World first: Belinda Clark immortalized at SCG, becomes first female cricketer to get a statue
The bronze statue of Belinda Clark was created by renowned NSW artist, Cathy Weiszmann.
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Belinda Clark
For the first time in the history of cricket, a female cricketer was honored with a statue. The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) unveiled the bronze statue of the former Australia woman skipper and ICC Hall of Fame member Belinda Clark at her home ground on Thursday (January 5).
Just a moment before the start of the second day’s play between Australia and South Africa, the sculpture was revealed outside the SCG. The statue was created by renowned NSW artist, Cathy Weiszmann.
“I am 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,” Clark said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“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, and 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,” she added.
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Belinda Clark has been an important figure on and off the field
Clark became the first female cricketer to score a double ton in ODIs when she slammed 229 runs off just 155 balls against Denmark in 1997. She currently has the most ODI runs for Australia, having amassed 4,844 runs in 118 in the 50-over format. After becoming the captain at the of 23, she led her team for 12 years, including two World Cup victories, in 1997 and 2005.
After her retirement, she played a key role in the development of Australian cricket for over 15 years before she left in late 2020. She was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2011, becoming the second female cricketer to receive this honor. She also served as a Director of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 Local Organizing Committee.
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