Cricket's immortals: Belinda Clark AO

The legacy of Belinda Clark AO goes above and beyond trophies, awards, and administrative awards. Leading the team with a Bradmanesque record in World Cups, Clark has been a pillar of Australian Cricket, and a fine architect of the women's cricket team. Her greatest legacy perhaps is her prowess with the willow made her the first female player to be a household name among cricket fans, and Australian sports fans in general. 

Born on September 10, 1970, Belinda grew up in Newcastle, originally aspiring to be a successful tennis player and having dreams of being crowned a Wimbledon champion. While women's cricket was silent to a vast majority of the people at the time, Clark's drive to succeed in cricket, her first love, made her an undisputed champion of the game. When asked about her passion for the game, it is as straightforward as any Australian athlete would say. In a 2016 interview with SBS, she said: “I love the challenge of the bat versus the ball, of getting a team together and seeing people of all ages, backgrounds, and gender laughing as they play on the beach.” The monumental impact a 21-year-old woman from Newcastle would have on Australian cricket was unforeseeable when Clark made her Test debut against India in 1991, notching up an assured century in the process. Having earned the award of 'Player of the Series', she emphatically announced her arrival in international level cricket.

The 90s was the pinnacle decade in Australian cricket for both men’s and women’s teams. The men’s team reached the finals of the World Cup twice — runners-up in 1996 and champions in 1999. A colossus on and off the field, Clark led the Australian team to three World Cup finals and in 1997, a streak of dominant performances saw the women’s team win the Women's World Cup. She made her Women’s One-Day International (ODI) debut against New Zealand in 1991, opening the batting with partner Belinda Haggett and scored 36 runs. In her second game, she scored her first half-century, being involved in a 105-run first-wicket partnership with Haggett. Her first century came after a 27 ODI game wait, against Pakistan in Melbourne. The right-handed opener had an uncanny knack of scoring runs and was named captain of the Australian Women's team at just 23 years old and led her nation through a golden period until her retirement in 2005.

The 1997 Women's World Cup held in the Indian sub-continent can be considered the turning point of Belinda's ODI career. At Bandra's Middle Income Group (MIG) Ground, the 27-year-old lit up the stadium, as she smashed an unbeaten 229 off 155 balls in a group stage against Denmark. It was raining boundaries (22 fours) in Mumbai, as she went on to become the first double centurion among cricketers, man or woman, in the history of ODIs. Leading the team as captain to a World Cup trophy, her innings against Denmark gained her significant popularity and was subsequently named Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 1998.

Across a career of 15 test matches played, Belinda scored two centuries and six half-centuries and holds the record for the most Test runs scored by as Australian woman - 919 runs at an average of 45.95. The former opener holds another impressive record in the ODIs - 4,844 runs scored in 118 ODIs at an average of 47.49. Belinda ended her career with a healthy batting average of 47.49 while Tendulkar ended with 44.83. In perspective, she holds a better batting average than the other double centurions currently. Her success rate as a captain was simply extraordinary – Australia won a total of 84 matches from the 101 games under Clark’s stewardship, as well as two World Cup titles – and she led from the front with the bat. As the captain in World Cup matches, Belinda's team won 21 World Cup matches out of 23 matches, with one no result and one loss, which came in the final of the 2000-01 World Cup against New Zealand. With a 95.45% win record in World Cups and 83% in ODIs; Belinda stands as the most successful captain in women’s cricket.

Clark pulled up the stumps of her 14-year playing career after leading Australia to another undefeated World Cup title and reclaiming the Women's Ashes trophy. The accolades, however, followed as she became just the second woman to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2011, adding to her Sport Australia Hall of Fame and New South Wales Hall of Champions inductions. In 2000, Clark was made the Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the sport and promoting women’s cricket to a new level. For someone with an acute understanding of the game who had simultaneously filled the roles of player, captain, and chief executive of Women’s Cricket Australia, there was still work to be done. Since her retirement, Clark tirelessly mentored young Australian cricketers while overseeing the growth of the Australian Cricket Academy, and was instrumental in developing the concept of a multi-format Women’s Ashes Series. An academically qualified Belinda holds a degree in Applied Science (Physiotherapy) making her an obvious go-to for mentorship. She has held several impressive positions such as: Manager of Australian Cricket Academy in Brisbane, Executive Officer of Women’s Cricket Australia in 2000 and is currently the Executive General Manager for Community Cricket at Cricket Australia.

While Clark is considered the Alan Border of Women's cricket, 'The Belinda Clark award' is now Women’s Cricket’s highest honour in Australia. She is unquestionably a legend in women’s cricket history and in a sport where women had, throughout its history, struggled to be heard by the traditional establishment, the sound of Clark’s bat smashing another century was impossible to ignore.

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