South Africa's Jacques Kallis, Australia's Lisa Sthalekar and Pakistan's Zaheer Abbas have joined the most revered names in cricket history, now part of the Hall of Fame that has existed since 2009.

Previously, a Hall of Fame organised by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations had ran from 1999 to 2003 before its 55 inductees were made part of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Kallis is the fourth South African to be inducted and his highlights include being the only player to score at least 10,000 runs and take at least 250 wickets in both Test and One-Day International (ODI) cricket.

He was the most capped South African player in both Test and ODI cricket and is South Africa’s leading Test run-scorer, and currently third on the all-time list.

Kallis also spent 4,028 days as the number one ranked Test all-rounder from 2000 to 2013 and a record 493 matches ranked as number one.

"I certainly did not play the game for any accolades or anything like that, I only wanted to win the games for whoever I was playing for," said Kallis.

"But it is nice to be recognised when one has succeeded in the sport, it is nice to be recognised by people for something that you have achieved in the game, something that I am really proud of."

Sthalekar is the sole woman to be inducted this year after a career where she became the first woman to achieve the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODI cricket.

She was part of the Australia teams that won the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2005 and 2013 and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2010 and 2012 and won 12 Women’s National Cricket League titles with New South Wales, captaining the side for five victories in a row.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I would ever get to join such an illustrious group of players," said Sthalekar.

"I was fortunate enough to learn from the best when I entered the Australia team – Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton and Cathryn Fitzpatrick, all of whom have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and rightly so. 

"The guidance from them and other teammates along the way kept me focused but also ensured that it was a fun environment."

Abbas goes into the Hall of Fame as the only player from Asia to have scored at least 100 first-class hundreds and became just the second player to score his hundredth first-class century in a Test match.

He was also the first player to score three successive centuries in ODI cricket and captained Pakistan in 14 Test matches, only losing one of them.

Abbas later served as an ICC match referee and as ICC President.

"I feel privileged and truly humbled to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame of the class of 2020," said Abbas.

"I am excited to be in the midst of other illustrious cricketers.

"I would like to say a special thanks to my family, my country Pakistan, my county Gloucestershire and many fans worldwide who helped me achieve and fulfil my dreams by playing this great game at the highest level."