The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday (November 13) announced three new inductees into its Hall of Fame and they are South Africa’s Shaun Pollock, Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena, and England’s Janette Brittin.
Pollock, one of the leading all-rounders of his era, represented South Africa in 108 Tests, 303 ODIs, and 12 T20Is in his career spanning 13 years.
Known for his ability to swing and seam the ball, Pollock picked up 421 Test wickets at 23.11, 393 ODI wickets at 25.4, and 15 T20I wickets at 20.6.
With the bat, Pollock was more than a handy customer as he amassed 3781 runs in the longest format at an average of 32.31 with two hundreds and 16 half-centuries.
He also has an ODI ton his name while his career strike rate in the 50-over format was 86.69. In total, Pollock made 3519 runs at 26.45 in ODIs, including 14 fifties.
He claimed 16 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket and only Dale Steyn (439) took more Test wickets for South Africa.
A giant of Sri Lankan cricket, Mahela Jayawardena has 149 Tests, 448 ODIs, and 55 T20Is caps to his name. Only India’s Sachin Tendulkar (664) has played more international matches than him.
Jayawardena is Test cricket’s ninth greatest run-scorer with 11,814 to his name at an average of 49.84, including 34 centuries. In the 50-over format, he aggregated 12,650 runs at 33.37 with 19 tons.
Jayawardena was an astute leader of the game, captaining his side to the final of 2007 ODI World Cup and 2012 T20 World Cup. He was also part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 2014 T20 World Cup by defeating India in the final.
The classy right-hander retired from international cricket after the end of Sri Lanka’s Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign.
Coming to Janette Brittin, she is counted among the greatest batters to have played women’s cricket.
She is the highest run-scorer (1935 at 49.61), century-maker (five), and appearance maker (27) in women’s Test history.
She was also dominant in ODIs, scoring 2121 runs at an average of 42.42 with five centuries across 63 ODIs and was part of England’s World Cup-winning side in 1993. She made 48 while opening the batting against New Zealand in the final of that tournament and was the top run-scorer in the competition with 410 at an average of 51.25.
At the age of 58, Janette Brittin passed away due to cancer in 2017. She is the 31st England player to feature in the ICC Hall of Fame.
(With ICC inputs)
