Hall of Fame great for indoor cricket: Waugh

Mark Waugh says Cricket Australia's (CA) indoor initiatives are a great way to grow the sport beyond the 180,000 current participants.

CA will announce the inaugural Indoor Cricket Hall of Fame members on Saturday at the conclusion of the Australian Indoor Open Championships in Melbourne.

Waugh, a former state Indoor player for New South Wales in the 1980s, said it would be a chance to recognise some of the players who have made sizable impressions on the sport.

"It'll help the sport grow and you've got your iconic players which will bring some more attention to a great sport," Waugh said.

Some figures that may be considered include Ross Gregory, a six-time World Cup winning coach and High Performance Coach of Indoor Cricket and Jude Coleman, captain of the Australian Women's team since 2005 and a six-time World Cup winning player, also claiming the Monika Brogan Medal a record five times for the best performed female.

Waugh had vivid memories of his Indoor Cricket career which spanned more than five years playing alongside his twin brother Steve and against state players such as Bruce Reid.

"I got to play in state and Australian championships and got to travel to a few interstate trips to Perth and Melbourne, it was different skills to outdoor cricket but the skills were transferred to outdoor, the fielding, the bowling, the batting.

"I just remember how competitive it was, it was really good fun…you've got to be mentally strong to play Indoor Cricket."

Waugh said the game complemented and enhanced his outdoor cricket, a sentiment shared by current Australian players Steve Smith, Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell.

"Indoor can make you an even better outdoor player, you're fielding close to the batsman and your reflexes have to be good as well as your hand-eye coordination and you have no margin for error with run-outs too," Waugh said.

"Whilst the tactics are different, your basic skills can be used across both indoor and outdoor cricket."

The World Indoor Cricket Federation, the governing body of the sport, have recently opened discussions about entering the sport into the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban.