70: David Lawrence
The term ‘whole-hearted cricketer’ could have been invented specifically for David Lawrence. Gloucester born and bred, his pace got him noticed in the late Eighties when England were constantly marmalised by the West Indies. Like Devon Malcolm he wasn’t always the most accurate but he made his debut in a one-off Test against Sri Lanka in ’88. I saw him play exactly three years later against the same opponents at Lord’s but his next Test v NZ in Wellington that winter ended in agony when he fractured a kneecap, effectively ending a promising and popular career.
69: Jack Russell
RC ‘Jack’ Russell was one of England’s greatest eccentrics. He was also probably the best wicketkeeper since Alan Knott and Bob Taylor but was restricted to only 54 Tests in the ‘80s and ‘90s by Alec Stewart’s superior batting. A Gloucestershire stalwart for 24 seasons, he accumulated around 1,900 dismissals and ground out plenty of vital lower-order runs. An accomplished artist, he is best remembered by me for his battered white sun-hat and 'non-standard' black gloves which somehow survived his whole career.
68: Courtney Walsh
Another veteran of Gloucestershire, the lanky Jamaican not only became the first bowler to reach 500 Test wickets but he also had the fitness required to take more than 1,800 in all first-class cricket. I saw him play against Essex in 1984 before his first Test call-up then again in his final Lord’s appearance in 2000, earning a standing ovation as he strode out with bat in hand. He won more applause when this bunniest of rabbits actually scored a single! Always a good sport, Walsh also memorably collapsed with laughter at the MCG when facing the blue-haired Aussie spinner Colin Miller!
67: Rahul Dravid
In the modern era, Rahul Dravid was an anachronism. ‘The Wall’ rarely whacked it around nor had crowds on their feet screaming his name, yet he was as much part of India’s golden period as Tendulkar, Dhoni or Kohli. Nobody in Test match history has faced more deliveries nor spent more time at the crease and only three have made more runs. I finally managed to see him in tandem with Sachin, albeit briefly, in a friendly at Taunton nine years ago, when he scored 17 and faced 20-odd ‘dots. A master craftsman of innings building, he knew when to defend and when to strike: one of the last of a dying breed.
66: Mark Ramprakash
Like Graeme Hick, ‘Ramps’ never quite succeeded in consistently converting prolific county form into stellar performances for England. His Test average was a mediocre 27, barely half of his career first-class number. After England eventually gave up on him in 2002, ironically he became peerless in the county game. Having swapped Middlesex for Surrey, in 2006 he averaged over 100 in the Championship and went on to break the barrier of 100 first-class centuries, probably the last man to achieve the feat. A delight to watch when in form, both with the bat and fielding at cover.
65: Glenn Turner
The New Zealander was not the prettiest strokemaker but during the Seventies was consistently one of the finest opening batsman in the county game. Playing for one of the weaker Test nations at the time, he nonetheless averaged nearly 45, saving his best for the two most successful opponents, Australia and the West Indies. I used to admire him making runs for Worcestershire, for whom he compiled many of his 103 first-class and 14 limited-overs centuries.
64: Gladstone Small
I could recite a load of stats to justify the Bajan’s presence in my list. There are his plentiful wickets for Warwickshire and match-winning one-day spells to consider. In particular he was Man of the Match at the Boxing Day Ashes Test in 1986. However, he’s better remembered for his almost cartoonish appearance. All collar and no neck, his bowling run-up recalled a clockwork toy wound up to the max but he became a top-class bowler who also seemed to have fun, which I always liked.
63: Barry Richards
Like Glenn Turner, the South African was a blonde opening bat who was very difficult to get out and scored heavily in the 1970s when my love of cricket took flight. Robbed of surefire global stardom by his country’s pariah status (he managed only four Tests, at an average of 72 before the anti-apartheid ban), his stage was for me the county game. At Hampshire he formed one of the most jaw-dropping of county opening partnerships with Gordon Greenidge and was often even more exciting to watch than the West Indian. A giant of his era, yet not quite my favourite Richards!
62: Chris Woakes
More than a decade ago, I associated the name of Chris Woakes with a Warwickshire Fantasy Cricket points machine. Ostensibly a metronomic fast-medium seamer, he proved he could also score runs, and in 2011 topped his county’s first-class averages with both bat and ball. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t picked for England, but his chance duly came. Just last week, the newly-bearded Woakes claimed a five-for in England’s defeat of Pakistan, but it was Stuart Broad who dominated the headlines. That seems to be Woakes’ fate: the cruelly underrated ultimate support act.
61: Tim Murtagh
Like
Woakes, Murtagh has been a long-standing feature near the top of County
Championship bowling averages. He has been swinging the ball through the
defences of all the best batsmen for two decades, notably for Middlesex, but it
was only in his thirties that he won the chance to represent Ireland in ODIs
then three Tests. It was June 2005 when I first became aware of him, watching
him take 6-24 in an after-work clash at Lord’s and just this week, at the age
of 39, he was bowling Middlesex to another triumph against Surrey, this time in
the Bob Willis Trophy. Tim represents everything I love about county cricket.
