Belinda Clark

Clark made her international cricket debut on 17 January 1991 in an ODI against New Zealand at Bellerive Oval, opening the batting and scoring 36 in Australia's eight-wicket victory.[9] Less than two weeks later, she scored a century on Test debut against India at North Sydney Oval, though her whirlwind emergence could not help her team muster more than a draw.[10]

Following Australia's uncharacteristically poor World Cup performance in 1993, a slew of changes were made to the team, including the axing of several senior players and the elevation of Clark to the role of captain. When exiled batter Denise Annetts publicly claimed she had been dropped from the national team on the basis of her heterosexuality and marital status,[11][12] a furious Clark responded via the media, stating she'd like to "slap her around".[13]

With the addition of coach John Harmer, several young talents, and a revitalised style of attacking play, Clark's team embarked on what would be a golden period of success, notably coming to fruition in early-1997. Having scored 131 from just 97 balls in a thumping 374-run ODI win against Pakistan on 7 February,[14] she carried on with her own impressive individual form against more formidable opposition a week later during an away Rose Bowl series. In the second ODI of the tour, Clark delivered an innings of 142 in an 89-run defeat of New Zealand at Eden Park, while the next highest score by a teammate was just 28—a performance she cites as her best.[7][15]

Clark helped kickstart Australia's 1997 World Cup campaign with an innings of 93 not out, and an unbeaten 167-run partnership with Joanne Broadbent, to defeat South Africa by ten wickets at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.[16] In her next innings, she made 229 not out against rank underdog Denmark at Middle Income Group Ground—the first time a player would record a double century in ODI cricket.[17][18] In the final at Eden Gardens against New Zealand, Clark top-scored for her team with 52 runs in a successful low-target chase to clinch the championship for Australia.[19] She compiled a total of 970 runs in 1997 which remains a Women's ODI record for the most runs in a single calendar year.[20]

During the third Test of Australia's 1998 tour of England, Clark recorded her second century in international red ball cricket, scoring a career-best 136 and putting on a 174-run partnership with Karen Rolton. On the fourth day of play, she claimed her only career Test wicket, dismissing Barbara Daniels for 38. Like the two previous results in the series, the match ended in a draw.[21]

Although a then record 17-consecutive ODI victories would come to an end with two-straight losses against New Zealand in February 1999, Clark's team quickly rebounded to begin a 16-match ODI winning streak.[22][23] This new unbeaten string of games included a comprehensive 220-run defeat of England on 3 February 2000 in Newcastle, ignited by the captain's unbeaten innings of 146 in her hometown.[24]

Clark led Australia through the group stage of the 2000 Cricket World Cup and put on a 170-run partnership with Lisa Keightley in the semi-final to defeat South Africa by nine wickets at Bert Sutcliffe Oval.[25] In the final against host nation New Zealand, she earned Player of the Match honours with an innings of 91, but it was not enough to secure victory as Australia posted a total of 180 to fall five runs short of victory.[26]

Despite her own indifferent form with the bat in mid-2001, Clark captained Australia to victory in the Women's Ashes, defeating England 2–0 in the two-Test series.[27] She displayed her typically dominant form over the last four matches of the quadrangular 2002–03 World Series of Women's Cricket, managing three half-centuries and a score of 49, culminating in an innings of 80 against New Zealand in the final which Australia comfortably won by 109 runs.[28][29] A week later, in the first Test of the 2002–03 Women's Ashes at the Gabba, Clark scored a match-high 47 in the fourth innings to steer her team to a trophy-retaining five-wicket victory, capping off a see-sawing contest wherein Australia recovered from being bowled out for 78 on the second day of play.[30]

Clark's most significant innings of the 2005 World Cup took place against England in the semi-final at Sedgars Park, top-scoring with a defiant 62 as her team went on to win by five wickets.[31] Although she would make just 19 in the final, Australia convincingly defeated India by 98 runs to win their second world championship under her tenure as captain.[32]

After making a pair in the first Test of the 2005 Women's Ashes, Clark managed scores of 18 and 2 in the second match of the series, which Australia lost 2–0.[33][34] It would be her last Test appearance, finishing her 15-match career with a total of 919 runs at an average of 45.95. She then made her 118th and last ODI appearance on 1 September, scoring 36—equalling her debut performance—in a four-run win.[35] However, her final international cricket appearance did not occur until the following day when Australia and England played in the second official Women's Twenty20 International. She scored four runs and took one catch in the seven-wicket win.[36] Clark announced her retirement from all forms of cricket on 16 September 2005.[5]

While in the midst of her playing career, Clark took on the role of Chief Executive Officer for Women's Cricket Australia (WCA) in September 2000.[49] Following the merger of WCA and Cricket Australia (CA), she performed a number of managerial roles within CA for nearly 20 years. After her retirement from playing the game in September 2005, Clark took on a new position as manager of the Australian Cricket Academy in Brisbane until June 2017.[5] In 2018, she moved on to the role of Executive General Manager of Community Cricket for two-and-a-half years before stepping down in September 2020.[56]

In addition to her roles for Australian cricket, Clark sought to make worldwide contributions to the game, which included serving as a member of the International Cricket Council's Women's Committee for over a decade.[5] She was also appointed Director of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 Local Organising Committee.[57]