ENGLAND star Jimmy Anderson is to be awarded the Freedom of Burnley, the fast bowler’s home town.
The 29-year-old, the Red Rose county’s beneficiary for 2012, will receive the highest possible honour from Burnley Council at the Town Hall later this month.
It tops off what has been a stunning 2011 for Anderson, nicknamed the ‘Burnley Express’.
He has played an integral part in an Ashes winning campaign Down Under, helped England reach the number one ranking in Test cricket, helped Lancashire win the County Championship for the first time in 77 years and has been awarded a benefit year by the county too.
Anderson grew up playing at Turf Moor for Burnley in the Lancashire League, famously going from league cricket to the international arena in the space of five months back in 2002.
Sussex have awarded a benefit year to wicketkeeper Matt Prior for 2012.
The 29-year-old has been with the club since 2001, playing almost 150 first-class matches and making over 8,500 runs while cementing himself as a staple of the England team.
