The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the
Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the
Australian Sports Museum at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
.
This
hall of fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
commemorates the greatest
Australian cricketers
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
of all time, as the "selection philosophy for the hall of fame focuses on the players' status as sporting legends in addition to their outstanding statistical records."
[ Inductees must be retired from international cricket for at least five years.][ The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was an idea conceived by the ]Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia.
The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...
(MCC) to honour Australia's legendary cricketers. It was opened on 6 December 1996 by the then Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
.
The hall of fame opened with ten inaugural members, ranging from Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert Spofforth (9 September 1853 – 4 June 1926), also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the fi ...
, a pace bowler
Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...
who retired from Test cricket
Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...
in 1887, to Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation". who played his last Test match in 1984. , the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame comprises 59 members. All twelve members of the Australian Cricket Board Team of the Century are included, six of them amongst the inaugural members. The vast majority are men; Belinda Clark
Belinda Jane Clark (born 10 September 1970) is an Australian former cricketer and sports administrator. A right-handed batter, she served as the captain of the national women's team for eleven years and was a member of triumphant World Cup ca ...
was the first woman admitted to the hall when she was inducted in 2014 (three years after she was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fed ...
). Four female Test captains have been admitted, along with 21 of their male counterparts. In December 2020, Johnny Mullagh
Johnny Mullagh (born Unaarrimin; 13 August 1841 – 14 August 1891) was an Australian cricketer from Victoria who was the leading player on the famous 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. He was a skilful all-rounder, being a right-arm bow ...
became the first Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
to be inducted into the hall of fame. Regarded as a standout player of the Aboriginal team which toured England in 1868, Mullagh is also the only member to have not played Test cricket for Australia.
The current selection committee comprises:
* Peter King – ACHOF chairman and current MCC committee member
* Belinda Clark
Belinda Jane Clark (born 10 September 1970) is an Australian former cricketer and sports administrator. A right-handed batter, she served as the captain of the national women's team for eleven years and was a member of triumphant World Cup ca ...
– Former Test captain
* Mark Taylor – Former Test captain
* Paul Sheahan
Andrew Paul Sheahan (born 30 September 1946) is a former Australian international cricketer who played 31 Test matches and three One Day Internationals as an opening and middle order batsman between 1967 and 1973.
He made his first-class deb ...
– Former Test batsman and former MCC President
* Todd Greenberg – Australian Cricketers' Association
The Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) is an organisation that represents the professional first-class cricketers of Australia, both past and present. It is not a formally registered Trade Union, but an Incorporated Association.
Current adm ...
CEO
* Nick Hockley – Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
CEO
* Greg Baum
Gregory Martin Baum (born 14 December 1959) is an Australian sports journalist.
Early years and education
Baum was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the first of six children to Martin and Joan Baum. He attended Boronia State Primary school, then S ...
and Ben Horne
Benjamin Joseph Horne is a fictional character in the television series ''Twin Peaks'', created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, portrayed by Richard Beymer. His middle and last names are based on department store owner Joseph Horne, founder of ...
– Media representatives
New members are inducted at the annual Australian Cricket Awards night.
Members of the Hall of Fame
Key
See also
* Allan Border Medal
Awarded during the Australian Cricket Awards, the Allan Border Medal is considered to be the most prestigious individual prize in Australian men's cricket. First awarded in 2000, the medal is named after former Australian men's captain Allan Bor ...
* Australia national cricket team
The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...
* Australia women's national cricket team
The Australian women's national cricket team (formerly also known as the Southern Stars) represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Meg Lanning and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all wor ...
* Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
References
External links
List of inductees
{{featured list
Halls of fame in Australia
Sports museums in Australia
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Awards established in 1996
Cricket museums and halls of fame
1996 establishments in Australia