Saturday, January 3, 2009

Cricket's Hall of Fame

About 5-10 years back, I remember reading an email that listed the initial members of Cricket's Hall of Fame. Pakistan's inductees were Hanif, Imran, and Miandad.

But no one ever talked about that list since then. Perhaps it was some wishful fanboy's effort. Or a fake email. Who knows?

Yesterday, I finally saw that list again. The ICC is formally creating a Hall of Fame, and will use that list (which was compiled by FICA - Federation of International Cricketers' Associations) as its initial list of inductees. As with any HOF, the ICC will develop formal procedures to nominate and induct new members.

This is a good step, and one that is long overdue. I like the concept of a Hall of Fame in sport. Given the variety of formats, it makes things even more interesting (e.g. surely Michael Bevan should be a HOFer. But would Shahid Afridi be one?) I hope there's also consideration given to players who have contributed entirely or mostly outside of playing. The first name that comes to mind is Tony Cozier.

The initial 55 inductees are listed here. Miandad is the most recent retiree to be inducted. As you can imagine, a long backlog exists (Warne, Wasim, Waqar, Kumble, Ganguly, McGrath, Walsh, Lara, Inzi, Aravinda, etc. to name just a few)

Interesting thought: Will ICL players be banned from consideration? That would definitely invalidate Lara for sure, so good luck justifying that ICC!

Initial 55 inductees: 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, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Garfield Sobers, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Derek Underwood, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell.

Make your pitch on this post...



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10 Pitched:

  1. Sam said...
     

    Wasim Akram was more deserving than jumping jack Javed :)

  2. Abdul said...
     

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  3. Abdul said...
     

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  4. SledgeHammer said...
     

    @Sam: Wasim certainly will earn a spot, alongside Miandad. Wasim is the greatest ODI bowler in history, and the greatest left-arm bowler of all-time in any form of cricket.

    Miandad's credentials are also undeniable (one of only two players whose average never dipped below 50, the other being Herbert Sutcliffe), and his match winning performances are legendary.

    Sure, his on-the-pitch antics were often less than memorable, but I guess it's part of who he is! ;)

  5. Sandgroper said...
     

    Don't think the ICC can close the door on ICL members, especially since Kapil Dev is already part of this list..

  6. SledgeHammer said...
     

    @sandgroper: good point!

  7. Q said...
     

    I wonder if Wasim Akram will be denied due to his match fixing links.. the ICC has been hell bent on restricting the likes of Mushtaq, Waqar, Asif Iqbal, Saleem Malik in taking up responsible roles in boards and elsewhere so u never know..

    Though him and Waqar and Inzi are sure shot HOFers from a Pak perspective..

    I agree with Sledge Sam, Javed has a number of victories attributed to him. Remember the 6? If that was his only achievement, he would have been a HOFer :-)

  8. Six & Out said...
     

    Splendid should be a shoe in :)

    Interesting thought: Will ICL players be banned from consideration? That would definitely invalidate Lara for sure, so good luck justifying that ICC!

    Great pick up there Q, it would certainly be interesting as more and more players go into the ICL, they might never make the HOF.

    Interesting that 0 Sri Lankans are in the initial list. The only big team in test cricket missing a player.

  9. Q said...
     

    Six&Amp - it was Sledge, not me who picked it up :-)

    The ICL players might get a look in since their boss Kapil Dev is on the list but then again he's an official.

  10. SledgeHammer said...
     

    @Six&Out: The list was made in 1998-99. I can't think of any potential HOF Sri Lankans who had retired by that point. That's probably why there are no Sri Lankans.

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