Who Is Belinda Clark? Australian Cricketer Honoured With Statue At Sydney Ground

A bronze statue of legendary Australian skipper Belinda Clark was unveiled at the stadium's Walk of Honour at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. She is the first female cricketer to be honoured with a sculpture. The move is lauded, as 73 statues of male cricketers already exist in the country.

Who is Belinda Clark?

Belinda Clark is an Australian former cricketer and sports administrator. The record-breaking cricketer served as the captain of Australia's women's cricket team for eleven years. She made her international debut at the age of 21 in 1991 against New Zealand. The right-handed batter hit a century against India nine days after her ODI debut.

Clark became the captain of the Australian Women's Cricket Team after the 1993 World Cup. Under her captaincy, Australia won the World Cup in 1997, and she became the first player ever to score a double century in an ODI with 229 runs in the same tournament. Due to her able captaincy, Australia was unbeatable throughout the tournament. In 2005, Australia won the World Cup again under her captaincy. She has scored the most runs (4,844) and captained the most matches (101 at a winning rate of 83%) of any Australian woman in ODIs.

In 2003, the Australian Women's Cricket Council merged with the Australian Cricket Board. Clark led the merger as the organisation's chief executive officer while also being the captain of the country's women's cricket team. She has also won five championships while playing in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL).

She has also served in various administrative roles and is a member of the International Cricket Council's Women's Committee. She also received an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2018.

In 2014, Clark became the first woman to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. She was the second woman inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2021.

Clark is the 15th member of the SCG's sculpture project. The statue was sculpted by a reputed New South Wales artist, Cathy Weiszmann. "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, as quoted by cricket.com.au.

The legendary cricketer announced her retirement in 2005. Clark has continued to stay connected to the sport even after she retired from international cricket.

Clark was born in Newcastle, New South Wales. Her father was a school teacher, and her mother was a state tennis champion. She has three siblings. Clark started playing cricket at the age of 13 while attending Newcastle High School.

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