Mumbai: Former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist and former captain and selector Jack Ryder will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal Night on Tuesday.
The individuals will be rewarded for their achievements on and off the field for the nation. Both of them will be the 40th (Ryder) and 41st (Gilchrist) inductees.
"Adam Gilchrist and Jack Ryder made enormous contributions to Australian cricket in different ways," Hall of Fame chairman David Crow said.
"Gilly’ epitomised the cricketer we all loved to go and watch. He lightened up the game. We all wanted to go to see Gilly because he was such a high quality entertainer.
"He was able to combine his explosive batting with brilliant wicketkeeping."
Gilchrist played 96 Tests for Australia scoring 5,570 runs at an average of 47.60. More than 17 hundreds in his career, what is more remarkable is his strike rate – 81.95.
The wicketkeeper-batsman also holds the record for the most dismissals by an Australian, 416 in 191 innings (379 catches, 37 stumpings).
"It’s a tremendous honour," Gilchrist said of the induction. "I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to join such illustrious company, childhood heroes and icons of the game from previous eras which you grow up hearing about."
No one sets out to earn these accolades. You play the game because you love it, so acknowledgements like this go beyond the thrill of playing for Australia."
The first Test captain of Donald Bradman, Ryder played 20 Test for Australia. He scored 1394 runs at an average of 51.62. Ryder, also a medium pace bowler, has 17 wickets too.
