Ambrose, Davidson, Belinda Clark to be inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) today announced that former West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose, former Australian fast bowlers Frederick Spofforth and Alan Davidson and former female Australian batsman Belinda Clark will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Ambrose, Davidson and Clark will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame this evening at the ICC Awards, which will be held in London, by FICA President Jimmy Adams and ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd.

Spofforth will be inducted later next year in a ceremony involving the former fast bowler’s family.

The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame is a joint venture with FICA set up in 2009, the ICC’s Centenary year.

Ambrose was the most lethal pace bowler of his generation, taking 405 Test wickets at 20.99.

Two of his most noticeable performances came against England and Australia -- he took 6-24 to help hustle England out for 46 in Trinidad in 1993 while he took a series- clinching seven wickets for 25 runs, including nine maiden overs, against Australia at the WACA in the previous season.

“Well for me personally it is a privilege and an honour to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. In the history of cricket there have been many great cricketers and to be part of that elite group, am very happy and am very humbled,” said Ambrose, who featured in 176 ODIs claiming 225 wickets at an average of 24.12.

The Antigua born fast bowler believes the induction into the Hall Of Fame is a reward for all the hard work he has put out in over the years.

“I never thought that this day would come. This only tells me that all the hard work I put in throughout my career, did not go unnoticed. I see this also as a just reward for all the joy and happiness that I may have brought to cricket and cricketers alike,” Ambrose said.

Davidson took 186 Test wickets and scored 1,328 Test runs in his 44 appearances for Australia between 1953 and 1963.

During the last five years of his career, he took 170 Test wickets at 19.25 in 32 Tests, only four of which were lost. After his departure, Australia struggled, winning only one Test series in four years.

In Australia’s 1960-61 home series against West Indies, in the first tied Test in Brisbane, Davidson became the first player to take 10 wickets and accumulate more than a hundred runs in a match despite a broken finger on his bowling hand.

“Since being selected for the first time for my country. This is an amazing recognition and I am proud of it. My whole dream since I was nine years old was to play for Australia. It was most extraordinary feeling. This is an acknowledgment of my career, so this is equally as great,” a delighted 82-year-old Davidson at the special Hall of Fame brunch said.

“I think the great thing was that I got to play the best in the world over my career. I was fortunate to tour England three times, India and Pakistan twice. West Indies, South Africa as well. I toured all nations of the world at the time, took on the best in the world. My performances were also an acknowledgment of the players that I played against,” he added. 

Clark captained Australia’s women to five World Cup victories in her time at the helm, losing just 17 matches in her 101 games in charge. She still holds the record in the women’s game for the most amount of matches as captain.

Clark averaged over 50 runs in the 15 Test matches she played for her country, while she averaged 40 in the 118 ODIs she played for Australia.

She was the first player (male or female) to score a double-century in ODI cricket when she scored 229 against Denmark in Mumbai in 1997, predating India’s Sachin Tendulkar who became the first male to make a double-century in the game in February 2010.

Since her retirement in 2005, nobody has managed to surpass her record of 4,844 ODI runs.

“It is a great honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and it has been an amazing five years for women’s cricket globally. Recognition of female players in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame is a great initiative and I am proud to join Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, to become the second female inductee, on a long list of outstanding cricketers,” Clark said of her induction.

“It means a lot to be recognized by the international organization and I am very proud to be included,” she added.

So far 64 cricketers are members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. They are as follows: Sydney Barnes, Ken Barrington, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Kapil Dev, Joel Garner, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Gibbs, Graham Gooch, David Gower, WG Grace, Tom Graveney, Gordon Greenidge, Clarrie Grimmett, Richard Hadlee, Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey, George Headley, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, 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, Herbert Sutcliffe, Fred Trueman, Victor Trumper, Derek Underwood, Courtney Walsh, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell.