New Delhi: Former Australian cricketer Michael Bevan has been inducted to Cricket Australia’s Hall of Fame. This will make the 54-year-old as the 66th Australian cricketer to get into their board’s Hall of Fame list.
As one of the most stylish finishers of the One-Day International formats, Bevan played 232 matches for Australia in the longer white-ball format and scored 6912 runs in 196 innings at an average of 53.58 and notched 46 fifties and six hundreds.
He was considered to be one the greatest ODI batters with great game awareness and would often ace the most formidable run chases. The star middle order batter was part of Australia’s World Cup winning campaigns in 1999 and 2003. In the 1999 quadrennial event, Bevan scored 264 runs in eight innings at 52.80 and remained not out in three innings.
He scored a valiant 65 in the very famous semifinal against South Africa in Birmingham with the match ending in a tie (both teams scored 213) and Australia advanced to the semifinal on the basis of superior net run rate in the Super Six stage. One of the most noteworthy ability of Bevan to remain calm in the chase was rotating the strikes – singles or doubles – rather than taking risk of charging for boundaries.
“Congratulations to former Australian player Michael Bevan on his induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame,” Cricket Australia posted on X.
Speaking to ‘cricket.com.au’, the imposing left-hander, who has also dabbled in coaching, said his ODI success was down to a deep understanding of the format.
“When I reflect on my one-day career, and get an understanding of why I performed like I did, how I was able to manage the innings, or the run rate…I think that was sort of natural to me,” he said.
“Minimising risk, understanding which bowlers to target, what types of shots to play in certain situations, and the ability to understand when to put your foot down, and when to take the foot off the accelerator as well…(were) the principles that I used,” he added the owner of 67 unbeaten ODI knocks who struck 46 half-centuries and six hundreds in the format,” he added.
However, Bevan had a stark contrast with his Test career, having played on 18 Tests between 1994 and 1998. He made 785 runs in 30 innings at 29.07.
Michael Bevan, a former Australian cricketer renowned for his ODI finishing skills, has been inducted into the Cricket Australia Hall of Fame. His remarkable ODI career, featuring 6912 runs at an average of 53.58, including 46 fifties and six centuries, cemented his place as one of the game’s greats. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
