Michael Bevan Inducted Into Australian Cricket Hall Of Fame
Michael Bevan for Australia (Source- ICC/X.com)
Former Australian cricketer Michael Bevan has been inducted to Australian Cricket Hall of Fame for his incredible contribution to Australian Cricket, especially in the limited-overs format.
Bevan, who is regarded as one of the best finishers the world has ever seen, represented Australia in 232 ODIs, scoring a total of 6912 runs at an average of 53.58. He was the Mr. Dependable for the men in yellow who used to keep his calm under immense pressure and take Australia home in tough chases more often than not.
The two time World Champions played some iconic innings like the one against the West Indies in a last-ball thriller at the SCG, 1996 and another one later facing New Zealand in 2002, where he scored an unbeaten century to chase down a target of 246, after Australia had been reduced to 82 for 6 at one stage.
Michael Bevan Revolutionised white-ball Cricket
Bevan’s One Day International career lasted almost ten years as he became the master of this format for Australia due to his immaculate maturity in chases and ability to keep the scoreboard moving when the chips were down.
However, the story was completely different when it came to playing Test cricket. Yes, despite having incredible records in one dayers, Bevan failed to replicate the same in the longest format of the game. He had a promising start to his red-ball career against Pakistan but the left-hander had his shortcomings and his 18-match Test career didn't go ahead after the 1997-98 summer.
Due to this very reason, he was never considered to be included into the Australian Cricket’s Hall of Fame until this year, when the Hall of Fame Committee decided to review its selection criteria and give equal recognition to those who did wonders in one-day or T20 cricket for Australia.
The Hall of Fame Chairman Peter King and Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley were in full praise for the former world champion, describing Bevan as the Icon and Pioneer. The Canberra Born cricketer’s recognition was long due for mastering the art of limited-overs batting and securing victories for Australia year after year and emerged as the best finisher in the world at that time.