Posts Tagged ‘Javed Miandad’
ICC Hall of Fame
Posted on: January 3, 2009
Three Indian cricketing legends, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Bishan Singh Bedi figured among the 55 former players named on Friday (January 2) in the ICC’s inaugural Hall of Fame list as part of its centenary celebrations.
Launching the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame here, Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said the initiative, in association with Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), would provide the chance for the game to recognise its greatest achievers.
“Given a key theme of the ICC’s centenary year is celebrating the game’s heritage then the foundation of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame is an entirely logical step,” he said.
“It will provide a means of recognising the historical contribution of past players, officials and even institutions in making cricket what it is today, a great sport with a great spirit,” he added.
Gavaskar expressed “humbled” to be named along with Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Garfield Sobers. “To be recognised by the premier authority in the game, the ICC, and that, too, in its centenary year, is an honour indeed. It is a privilege and I am overwhelmed and humbled to be included in such august company as Sir Donald Bradman and the one and only Sir Garry Sobers,” he said in a statement.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh became the first Hall of Famer to receive his commemorative cap from ICC President David Morgan. “I’m deeply honoured to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Being recognised in this way is humbling, especially when I look at the names of the players in this list and think about those who will join it in the years to come,” Marsh said.
“It (the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame) is another way of showing what a great history our game has and anything that does that has to be a good thing,” Marsh said.
The career statistics and biographies of the 55 inductees can be found at the new ICC centenary website, also launched today, ww.catchthespirit.com. Each year, starting 2009, new inductees will be announced during the LG ICC Awards ceremony.
The initial inductees or, in the case of those who have passed away, their relatives will be presented with a commemorative ICC Cricket Hall of Fame cap at an appropriate stage during the ICC centenary year.
The living members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame will also have the chance to choose new inductees. “We have studied numerous Halls of Fame in other sports to see what works and what doesn’t and how best we can achieve our goal, to recognise the game’s greatest achievers. We want to ensure that as many of the game’s stakeholders as possible, including current ICC Cricket Hall of Famers and members of the public, get the chance to have their say in the process of choosing the game’s true legends,” Lorgat said.
FICA Chief Executive Tim May was delighted at the new joint initiative of cricketers’ association and the ICC. “FICA believes it is important to honour the outstanding contributions many individuals have made to the game,” said May.
“The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in association with FICA is obviously the appropriate forum to do so and we are delighted to join with the ICC in this great venture,” he added.
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame inductees: Sydney Barnes, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Gibbs, Graham Gooch, David Gower, WG Grace, Tom Graveney, Gordon Greenidge, Richard Hadlee, Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey, Ron Headley, Jack Hobbs, Michael Holding, Leonard Hutton, Rohan Kanhai, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Jim Laker, Harold Larwood, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Clive Lloyd, Hanif Mohammad, Rodney Marsh, Malcolm Marshall, Peter May, Javed Miandad, Keith Miller, Bill O’Reilly, Graeme Pollock, Wilfred Rhodes, Barry Richards, Vivian Richards, Andy Roberts, Garfield Sobers, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Derek Underwood, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ejaz Butt claims Sri Lanka’s tour next year will certainly go ahead as the island nation’s sports minister Gamini Lokuge has assured him of the series getting the requisite government clearance.
“Our High Commissioner has spoken to the sports minister who has assured him the tour is on but as per government policies, it has to be cleared by the Sri Lankan foreign ministry,” Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt told.
He said Lokuge was assured that the tour, starting January 20, was definitely on and only the formalities needed to be completed. “As is the usual practice the Sri Lankan cricket authorities have to get security clearance from their foreign office. The foreign office will in turn will seek assurances from our government for proper security arrangements to be made for the series,” he said.
Pakistan invited Sri Lanka to play three Tests and five one-day internationals after India cancelled its confirmed tour to Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which has put a big strain on relations between the two countries.
The former President of the Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee Arjuna Ranatunga had agreed to replace India but after he and his committee were sacked last week by the sports minister, the tour was under a shadow of doubt. But Butt said Lokuge had assured the Pakistan high commissioner the tour would not be affected by the change in the interim committee.
“As far as the security arrangements are concerned we will be meeting with Sri Lankan officials perhaps even the sports minister during the ACC meeting in Kuala Lumpur and we will assure them state level security plans and arrangements for the tour,” Butt said.
He also insisted that India had not called off its tour to Pakistan because of security concerns. “It was a political decision and we can’t do anything about it. But the fact is that India and Sri Lanka were both in Karachi for the Asia Cup earlier this year and they were satisfied with the arrangements we made for them,” he stated.
“All our provincial governments are coordinating with the board and the centre to assure top class security arrangements for the tour,” he said.
Butt did not agree with media reports that the Sri Lankans might call off their tour to Pakistan as they didn’t want to upset the Indian government. “I don’t know from where all this is coming from. But our relations with the Indian board remain good. Our government to government relations with Sri Lankan are excellent as well. Unfortunately sections of the Indian media have come up with stories apparently aimed at portraying a picture that isolates Pakistan cricket from all other countries.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board used diplomatic channels to convince the Sri Lankan government to give clearance for its team’s Test tour of the country from next month. PCB Director General Javed Miandad confirmed today that he had personally spoken to Sri Lankan sports minister Gamini Lokuge to get the tour on track.
“Our acting High Commissioner in Colombo, Dr Fazlur Rehman Qadri, played a big role in this. We are grateful to the Sri Lankan foreign and sports ministers for making this tour possible,” the former Pakistan captain said.
Miandad said the Sri Lanka’s tour would eventually be a lifeline for Pakistan cricket after the refusal of India to send its team. “Pakistan cricket was in danger of being isolated and for Sri Lanka to confirm their tour at this time is a big boost for us,” he said.
Pakistan had invited Sri Lanka for the tour after the Indian government refused to send its team in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in November. The former head of the Sri Lankan Cricket’s interim committee, Arjuna Ranatunga, had confirmed the tour but after he was sacked by sports minister Lokuge, they were doubts if Sri Lanka would get clearance from its government.
With the tour now formally on, Miandad hoped it would lead to other foreign teams visiting Pakistan. “Our next aim is to ensure that Australia also agree to tour Pakistan for their one-day series in April,” Miandad said. “Pakistan badly needed to host international cricket teams and we have already started making preparations to ensure top-level security arrangements for the matches,” he said.
Pakistan have not played a Test this year following security concerns raised by the visiting teams. “We now need to plan ahead to have more international cricket at home. We need to make 2009 a far better year than 2008,” Miandad stated.
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