Highlights
- Lisa Sthalekar inducted into ICC Hall of Fame in August 2020
- A key member of the Australian Cricket Team who won four cricket World Cups
- Recognised as Australia’s best women’s international cricketer in 2007 and 2008
Sthalekar, the former Australian Women’s Cricket team captain has become the 27th Australian and fifth Australian woman to be awarded this honour.
She says she couldn’t believe she was being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame so soon after her retirement.
“I actually got an email from ICC CEO and it basically said that I would be inducted in 2020. [A] Little bit of disbelief to be honest. I felt like I’d only I had just retired from the game and I felt like there were plenty other wonderful cricketers that should be inducted,” Sthalekar told SBS Hindi.
“I can't believe I am part of the elite group of players now,” she said.
Sthalekar played an important role in the Australian team winning four World Cups.
As an all-rounder, she scored 3,913 runs, claimed 229 wickets in her international career that included 125 ODIs, 54 T20s and eight Tests for Australia.
She was recognised as Australia’s best women’s international cricketer in 2007 and 2008, winning the coveted Belinda Clark Medal.
It all began in the backyard of her Sydney home, where the family finally moved after living a few years in the United States and Kenya.
Lisa Sthalekar of Australia poses with the trophy on February 18, 2013 in Mumbai, India. Australia won against the West Indies of the ICC Women's World Cup. Source: Graham Crouch/ICC via Getty Images
“My father had always loved cricket, a very passionate follower of the game. We just started to play in the backyard,” Sthalekar told SBS Hindi.
It was during watching a game at the Sydney Cricket Ground that Lisa first told her father, she would like to play cricket too.
“He took me to the SCG when I was a young girl. I loved the atmosphere of that and watching international cricket.
“I enquired and said to my dad that I would like to play weekend cricket and he said boys play it. And I said, ‘oh, are they?’ I hadn’t even noticed.
“So he went down to the local club and inquired and they said, ‘look, she will be the only girl within the team and the whole competition and the whole competition. So if she is comfortable with that then she is more than welcome,” she said.
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Sthalker made her debut for the New South Wales against Queensland in 1997-98 and was selected for the Australian Cricket Team in 2001 where she made her ODI debut against England.
She became one of the most accomplished female cricketers in the World before she retired from cricket after the 2013 ICC World Cup.
To all aspiring cricketers, Sthalekar says, anything is possible if you believe hard enough.
“If you are passionate about what you want to do and believe in it, it is certainly possible. What this life has taught me so far is that anything is possible if you believe hard enough.” 
After her retirement, Sthalekar has become one of the leading female cricket commentators and is regularly seen covering Tests, ODIs, as well as the IPL and BBL.
Source: Supplied
