A Statuesque First in the World

Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world after Football and there have been many Cricketers down the years who have received the honour of having a statue of them unveiled at Cricket Grounds around the world.

However, a statue of a Cricketer was unveiled at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia on January 5th 2023 which is a first in the world.

Every other statue in the world of a Cricketer has been of a man. However, the bronze cast statue unveiled in Sydney is the first ever of a woman Cricketer.

It is a statue of the former Australian Captain Belinda Clark who was truly a trailblazer for women’s international cricket. She retired from international cricket in 2005 after a career spanning 14 years in which she represented Australia In 15 Test Matches and 118 One Day Internationals, averaging over 45 in both formats of the game.

She was the first player, man or woman, to score an individual Double Century in a One Day International, scoring 229 not out against Denmark in the 1997 Women’s Cricket World Cup. A man was unable to repeat the feat for until Sachin Tendulkar hit 200 not out for India against South Africa in 2000.

She was present when the statue was unveiled. "The sculpture encapsulates being able to have a go," Clark said. "To be courageous, to take on those challenges and break convention. 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 led the Australian team in 101 of her 118 One Day International appearance, winning 83% of those games at a time when Australia dominated the Women’s International game and remains the highest run scorer in Australian Women’s International Cricket history, having scored over 5,700 runs. The Annual Award presented to the best Australian Woman Cricketer of the Year is named after her.

Like many team sports, Cricket has largely been male dominated, but it is refreshing to see a woman so honoured.