Michael Bevan, an Australian cricketer, has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame after changes were made to the criteria for admission into this illustrious club.
According to a statement issued by Cricket Australia, CA, a review of the subjective criteria was undertaken by the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Committee, in coordination with the Melbourne Cricket Club, steward of the MCG, to acknowledge equally all formats of the game available in respective eras.
Based on the revised criteria, two provisions, namely players and representatives in the common category, have now been introduced. Bevan thus becomes the 66th player, and the third induction of this season, following Michael Clarke and Christine Matthews, into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
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“The Committee revised its selection criteria due to Michael’s outstanding playing record and public standing characterised by his performance on the field, thereby ensuring that professional One-Day or Twenty20 International players will not easily go unrecognised compared to their Test-playing counterparts,” said CA.
Michael was widely regarded as a street renown who revolutionized white-ball cricket with match-winning batting ability, exceptional athleticism, and run-chasing capability. Bevan was practically synonymous with one-day internationals throughout the late 90s and into the early 2000s.
“Such was the impact he had on the game of cricket in Australia and globally that he could bring fans to the stadium or have them glued to their television screens because his performances were breathtaking,” says Peter King, Chairman of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
At the time, Bevan had been regarded as the world’s number one-ranked men’s ODI batsman and held that position uninterruptedly from 1999 to 2002 for 1259 days. He played 232 ODIs and scored 6912 runs with an average of 53.58, including six centuries and 48 fifties. He was a member of the Australian teams that won the 1999 and 2003 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups.
At the time of his retirement, he was the third highest run-scorer in men’s ODIs. He took 36 wickets with an average of 45.97.
“Michael Bevan is an icon who pioneered one-day cricket, dubbed by the world as the original finisher. His unshakable temperament and ability to deliver even under pressure captured the imagination of fans and brought about a slew of memorable wins for Australia.
“He was the two-time World Cup champion and retired with one of the best records in 50-over cricket, having enshrined himself amongst the greatest run-scorers in the history of the Sheffield Shield at a time when Australian cricket was truly at its most formidable.”
It is wonderful that the significant contributions to the game by Michael, one of the greatest one-day players ever, have now been duly recognized through his acceptance into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame,” said Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia CEO.
Bevan represented Australia, NSW, Tasmania, South Australia, Yorkshire, Sussex, Leicestershire, and Kent in a 237-first-class match career in Australia which earned him 19,147 runs-certainly an illustrious career with 68 centuries and 81 half-centuries, scoring a top of 216 runs in an innings.
