John 'Cocky' Chambers, who made a name as a dashing left-hand bat for Victoria and the then-Hawthorn Cricket Club in the 1950s and '60s, will be inducted with former Test players, the late Frank Laver and Peter McAlister.

Chambers compiled a mountainous 5975 runs in 174 innings for Hawthorn, with a top score of 209 not out against Richmond.

He held a long-standing club record of 740 runs in a Premier Cricket season, until it was obliterated by current skipper Simon Dart's stellar 1098-runfest in 2004-05.

He also created a Premier Cricket record for scoring consecutive tons in his last four innings of the 1959-60 season.

Club president Glenn Jones said Chambers was one of Victoria's classiest bats who scored three centuries for the Vics and was a state selector from 1981-87.

Last week, Chambers, 77, said he played in a great era for the Hawks under captain Allan Dick. Chambers himself held the captaincy between 1958 and 1962.

"The thing about Hawthorn was we had such great players like Allan Dick, [Leonard Roy] Woolf and Dave Kerr. It was such a strong club."

He reckons cricketers don't enjoy the game as much as his peers did.

"The game is definitely changed. Now the players are more interested in sponsors and the like. We just used to play the game and enjoy it. There is no doubt in my mind the only facet of the game that's improved greatly is fielding ... As far as batting and bowling goes, there's been no change." However, he said the change from eight to six-ball overs was profound, giving batsmen less opportunity to score from loose deliveries.

These days, Chambers concentrates on playing lawn bowls for Keysborough. He is looking forward to catching up with his old mates at the Hawks' hall of fame dinner on February 16.