Australian legends Ricky Ponting and Karen Rolton amongst the latest Australia Hall of the Fame inductees

Former Australian Test cricketer Norm O'Neill also inducted in the Hall of Fame.

Ricky Ponting

Australia’s most successful captain Ricky Ponting and one of the greatest women cricketers of all time Karen Rolton, along with late Australian cricketer Norm O’Neill will be inducted into the Australian cricket Hall of Fame.

The trio will be inducted during the Allan Border Medal on Monday night.

Ricky Ponting (1995-2012) is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in world cricket. Only the second batsmen with more than 13,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting won three World Cups with Australia starting in 1999 under Steve Waugh and then led Australia to World Cup wins in 2003 and 2007.

 He hit 41 centuries in Tests and 29 centuries in ODIs in his career. “Ricky Ponting is unquestionably one of the finest Test and one-day cricketers Australia has produced,” Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Chairman Peter King said.  

An exceptional fieldsman, he has an outstanding record as a top-order batsman and captain, and was a key figure during a highly successful era in Australian cricket.  That only he and Sachin Tendulkar have scored more than 13,000 runs in both Test and one-day cricket speaks volumes of his place in the game’s history,” he continued.

Karen Rolton playing 14 Tests, 141 one-day internationals and 15 T20Is between 1995 and 2009; scoring more than 5800 runs and posting 10 centuries for Australia.

Karen Rolton

Rolton is the only woman to score a century in a World Cup final, having notched 107 in the 2005 decider against India in Centurion. She won two World Cups in 1997 and 2005 with Australia and claimed the Belinda Clark Award on four occasions and replaced Clark was Australian captain in early 2006, a position she held until 2009.

King praised Rolton saying, “A former captain, she remains Australia’s leading female Test runscorer and sits alongside Belinda Clark on the list of one-day cricket run scorers. Karen’s ability to score quickly and make big scores during her 15-year career played a major part in many of Australia’s triumphs on the international stage.

Norm O’Neill played 42 Tests for Australia and scored 2779 runs with 6 centuries to his name. His best moment was the 181 in the famous Tied Test against West Indies in 1960. O'Neill passed away in 2008 aged 71.

Norm O’Neill

King said, “Norm O’Neill was a stylish and entertaining batsman, particularly strong off the back foot, who was capable of taking the game away from the opposition on his day. He made his Test debut at the tender age of 21, and is well remembered for his century in the 1960/61 Tied Test just two years later. Possessed with a strong throwing arm, he was an exceptional cover fieldsman and a handy leg-spinner.

The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was officially opened in 1996 and the induction of Ponting, Rolton and O’Neill brings the total number of inductees to 49.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 10 Feb, 2018

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