a high.