40: Garfield Sobers
As any young cricket fan in the Seventies would know, the West Indian all-rounder scored 8,032 Test runs and 365 not out, both world records lasting many years. I’m just about old enough to remember seeing him on the News tonking poor Malcolm Nash all over Wales in 1968 and his batting masterclass against England at Lord’s in ‘73. He was a bit creaky bowling Sunday League stuff for Notts but Dad would remind me I was watching one of the world’s greatest players – and he was right.
39: Mahela Jayawardene
OK, so his record outside Asia was rather modest but the man from Colombo was one of the batsmen I most enjoyed watching this century. The adjective ‘elegant’ is normally reserved for tall men but, at 5 feet 7,Jayawardene was the exception. He could play shots all around the wicket with effortless ease and no right-hander has surpassed his immense 374 against South Africa in 2006. His century deserved to win the 2011 World Cup Final, but MS Dhoni had other ideas, and Mahela also really rocked the helmet-and-bandana look.
38: Richard Hadlee
As a contemporary of Lillee, Holding, Marshall, Kapil Dev, Botham, Imran Khan and others, he rarely gets a look-in when it comes to video montages of 1970s/80s pacemen. However, it was the New Zealander whose new-ball pace and swing made him the first man to reach 400 Test wickets. He was the lynchpin of the Black Caps’ excellent Eighties outfit and played many county seasons for Notts. I never saw him bowl but he came on for the tourists as 12th man at Chelmsford just after his knighthood was announced. The applause must be the loudest ever heard for a sub fielder!
37: Gordon Greenidge
Another familiar face (and moustache) on the county circuit - for Hampshire – Greenidge was the epitome of explosive strokeplay yet calmness under pressure. I loved it whenever he strode out to the middle for the West Indies because we were usually in for a treat. He notched well over 50,000 runs in all formats and of course was an excellent catcher, too. Gordon’s final day 214 not out at Lord’s in ’84 was nothing short of sensational and to think he was once qualified to play for England….
36: Jonty Rhodes
I can’t think of many cricketers who people would pay to watch just for his fielding but Jonty Rhodes as certainly one of them. His Test career was delayed by South Africa’s ban but for 11 years he was one of the most electric fielders on the planet, not so much for his acrobatic catching but his athleticism and throwing from the covers or backward point. Batsmen took him on at their peril. He was ostensibly a batsman, albeit down the order, and he averaged a decent 35 or so in Tests and ODIs. However, he was worth many more runs and wickets with his stops and run-outs. I was fortunate in 1998 to witness a few of these against Essex.
35: Virat Kohli
I remember seeing a young Virat Kohli playing in an ODI for India and wondering why on earth he wasn’t in their Test team. He wasn’t a slogger, yet scored quickly, efficiently and unflappably. Since his 2011 Test debut he has gone on to become the greatest – and richest – all-round batsman of his generation, accumulating centuries, ODI run records and a global fanbase. He may not be the best traveller but I always enjoy watching him bat as well as marshal his fielders. At Cardiff I also noted his willingness to respond to adoring crowds urging him to “Give us a wave”, the sign not only of a great sportsman but also a superior role model. Kohli has it all.
34: Ian Bell
I often attach myself to cricketers who go about their business skilfully but without fanfare. Walking egos like Botham, Petersen and Stokes crave attention but I prefer my players to be like Ian Bell. It’s amazing to think he made his debut against the Windies sixteen summers ago, top-scoring with 70, since when he played 118 Tests and 161 ODIs. He has endured some torrid times but was imperious in 2010 and 2011, then again in the 2013 Ashes series. I also appreciate his loyalty to Warwickshire, although he is currently woefully out of form.
33: Hallam Moseley
At a time when I lapped up every West Indian fast bowler, it’s fair to say that Hallam Moseley didn’t exactly hog the headlines. He was no Joel Garner, but proved a great servant to the county throughout the 1970s. I saw him play live only once (in 1981) but he was a frequent fixture on TV. Besides a very useful limited-overs seamer, the bespectacled Barbadian was extremely popular for his under-arm throwing to the wicket, good humour and readiness to sign autographs on the boundary.
32: Craig Kieswetter
A decade ago, Somerset were blessed with two classy wicketkeeper-batsmen. One was the teenage Buttler, but even he wasn’t the best. Instead the SA-born, Millfield-educated Craig Kieswetter was for a while England’s preferred option for ODIs and T20, in which he was an outstanding improviser, but it was his superior red-ball batting which led the county to sacrifice Jos at the end of 2013. This made his horrific facial injury suffered the following July all the more galling. He never fully recovered, officially quit cricket in 2016 and at Somerset has never been replaced.
31: Greg Chappell
The
Aussie also played briefly for Somerset but a few years before my time. Then,
during the ‘70s, Greg became one of the most prolific Test batsmen in the
world. He was very hard to get out and always looked so upright and elegant at
the crease. He blotted his copybook in a 1981 ODI by, with a six needed off the
last ball, instructing his brother Trevor to bowl a sneaky daisy-cutter. I
recall as a boy trying to copy his tidy medium-pace seam-up bowling action but it’s
for his imperious batting – and he scored centuries in his first and last
matches - that he should be remembered.
