Ricky Ponting, Karen Rolton, Norm O’Neill the latest Australian Hall of Famers

Ricky Ponting and Karen Rolton, both former Australian captains, and Norm O’Neill, the batsman who played 42 Test matches between 1958 and 1965, have been named as the latest inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of fame.

The formal induction will be at the 2018 Allan Border Medal ceremony, scheduled for February 12 in Melbourne.

Ponting, the most capped Australian Test and One-Day International cricketer, is also the leading run-scorer for his country in Tests and ODIs. He amassed 13,378 runs in 168 Tests at an outstanding 51.85 with 41 centuries, while in ODIs, he scored 13,704 runs in 375 outings at 42.03 with 30 centuries.

He also captained Australia a record 324 times during his 17-year-long international career across formats, and led them to back-to-back ICC Cricket World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007. Ponting is also the only player in the world to have taken part in more than 100 Test victories. He played his final Test against South Africa at the WACA ground in Perth in 2012.

“Ricky Ponting is unquestionably one of the finest Test and one-day cricketers Australia has produced,” Peter King, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Chairman, said. “An exceptional fieldsman, he has an outstanding record as a top-order batsman and captain, and was a key figure during a highly successful era in Australian cricket. That only he and Sachin Tendulkar have scored more than 13,000 runs in both Test and one-day cricket speaks volumes of his place in the game’s history.”

Inducted into the ICC Hall of fame in 2016, Rolton made her international debut for Australia Women in 1995 and played 14 Test matches scoring 1,002 runs at 55.66, including two centuries and five half-centuries. She also took 14 wickets at 23.35. Her unbeaten 209 against England at Headingley in 2001 was then a world record for the highest individual score in a Women’s Test. She was chosen as ICC’s inaugural Women’s Player of the Year in 2006.

Rolton has a stellar record in ODIs as well, where she scored 4,814 runs at 48.14 in 141 games with eight centuries and 22 half-centuries. She was equally impressive with the ball, picking up 85 wickets at 20.81. She also represented Australia in 15 Twenty20 Internationals.

Rolton finished her international career as the highest run-getter in Tests and the second-highest run-scorer in ODIs for Australia. She was a part of the World Cup-winning side on two occasions – 1997 and 2005 – and is the only woman to score a century in a World Cup final, an immaculate 107 in 2005 against India in Centurion. She led Australia between 2007 and 2009.

“Karen Rolton was a dominant left-hander who rightly takes her place in the top echelon of women’s cricket,” said King. “A former captain, she remains Australia’s leading female Test run-scorer and sits alongside Belinda Clark on the list of one-day cricket run scorers. Karen’s ability to score quickly and make big scores during her 15-year career played a major part in many of Australia’s triumphs on the international stage.”

O’Neill made his international debut for Australia at the age of just 21 and went on to score 2,779 runs in a career that spanned seven years. His 181 in Australia’s first innings of the Tied Test against West Indies in 1960 remains a highlight of his career. He was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1962.

Described by Richie Benaud as “one of the greatest entertainers we’ve had in Australian cricket”, O’Neill passed away in 2008.

“Norm O’Neill was a stylish and entertaining batsman, particularly strong off the back foot, who was capable of taking the game away from the opposition on his day,” said King. “He made his Test debut at the tender age of 21, and is well remembered for his century in the 1960/61 Tied Test just two years later. Possessed with a strong throwing arm, he was an exceptional cover fieldsman and a handy leg-spinner.”

The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was officially launched in 1996 and the addition of Ponting, Rolton and O’Neill brings the total number of inductees to 49.