Australian and Queensland cricket legend Allan Border was last night elevated to the Board of Queensland Cricket, filling the void left by the sudden death last month of Peter Burge.

The former Test captain was elected as the replacement for Burge at last night's ordinary meeting of the members at Queensland Cricket Headquarters at Albion.

Speaking last night, Border, 46, said he was delighted to be able to extend his contribution to cricket to a new level.

"Cricket has been very good to me and I am looking forward to continuing to be a part of the game here in Queensland," he said.

Queensland Cricket President John McKnoulty and Board Chairman Damien Mullins warmly welcomed Border's election to the Board.

Mr Mullins said that as was the case with Burge, Border brought a wealth of cricket experience to the Board.

Border's achievements in the sport include the following:

• He played 156 Tests for Australia, the world record for the most Tests.
• He scored 11,174 Test runs, also a world record, and has a Test average of 50.56.
• Captained Australia in 93 Test matches, winning 32 of them, and 178 one day internationals, winning 107 of those.
• Played 385 first class matches, scoring 27,131 runs at an average of 51.38, between 1976-77 and 1995-96.
• Was a member of the first Queensland team to win the Sheffield Shield in 1994-95.
• Captained Queensland on 41 occasions.
• Has been a National selector for the past three seasons.
• He coached Australia to India and Sharjah in 1997-98 and has coached Australia 'A' and the Australian Youth team.
• He is Australia's representative on the influential ICC Cricket Committee - Playing, and has been an ICC Ambassador to developing regions, including visits to Papua New Guinea, South Korea and the Pacific Islands.
• He is club patron of Brisbane XXXX Grade club Valley.

Border will be in Perth this week for the Third Orange Test between Australia and New Zealand as part of his duties with the Australian selection panel.

© 2001 Queensland Cricket