Legendary Australian fast bowler Merv Hughes inducted in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame

Legendary Australian fast bowler Merv Hughes has had his name further etched in the game’s history

Merv Hughes and his moustache are now in the Hall of Fame

Merv Hughes was the ultimate team man during his stellar 53-Test career.

So the cricket icon was “blown away” when told his individual success had earned him a spot alongside the game’s best in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

The Australian and Victorian fast bowler became the 56th inductee on Tuesday after a career that spanned 53 Tests and 33 One Day Internationals for Australia, a career that firmly entrenched Hughes, and his moustache, in sporting folklore.

“To come in alongside some of the names that are in there is overwhelming and I‘m a little bit emotional,” Hughes said on Tuesday at his beloved MCG, where he engaged the crowd in Bay 13 like no player before or since.

“Now 26 years after I finished playing, to still be recognised, it has blown me away. It’s very humbling.”

Fast, fearsome and lion-hearted, Hughes took 212 Test wickets, including a famous hat-trick against the West Indies in Perth, which was spread across three separate overs, two innings and two different days, and went on to take 8/87 for the match.

“I didn‘t realise I was on a hat-trick,” Hughes said.

“To go out and get a wicket, Gordon Greenidge, first ball is a huge feather in your cap.

“I was a little bit excited about that, pumped up about the situation of the game and didn‘t find out for a couple of overs that I’d taken a hat-trick.”

Renowned for his fierce competitiveness, Hughes became a go-to bowler for former Test captain Allan Border when he needed something special and when bowling was at its toughest.

A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1994, Hughes also represented Victoria, Essex, and the ACT over a first-class career spanning 14 seasons.

Hughes’ handlebar moustache became as iconic as the man himself, along with his angled run-up and pumping arms that were replicated in backyards and on ovals around Australia during the late 1980s and early 1990s when Hughes was at his peak.

The spirit of Merv Hughes lives on with Michael Gravenall, Jack Vernon, Tayls and Lozza.

The affection for Hughes around Australia was on show when fielding at fine-leg in front of the fans who would imitate his warm-up stretches en masse in the then Bay 13 at the MCG.

“There‘s something about the guys that came in Bay 13; they were probably about my demographic, I reckon,” said Hughes, who was presented with his Hall of Fame trophy at the MCG in front of Bay 13.

“I felt very comfortable down here.”

Congratulations @MervHughes332 a thoroughly deserved award for a champion cricketer and better bloke! #mervhughes #cricket #criczilla https://t.co/LxtIpLtDpe

— Damien Martyn🏏 (@damienmartyn) February 1, 2021

Hughes, now 58, ranked the 1989 Ashes Tour, when he was part of a squad infamously labelled the “worst ever to tour England” before winning the series 4-0, a feat repeated in 1993 when the fast bowler took 31 wickets, as one of his career highlights.

“Within the team we felt that we’d been building towards something,” Hughes said of the 1989 team, led by his greatest cricketing supporter in Border.

“We went through a tough time and in ’89 things just clicked together.

“To go back in 1993 as one of the senior players … you understand your responsibility.”

The selection philosophy for the Hall of Fame focuses on the players’ status as sporting legends in addition to their outstanding statistical records.

Hughes, who also served as a national selector, ticked both those boxes.

“Merv Hughes was an icon of the Australian summer for so many of us, a larger-than-life personality, a wonderful international cricketer, an ambassador for the sport and a deserved inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame,” Peter King, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame chairman, said.

“A lion-hearted competitor, Merv boasts a proud career for Victoria and Australia in the Test and One Day International arenas, paving the way for an incredible era of Australian cricketing dominance.

“Even as synonymous as his on-field record, Merv will be forever remembered as a fan favourite and his iconic warm-ups close to the boundary, especially at the MCG, that prompted bays of spectators to join in with him at stadiums all over the country.

“He has left his legacy on the sport in post-career mentorship with modern-day teams, administrations roles as a national selector and the heartbeat of Australian cricket. The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is delighted to recognise Merv Hughes.”

Merv Hughes bowling

One of the most recognisable characters in world cricket, Merv Hughes has become the latest inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. Congratulations Merv!

Read more: https://t.co/FeFDC92VsQ

Image: S&G/PA Images via Getty Images pic.twitter.com/PzfnaACsAf

— Melbourne Cricket Club (@MCC_Members) February 1, 2021