ICC honours SA icons Smith, Amla as Proteas eye World Test Championship glory
Two of South Africa's best have been recognised as Hall of Fame members following incredible careers.
Against the backdrop of South Africa's World Test Championship (WTC) final bid at Lord's against Australia, two icons of South Africa's cricket team from a previous era were recognised as icons of the game.
Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla were inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame on Monday night at Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded most of their discography.
It was a sweet tune sung by master of ceremony Ian Bishop, waxing lyrical about the seven inductees who apart from Smith and Amla included legends Matthew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Daniel Vettori, Sana Mir and Sarah Taylor.
Abbey Road Studios is a 15-minute walk from Lord's Cricket Ground, a walk that includes the famous Abbey Road crossing where the picture of the Beatles' acclaimed 1969 album was taken.
While the area is rich in music history in St John's Wood, South Africa's cricketing record in the area is fine, too.
Lord's is where Smith, with Amla as his anchor, claimed the Test mace in 2012 against England. Amla scored a second-innings century to help South Africa to a 51-run victory and 2-0 series win over the old foes.
Now, 13 years later, they have been recognised as two of the finest cricketers to have played the game, and will be in attendance at Lord's hoping to see their compatriots hold the Test mace up once again.
'Honoured'
Amla's record in one-day international cricket is as exemplary as his Test record, with 8,113 runs in the 50-over format in only 181 matches — the third most runs for South Africa in the format.
'It's unbelievable really,' Amla said after being inducted. 'Knowing all the great cricketers that have been included in the hall of fame, it's pretty unreal.
'I don't think you ever see yourself as someone worthy of being included among these guys. I'm really honoured.'
In Test cricket, Amla was equally dominant, scoring 9,282 runs in 124 matches at an average of 46.64.
While Smith was exceptional as an opening batter, having scored 9,265 runs in 117 matches, his ability as a captain is what has made him widely revered.
Smith led the country in 109 Tests and won 53 of them. The broad-chested Smith admitted to knowing about his induction into the highest honours of the game for a few weeks prior to the day.
'I've known for like two months now,' the former skipper said. 'It's been quite a weird, surreal feeling.
'I'm immensely proud, I got a bit croaky on stage when you look back at some of the things and think about it. You give a lot and you share a lot with a lot of amazing people along the way.'
Smith and Amla's careers overlapped, and they spent a large part of their time on the cricket field playing either with or against each other.
'We played about 70 Tests together,' Smith said. 'Hash and I are the same age, we played against each other at school.
'There are lots of great memories, lots of great partnerships.'
Smith and Amla join Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers from that 2012 side to have joined the ICC Hall of Fame, a side that is widely regarded as the country's best ever.
The current crop of Proteas will be hoping to emulate the performances of that side in their quest for Test match glory at Lord's. DM
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