An attempt to honour cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott was blocked because of his conviction for assaulting a former lover . For decades he has been known to fans of his dogged cricketing style as ‘Sir’ Geoffrey Boycott. But an attempt by Home Secretary Theresa May to turn the affectionate tribute into a genuine knighthood was blocked by Government officials because of Boycott’s conviction for assaulting a former lover, The Mail on Sunday has learned. The bid to honour the former England captain in the New Year Honours list was vetoed by the Cabinet Office because of a furore dating back nearly two decades. The Yorkshire batsman received a three-month suspended sentence and £5,300 fine from a French court in 1996 for pinning down his then lover, Margaret Moore, and punching her in the face. Boycott, now 74, denies ever hitting Ms Moore, insisting that she slipped and injured herself after flying into a rage when he told her he was ‘not the marrying kind’. According to Whitehall guidelines, a criminal record should not in itself prevent a person from being considered for a knighthood as long as there is no ‘outstanding issue’. Mrs May lent her name to the campaign to honour Boycott, which was led by a group of cricket-loving Tory MPs, only for it to be scuppered by officials. The MPs, including Henry Bellingham and fellow Yorkshireman Nigel Adams, sent letters to the Cabinet Office saying that Boycott’s record entitled him to join the pantheon of cricketing knights including Sir Len Hutton. Mrs May, David Cameron and Ed Miliband have all recently joined Boycott on separate occasions to watch top-flight matches. Boycott was the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs and still ranks as the country’s sixth highest run scorer ever. Boycott received a three-month suspended sentence and £5,300 fine from a French court in 1996 for pinning down his then lover, Margaret Moore (pictured at the time, left, and in 2000, right) and punching her in the face . The Cabinet Office is also believed to have received a submission on Boycott’s behalf from within Sajid Javid’s Culture Department, but an official intervened to prevent it from being considered by the sporting honours committee, which is chaired by Lord Coe. Boycott’s allies point out that Sir Ian Botham received a knighthood in 2007 despite receiving a three-month suspension from cricket after being arrested for smoking cannabis in 1986 – although he was never charged with any offence. Last night, Mr Adams said: ‘People in Yorkshire have been calling him “Sir Geoffrey” for years, and I am hopeful that he will receive his due in future rounds. Plenty of knights have been honoured after a brush with the English, let alone Napoleonic, law. Boycott was the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs and still ranks as the country’s sixth highest run scorer ever . 'He has done a tremendous amount of work for charity and has a lot of support on the floor of the Commons, at Cabinet level and in the Opposition, but it sounds as if some jobsworth numpty who doesn’t understand Geoffrey’s contribution to sport has let his pen get carried away.’ Boycott – who did become the marrying kind when he married long-term lover Rachael Swinglehurst in 2003 – has been involved with cancer charities since fighting the disease a decade ago. Boycott, who lived with his mother until he was 38, was in an on-off relationship with Rachael for more than three decades before they married. In a memoir published last year he said that he would not have survived his throat cancer without Rachael ‘being there for me’. During his playing days, Boycott took part in 108 Tests and captained England four times, although his stubborn style of play and blunt manner often irritated his colleagues. Botham described him as ‘totally, almost insanely, selfish’, and Boycott once found himself dropped after scoring 246 – for batting too slowly. After retiring he became a cricket pundit, but was sacked in the wake of the French conviction. However, he has since rebuilt his career and now works on BBC radio. On the night of his argument with Ms Moore, the couple had spent the evening drinking champagne with singer Billy Joel at the Hotel du Cap in Antibes. The cricketer later failed to have his conviction set aside by a higher French court, but said afterwards: ‘I am not guilty of hitting Margaret Moore and hope that the public have come to realise this.’ Ms Moore reacted to the decision by saying she would be ‘drinking champagne tonight’. The Cabinet Office said: ‘We can only comment on people who are on the Honours List, not on names that don’t appear.’ Boycott did not respond to requests for comment.
An attempt to knight Geoffrey Boycott was blocked by the Cabinet Office .
Cricket legend convicted of hitting his former lover Margaret Moore in 1996 .
Boycott, 74, denies ever punching Ms Moore and says she slipped over .
Theresa May among a group of Tory MPs calling for him to be knighted .
One MP says 'jobsworth numpties' stopped Boycott from being honoured .
Cricketer was the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs .
