Allan Border Medal night will be dominated by Shane Watson

Whiteline, Here is the information you needed. It is taken from an e-mail from Cricket Australia: The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was first proposed by the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) in 1995. With the support of Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria, the Hall of Fame was officially opened by the then Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable John Howard MP in 1996. Ten players were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996, and a further 24 have been welcomed since. The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame comprises the following players: Inducted 1996 - Fred Spofforth, John Blackham, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett, Bill Ponsford, Sir Donald Bradman, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Dennis Lillee Inducted 2000 - Warwick Armstrong, Neil Harvey and Allan Border Inducted 2001 - Bill Woodfull and Arthur Morris Inducted 2002 - Stan McCabe and Greg Chappell Inducted 2003 - Lindsay Hassett and Ian Chappell Inducted 2004 - Hugh Trumble and Alan Davidson Inducted 2005 - Clement Hill and Rod Marsh Inducted 2006 - Monty Noble and Bob Simpson Inducted 2007 - Charles Macartney and Richie Benaud Inducted 2008 - George Giffen and Ian Healy Inducted 2009 - Stephen Waugh Inducted 2010 - William Lawry and Graham McKenzie Inducted 2011- Mark Taylor and Doug Walters Selection philosophy for the Hall of Fame focuses on the players’ status as sporting legends in addition to their outstanding statistical records. All inductees must have been retired from international cricket for a minimum of five years to be eligible for selection. The selection panel comprises former South Australian batsman and MCC Vice-President Bob Lloyd (chairman), former Test captains Bill Lawry and Richie Benaud, Australian Cricketers’ Association Chief Executive Paul Marsh, Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland, MCC assistant to CEO Peter French (secretary), and media representatives Tim Lane, Gideon Haigh and Mike Coward. Selection Panel Chairman Bob Lloyd said: “This year's inductees are two Australian cricketing icons who both originated from country New South Wales and who in their own distinctive way, have had an enormous impact on Australian cricket."

Chaos, Your theory that all-rounders get an advantage in winning the Allan Border Medal is wrong. The previous winners, except Watson last year and perhaps Steve Waugh in 2001, were either batsmen or bowlers. Here is the list: THE ALLAN BORDER MEDALIST FOR 2011 Previous winners: 2000 Glenn McGrath, 2001 Steve Waugh, 2002 Matthew Hayden, 2003 Adam Gilchrist, 2004, 2006 and 2007 Ricky Ponting, 2005 Michael Clarke, 2008 Brett Lee, 2009 Ricky Ponting & Michael Clarke (joint) and 2010 Shane Watson.

Roarers, Advance but reliable info.: Usman Khawaja will be named State Player of the Year at the Allan Border Night. Shelly Nitschke will be named Women's International Player of the Year. NSW paceman Trent Copeland, 24, will receive the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year. You heard it first on The Roar!

You mean 12th person, Sports writer! Thanks for your support. Vinay, In December 2009 Watson had unsportingly given Gayle a lamentable send off. For this he was duly punished. Since then his behaviour has been exemplary. Everyone makes a mistake or two. Serena's tantrum with a ball girl last year was much worse.

I always enjoy your humour, Vinay. But I would like to take your joke further. Why not have a quality woman cricketer act as a 12th man -- correction, substitute fielder -- in an ODI ? Like the 18 year-old boy Luke who fielded for Australia last night. Nischke or Poulton or Healy or Perry or Sthalekar will only improve Australia's image overseas. I am waiting for a day when a woman plays in a man's Test. On merit, not as a tokenism. Why not have a mixed (men and women) international competition? Just as an experiment. Replace the boring Big Bash with a sizzling Mixed Mash. Howzatt? We have mixed doubles in tennis, table tennis etc. Why not in cricket?