Former Australia captain Belinda Clark has become the first female cricketer in the world to be honoured with a statue.
A bronze sculpture of right-hander Clark playing an attacking shot on the leg side has been unveiled at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Clark’s statue, created by Australian artist Cathy Weiszmann, stands alongside other cricketing greats, including Richie Benaud and Steve Waugh.
“I’m excited to have the sculpture in place and for people to now look at it and perhaps wonder what that is, who that is and to be able to tell a bit of a story is really important,” said Clark in a report by ABC.
“I want people to take away that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it and you have good people around you.
“I think I’ve been very fortunate to have had great support and have a bit of an imagination to take my game where I wanted to take it, and hopefully the sport is in a better place for it.”
Clark captained Australia for 12 years and was part of the teams that won the Women’s Cricket World Cup titles in 1997 and 2005. She remains the highest-run scorer in women’s ODI cricket with 4,844 runs in 118 matches at an average of 47.49 including five centuries and 30 fifties.
In 1997, Clark became the first-ever female player to notch a double hundred in ODIs when she hit 229 off 155 balls against Denmark. Off the field, Clark was also an influential figure having become chief executive of Women’s Cricket Australia in 2000 before it merged with Cricket Australia.
After ending her playing career in 2005, Clark has held numerous roles including as an executive at Cricket Australia and a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Committee.
Clark was the first female player to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and the second woman to be added to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
“We recognise Belinda for all she has achieved as a player, leader, mentor and administrator – as well as all that will be achieved by those she’s brought to the sport,” said SCG chairman Tony Shepherd.
“Belinda’s legacy is only going to continue to grow along with that of women’s cricket in Australia.” (Insidethegames)