 |
| Martin Crowe batting in a charity match [PHOTO: Kristina D.C. Hoeppner/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0] |
Sydney: New Zealand great Martin Crowe, one of the most stylish and elegant batsmen of his generation, will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the Cricket World Cup 2015 match between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park in Auckland on 28 February, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced.
When Crowe receives his commemorative cap from ICC Director and Chairman of Cricket Australia, Wally Edwards, during the innings break, he will become the 79th inductee into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and third New Zealand player after Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley.
Crowe made his international debut against Australia in Wellington in February 1982 at the age of 19. He retired 13 years later after playing 77 Tests, he had scored 5,444 at an average of 45.36. This included 17 centuries, the most by a New Zealand cricketer, while his 299 against Sri Lanka in Wellington in January 1991 stood as a national record until Brendon McCullum scored 302 against India in Wellington last year in February.
Crowe also played 143 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in which he scored 4,704 runs at an average of 38.55 with four centuries and 34 half-centuries. He played in three ICC Cricket World Cups, and led New Zealand to the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 where his side lost to eventual champion Pakistan in Auckland. However, his innovative captaincy and most runs in the series won him player of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 award.
Crowe captained New Zealand in 16 Tests and 44 ODIs.
Overall, Crowe played 247 first-class matches in a 17-year career in which he scored 19,608 runs with 71 centuries and 80 half-centuries. Apart from representing New Zealand, he also played for Auckland, Central Districts, Somerset and Wellington.
Last week in Melbourne, former India captain Anil Kumble and Australia’s Betty Wilson were inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
The process for the selection of players into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame started last year when the ICC Chairman invited all the living ICC Cricket Hall of Famers to send their nominations. The ICC Nominations Committee reduced the long-list to 10 men’s and three women’s cricketers.
The short-list was then sent to the Voting Academy, which included representatives of all the 10 Full Members, media representatives from all the 10 Full Members, Associate & Affiliate Member, women’s cricket and FICA representatives as well as living ICC Hall of Famers. The ICC collated the nominations and forwarded the ballot papers to the auditors who provided the final results.
*ICC Cricket Hall of Fame – initial inductees (55)
Sydney Barnes, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Gibbs, Graham Gooch, David Gower, WG Grace, Tom Graveney, Gordon Greenidge, Richard Hadlee, Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey, George Headley, Jack Hobbs, Michael Holding, Leonard Hutton, Rohan Kanhai, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Jim Laker, Harold Larwood, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Clive Lloyd, Hanif Mohammad, Rodney Marsh, Malcolm Marshall, Peter May, Javed Miandad, Keith Miller, Bill O’Reilly, Graeme Pollock, Wilfred Rhodes, Barry Richards, Vivian Richards, Andy Roberts, Garfield Sobers, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Derek Underwood, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell
2009-10 Inductees
Herbert Sutcliffe, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Victor Trumper and Clarrie Grimmett
2010-11 Inductees
Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Ken Barrington, Courtney Walsh and Joel Garner
2011-12 Inductees
Belinda Clark, Frederick Spofforth, Curtly Ambrose and Alan Davidson
2012-13 Inductees
Enid Bakewell, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne
2013-14 Inductees
Adam Gilchrist, Debbie Hockley, Bob Simpson and Waqar Younis
2014-15 Inductees
Anil Kumble, Betty Wilson and Martin Crowe. One more to be announced in due course