One-day international pioneer Michael Bevan inducted in Australian Cricket Hall of Fame

Two-time World Cup winning star Michael Bevan has become the latest inductee in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, and the first beneficiary of a recent change in criteria.

One-day genius Michael Bevan has used his induction into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame to pay tribute to another pioneer who was given an even greater honour.

At the start of this season, Cricket Australia ran a competition to re-name the domestic one-day cup, and it came down to a two-horse race between the “finisher” Bevan and Mr ‘One Day Magic’ Dean Jones.

The honour was ultimately bestowed on the late Jones, who died back in 2020, but Bevan’s own wizardry as an ODI icon has now been recognised in the form of his entry into a hall of fame which until now has focused largely on achievements in Test cricket.

Under updated criteria mandated for this year, the ACHOF committee will now take feats in international white ball formats into greater consideration when assessing the impact a player has made to the game overall – and few have shaped the modern game more than Bevan did with his trademark middle-order batting in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Bevan admits to an unfulfilled Test career, but his hall of fame recognition honours the fact he nonetheless had a profound and lasting impact on international cricket by helping revolutionise the one-day format.

Michael Bevan rewrote the game in ODI cricket.

The 54-year-old batting match-winner said he was humbled by the induction, and further showed his class by paying tribute to his former opponent Jones as deserving to have his name adorn the trophy for domestic one-day cricket.

“It was pretty surprising (to get the call). I was on holiday in the US and I thought it might be about the one-day competition naming, and then it ended up being the Hall of Fame,” Bevan said.

“It’s pretty amazing really, but unexpected. I’m definitely proud. It’s still sinking in and I’m still processing and absorbing how I feel about it. The magnitude of it as a cricketer is pretty compelling and it’s not something I thought would happen. To be recognised in this way is humbling and I’m proud to be recognised for the role that I played in Australian cricket in my era and I suppose at that time forging a specialty role in an era where it didn’t happen all that often.

“I came across Deano playing against him a number of times and watching him play as a youngster with great admiration. I particularly admired his innovative approach to the one-day game.

“And I actually did work with him for a time there as a coach.

“I was excited to have my name in the mix there (for the one-day cup) but it was great that it was named after Deano. I suppose we did similar things in different roles but it was worthy for him to be the player that competition is named after. He wholeheartedly deserves it.”

Michael Bevan paid tribute to Dean Jones. Picture: Getty Images

Bevan follows in Michael Clarke and Christina Matthews to be the 66th inductee into the ACHOF and the first under the new criteria which also opens up a new general category for people to be inducted into the hall of fame for exceptional off-field contributions to the game.

There is now also the option for the ACHOF committee to elevate inducted players to Legend status in the future.

Bevan only played 18 Tests, which was extraordinary given his stunning first-class record of 68 hundreds at an average of 57.

But in the one-day format he left a mark that will never be forgotten, and his prolific run-scoring under pressure meant he spent 1259 consecutive days between 1999-2002 ranked the world’s No. 1 batsman.

Bevan played 232 ODIs and scored 6912 runs at an average of 53.58 – including six centuries and 48 half centuries.

Michael Bevan was central to Australia’s golden era in white ball cricket.

He won consecutive World Cups with Australia in 1999 and 2003 and will always be remembered for his unbeaten 78 at the SCG on New Year’s Day in 1996, when he rescued Australia from a near-impossible position against the West Indies and hit Roger Harper for four from the final delivery to send the crowd into delirium.

On another occasion in 2002 at the MCG, Bevan rescued Australia from 6-82 to engineer a successful chase of 246, scoring an unbeaten 102 off 95 balls.

Bevan – who retired in 2007 but would have excelled as a T20 cricketer had he bridged the next era of the game – said he most admires Travis Head from the current crop of players for his ability to have conquered all three formats.

“I look back at my career and even though everything probably didn’t go the way I planned at times, I’m pretty content with what I achieved and it was extremely fulfilling,” Bevan said.

“I love watching Marnus and his approach and his mental strength. Steve Smith because he transcends the game, Maxy (Glenn Maxwell) because he does things that no one else does, but probably my favourite player would be Travis Head. He’s made the transition into all formats and he’s had to work extremely hard at his game in making that transition and that’s not easy to do.”

Originally published as One-day international pioneer Michael Bevan inducted in Australian Cricket Hall of Fame