Belinda Clark Statue

On January 5th, 2023, Australian legendary women’s cricketer Belinda Clark made history again when her statue was unveiled at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and became the first statue of a woman cricketer worldwide.

The SCG decided in 2021 that after 73 statues of male cricketers in Australia, the time has come to honor a female player. The SCG selected Belinda Clark from a list of talented players, and the artist Cathy Weiszmann won the commission to create it. Weiszmann sculpted the statue based on a photo she and Clark chose; it stands near two of Australia’s finest men’s captains: Richie Benaud and Steve Waugh.

Belinda Clark was born in 1970 in Newcastle, New South Wales, and grew up playing cricket and tennis. She started playing cricket more seriously in high school and made her international cricket debut in January 1991, playing against New Zealand.

Two years later, and for 12 years, Clark became the captain of the Australian Women’s team, winning two ICC Women’s World Cups trophies (1997, 2005), 15 Test matches, and scoring 919 runs at an average of 45.95. Clark became the first person to score an ODI double century in 1997, blasting 229 runs off 155 balls against Denmark. She has held the record for the most ODI runs scored by an Australian woman – 4,844 runs in 118 ODIs at an average of 47.49.

In 2000, Clark became the CEO of Women’s Cricket Australia (WCA), playing a significant role in the merger with the Australian Cricket Board to combine the administration of the men’s and women’s games. After her retirement in 2005, Clark held several roles in the Australian Cricket Board and also served as the manager of the Australian Cricket Academy (till 2017).

Since 2002, the Belinda Clark Award recognizes Australia’s best women’s international cricketer. In 2014, Clark was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.