NSW Champions of Sport - Michael Clarke

Join us as we celebrate the past winners of the NSW Sports Awards spanning over 20 years of sporting excellence and achievement – as we countdown to the inaugural NSW Champions of Sport, where, for the first time, the induction of new entrants into the NSW Hall of Champions will be combined with the NSW Sports Awards in one gala ceremony. 

In the lead up to the event, we will look back to our past crowned NSW Athlete of the Year and NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability winners as they share their great joys and triumphs as well as life post their ‘dream year’ with successes both on and off the field.

Sport: Cricket
NSW Athlete of the Year: 2012

Since announcing himself on the international cricket stage with a century on his Test debut in October 2004 in India, Michael Clarke became one of the most successful cricket players of the modern era.

Emerging during a golden era of Australian cricket Clarke scored 141 against New Zealand in November 2004 on his debut on home-soil at The Gabba in Brisbane, making him the only Australian to score a century on both home and away Test debuts.

In 2011 Clarke took over from Ricky Ponting as Test captain of Australia and took his performances to another level.  2012 became a year like few other as Clarke was named the NSW Athlete of the Year as well as captain of the International Cricket Council’s 2012 Test Team of the Year, while also winning the third of his four Allan Border Medals as the Australian Cricketer of the Year.

In the Sydney Test match vs India in January 2012 Clarke scored 329 not out, the first ever Test Match triple century scored at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). It remains the highest Test score at the SCG and the fourth highest score of all time by an Australian.

At One-Day international level Clarke led Australia to their fifth Cricket World Cup triumph, when his team defeated New Zealand in the final of the ICC World Cup in 2015. After announcing he would retire from One Day cricket at the end of the World Cup, Clarke starred in the final against New Zealand top scoring with a score of 74 off 72 balls, as Australia won their fifth World Cup title in front of 93,013 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Since his retirement following the 2015 Ashes series Clarke has worked as a commentator for Channel Nine’s World Wide of Sports, whilst also promoting and guiding youth cricket programs at a grass root level.

Fittingly, the inaugural NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony on Monday 27 November will see another honour bestowed on Michael Clarke as he is inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions to sit alongside the greats of in the history of NSW sport.

The cream of NSW Sports stars from both past and present will be celebrated at the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony to be held at Rosehill Gardens on Monday 27 November 2017.

For more information on the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony and to secure your seat visit: www.sportnsw.com.au/2017ChampionsofSport