Mahela Jayawardene & two other cricketers inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
Mahela Jayawardene, Janette Brittin and Shaun Pollock have been announced as the newest inductees into the prestigious ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
These legends will be formally inducted by fellow ICC Hall of Famer, Sir Clive Lloyd at the much-anticipated final between New Zealand and Australia on Sunday before the game gets underway at the Dubai International Stadium.
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history. 106 players have been inducted since its launch in 2009, with Brittin, Jayawardena and Pollock as the latest inductees celebrated. The new inductees played in 284 Tests, 814 ODIs and 67 T20Is between them. Janet Brittin was a mainstay of the England Test team for 19 years, helping to pave the way for women's cricket between 1979 and 1998. Mahela Jayawardene retired as one of Sri Lanka's greatest ever players, a key member of the team that won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2014 and reached four other major ICC finals.
Whilst South Africa's Shaun Pollock was one of the finest bowling all-rounders the game has ever seen and was the first player to achieve the 3,000 run and 300 wicket doubles in both Test and ODI cricket.
Mahela Jayawardene commented: "I am thrilled to have been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. It's a very special honour to follow in the footsteps of legends Sanga and Murali from Sri Lanka and so many other great cricketers of the past."
"I am very grateful for the recognition and would like to enjoy and share the moment with all those that have helped me on my journey, including my family, friends, coaches, team-mates and, most importantly, Sri Lanka cricket fans who passionately supported and inspired me during my career," he added .., A total of 106 deaths have been reported due to natural disasters so far this year while the death toll due to natural disasters stood at 62 last year, National Security and Disaster Management State Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said today. He told Parliament that some 23,119 houses have been damaged so far this year and the total houses that were damaged last year were 29,584. In his reply speech on the adjournment debate moved by Rajika Wickramasinghe on the natural disasters, the Minister said a total of 1,895 individuals from 546 families at ten Divisional Secretariats in the Kegalle District were displaced due to inclement weather during the last two weeks. He said six deaths were reported in the Kegalle District while some 104 individuals were sheltered in four centers. He said eight houses were fully damaged and 278 houses were partially damaged in the Kegalle district. "Steps were taken to provide immediate relief to all those affected.People will be provided with an initial payment of Rs. 10,000 for house damages.The required funds have been sent to District Secretariats by now. We have released a payment of Rs. 250,000 for the families of the dead," he said.