78 inductees – 26 from England, 21 from Australia, 17 from West Indies and non from Sri Lanka, should we be peeved ?
During the recent 2015 World Cup, three new Hall of Famers were inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame – Betty Wilson, Martin Crowe and Anil Kumble. Thus for the 78th time some of the Sri Lankan greats were overlooked.
The Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame was launched on 2 January 2009 in association with the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA), as part of the ICC’s centenary year celebrations. The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket’s long and illustrious history.
The initial intake of inductees are the 55 players named in the FICA Hall of Fame, which ran between 1999 and 2003. This was supplemented by a select group of inductions each year, which started in 2009 when five new inductees; Wasim Akram, Clarrie Grimmett, Herbert Sutcliffe, Victor Trumper and Steve Waugh, were announced as new members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at the LG ICC Awards.
Induction ceremonies take place throughout the cricket calendar where the inductees (or, in the case of those who have passed away, their relatives) are presented with a commemorative ICC Cricket Hall of Fame cap. The living members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame are also involved in the selection process to the new intake of legends into the Hall of Fame each year.
The Committee
ICC in association with FICA – Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations – formed a Nominations Committee to handle the process. The committee changes every two years, as per ICC guidelines.
The committee is made up of;
· The ICC President
· One former player (already in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame)
· One current player (nominated by ICC Management)
· One member of the media (nominated by ICC Management)
· One representative of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (nominated by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians)
· One women’s cricket representative (nominated by the ICC women’s committee)
· A representative of FICA (nominated by FICA)
The nominations are collected by ICC Chief Executive – currently Dave Richardson – which will be provided by the ICC management & current living members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Eligibility & Criteria
The underline rule for a nominee is, that the said player must not have played an official international match (Test, ODI or T20) in the five years preceding the closing date for nominations and such player will have to meet at least one of the following criteria in order to be eligible for nomination and thus inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.
1. He must have a Test and/or ODI batting average of 50 or above
2. He must have scored 8000 Test and/or ODI runs and 20 hundreds in either or both those forms of the game
3. He must have taken 200 Test wickets in either or both forms of the game and have a strike-rate of a wicket every 50 balls in Tests and/or 30 balls in ODIs
4. A captain must have led his side in at least 25 Tests and/or 100 ODIs with a win percentage of 50 per cent or more in either or both
5. A wicketkeeper must have secured 200 dismissals in either or both Tests and ODIs
6. A woman, in Tests, must have scored 1000 runs at an average of 50 or more and/or taken 50 wickets
7. In ODIs a women must have scored 2000 runs at an average of 35 or better and/or taken 100 wickets
8. If a person, team or institution does not fall within any of the above criteria, he, she or it can still be put forward by the Nominations Committee if, in the opinion of its members, he, she or it has had a fundamental effect on the history of the game (this criterion would also allow an eminent journalist, umpire, match referee or administrator to be nominated. It is also a sweep-up criterion if someone regarded as a great of the game does not fit into any of the above criteria)
The then the nominees go through the voting academy which includes the ICC President, all living ICC Cricket Hall of Fame members – total of 43 (as of 2013), one representative from each ICC Full Member (to be nominated by each Member) – total of 10, one member of the media from each of the ICC Full Members – total of 10, an Associate and Affiliate representative (nominated by the Associate and Affiliate representatives on the ICC Board and/or ICC Management), a representative of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (nominated by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians), One women’s cricket representative (nominated by the ICC women’s committee), a representative of FICA (as nominated by FICA).
Sri Lankans Overlooked
Looking at the current ICC Hall of Famers there are discrepancies with the criteria provided by ICC. For instance Sir Curtly Ambrose who was inducted in 2011 has strike rates of 54.5 and 41.5 in Tests and ODI’s respectively which disqualifies him from No.3 of the above criteria even though he has 200 plus wickets in both forms. In which case, Sri Lanka’s great Chaminda Vass should walk into the esteemed group.
One of the greatest ever batsman in the world Aravinda De Silva is another who has been at the short end of the stick. Aravinda has scored 9284 ODI runs and 20 Test centuries making him eligible for nomination which 2015 inductee Martin Crowe doesn’t even come close to – 5444 in Tests with 17 hundreds, 4704 in ODI’s with 4 hundreds.
If in fact Martin Crowe was inducted under No.8 of the criteria why not Sri Lanka’s World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga? A captain who led a side to greatness – one who was a pioneer in revolutionizing the modern game with the Sanath-Kalu combination. A captain who stood by his team in tough situations and for the right.
Flaw in the voting system
According to the ICC a member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame Voting Academy can vote up to three nominees on the ballot with three votes allocated to the first pick, two to the second and one to the third and only the top three will be inducted from the male category and the top female from the other.
The flaw here is what if that specific cricketer who deserves to be inducted does not get the votes to be in the top three? ICC says that person still has the opportunity in future years but again what if that person never gets enough votes to be in top three in the future years as well?
This voting system is much like the FIFA Ballon D’Or, where the best footballer of that specific year is at stake. It is an award for one individual but a Hall of Fame induction should never be like that. These cricketers have performed in various different levels and those who deserve should be inducted without a voting process.
