Former captain Michael Clarke was the latest inductee to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, becoming the 64th cricketer to be on the list. Clarke, a dashing top-order batter and a handy left-arm orthodox spinner, accepted at the honour at his home ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday, January 2025, almost a decade after playing his final match for Australia in the away Ashes in August 2015.
“To be able to sit along so many wonderful players, idols, role models growing up as a kid and looking up to is something I’m honoured by,” Clarke said on receiving the honour. Except for T20Is, Clarke averaged 40-plus across red-ball and 50-over formats, in List-A, first-class cricket and in Tests and ODIs.
Obviously, he’d be remembered for leading Australia to their fifth World Cup title in 2015 at home, however, Clarke was famous for tormenting India, whether with the world record of 329* in Sydney or his spell of 3/5 in the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to trigger Indian heartbreak. Clarke was always part of the game with bat, ball or in the field before he became the captain.
As he reflected on his career, Clarke said, “Retirement does a lot of things to you. Through stages of watching cricket now, you miss parts.
“When you play at the highest level, people talk about your international career but for me, it started at six years of age. I retired at 34 so it was my life. It’s still a part of my life.
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“Cricket – it’s probably so similar to life in general. You walk out and make 100 and then lift the bat, and then you walk out to field, field in slip and drop a catch second ball of the game,” he added.
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame chairman Peter King reserved high praise for Clarke saying he was someone, who “defined his generation”. “Michael’s extraordinary first-class playing career started at just 17 at the SCG – the place where many of his highlights occurred, including a Test triple century against India in 2012,” King added.
Clarke is not the only one to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this season, a couple of more names would be added to the list.
