On Sunday, August 23, Lisa Sthalekar became the 27th Australian cricketer and only the fifth women from her nation to be inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Born as Laila in the city of Pune, Sthalekar was adopted by the Australian couple who later settled in the USA. The family eventually shifted their base to Australia, where Lisa was introduced to the game by her father.
She joined the local club in Sydney and later had an opportunity to play for the senior New South Wales squad, where she played and honed her batting skills under the captaincy of Belinda Clarke.
For Australia, Lisa had an outrageous start to her career as she became the first woman in the history of the game to complete a double of 1000 ODI runs and 100 wickets during the tour of England in 2009.
A right-handed batsman and an adept off-spinner, Lisa is arguably one of the greatest all-rounders of the generation and has been a part of four World Cup-winning teams.
The Australian cricketing fraternity was elated with Lisa’s inclusion in the elite league as they flocked to social media to convey their greetings.
Cricket Australia (CA), the apex cricketing board joined the chorus and congratulated the former all-rounder for this honour.
“An outstanding contributor to cricket, on field and off! Congratulations to Lisa Sthalekar for being inducted into the @ICC Hall of Fame!” wrote CA on its official Twitter handle.
An outstanding contributor to cricket, on field and off! Congratulations to Lisa Sthalekar for being inducted into the @ICC Hall of Fame! 👏 pic.twitter.com/9ARfK53qmW
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) August 23, 2020
‘Your contributions both on and off the field is remarkable’: Alyssa Healy
Alyssa Healy too expressed her admiration and said that the impact Lisa had left on women’s cricket can never be quantified.
“It’s no surprise to anybody involved in the game that this is finally happening,” Healy said as quoted by CA.
“Your contributions both on and off the field so far in your life are pretty remarkable and it’s something that’s thoroughly well-deserved,” she added.
“The impact you had as a player is there for everyone to see in your stats but more importantly the impact you’ve had on women’s cricket as a whole, both when you were playing and when you finished your career is pretty special and should be celebrated,” Healy concluded.