An attempt to honour cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott was blocked because of his conviction for assaulting a former lover . For decades he has been known to fans of his dogged cricketing style as ‘Sir’ Geoffrey Boycott. But an attempt by Home Secretary Theresa May to turn the affectionate tribute into a genuine knighthood was blocked by Government officials because of Boycott’s conviction for assaulting a former lover, The Mail on Sunday has learned. The bid to honour the former England captain in the New Year Honours list was vetoed by the Cabinet Office because of a furore dating back nearly two decades. The Yorkshire batsman received a three-month suspended sentence and £5,300 fine from a French court in 1996 for pinning down his then lover, Margaret Moore, and punching her in the face. Boycott, now 74, denies ever hitting Ms Moore, insisting that she slipped and injured herself after flying into a rage when he told her he was ‘not the marrying kind’. According to Whitehall guidelines, a criminal record should not in itself prevent a person from being considered for a knighthood as long as there is no ‘outstanding issue’. Mrs May lent her name to the campaign to honour Boycott, which was led by a group of cricket-loving Tory MPs, only for it to be scuppered by officials. The MPs, including Henry Bellingham and fellow Yorkshireman Nigel Adams, sent letters to the Cabinet Office saying that Boycott’s record entitled him to join the pantheon of cricketing knights including Sir Len Hutton. Mrs May, David Cameron and Ed Miliband have all recently joined Boycott on separate occasions to watch top-flight matches. Boycott was the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs and still ranks as the country’s sixth highest run scorer ever. Boycott received a three-month suspended sentence and £5,300 fine from a French court in 1996 for pinning down his then lover, Margaret Moore (pictured at the time, left, and in 2000, right) and punching her in the face . The Cabinet Office is also believed to have received a submission on Boycott’s behalf from within Sajid Javid’s Culture Department, but an official intervened to prevent it from being considered by the sporting honours committee, which is chaired by Lord Coe. Boycott’s allies point out that Sir Ian Botham received a knighthood in 2007 despite receiving a three-month suspension from cricket after being arrested for smoking cannabis in 1986 – although he was never charged with any offence. Last night, Mr Adams said: ‘People in Yorkshire have been calling him “Sir Geoffrey” for years, and I am hopeful that he will receive his due in future rounds. Plenty of knights have been honoured after a brush with the English, let alone Napoleonic, law. Boycott was the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs and still ranks as the country’s sixth highest run scorer ever . 'He has done a tremendous amount of work for charity and has a lot of support on the floor of the Commons, at Cabinet level and in the Opposition, but it sounds as if some jobsworth numpty who doesn’t understand Geoffrey’s contribution to sport has let his pen get carried away.’ Boycott – who did become the marrying kind when he married long-term lover Rachael Swinglehurst in 2003 – has been involved with cancer charities since fighting the disease a decade ago. Boycott, who lived with his mother until he was 38, was in an on-off relationship with Rachael for more than three decades before they married. In a memoir published last year he said that he would not have survived his throat cancer without Rachael ‘being there for me’. During his playing days, Boycott took part in 108 Tests and captained England four times, although his stubborn style of play and blunt manner often irritated his colleagues. Botham described him as ‘totally, almost insanely, selfish’, and Boycott once found himself dropped after scoring 246 – for batting too slowly. After retiring he became a cricket pundit, but was sacked in the wake of the French conviction. However, he has since rebuilt his career and now works on BBC radio. On the night of his argument with Ms Moore, the couple had spent the evening drinking champagne with singer Billy Joel at the Hotel du Cap in Antibes. The cricketer later failed to have his conviction set aside by a higher French court, but said afterwards: ‘I am not guilty of hitting Margaret Moore and hope that the public have come to realise this.’ Ms Moore reacted to the decision by saying she would be ‘drinking champagne tonight’. The Cabinet Office said: ‘We can only comment on people who are on the Honours List, not on names that don’t appear.’ Boycott did not respond to requests for comment.
An attempt to honour cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott was blocked because of his conviction for Secretary Theresa May to turn the affectionate conviction for assaulting a former lover, The list was vetoed by the Cabinet Office because of Margaret Moore, and punching her in the face. Boycott, now 74, denies ever hitting Ms Moore, honour Boycott, which was led by a group of cricket-loving Tory MPs, only for it to be was the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 to score more than 8,000 Test runs and still