The Hundred: 40 to 31

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 12^th 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.

AB vs JB: who is the greatest of them all?

Putting aside today’s rare blemish at the hands of Indian spinners, AB De Villiers seems unable to do little wrong these days. 100 Tests, nearly 8,000 runs and an average of 52 tells a formidable story. Yet much of his reputation rests on his even more amazing one-day record.

Again, the stats tell much of the story: 195 ODIs, 8,403 runs, an average of 54 and, even better, a strike rate of more than a run a ball. Extraordinary! And he seems to improve with age. The loss of Kallis and Smith has left the South African batting weaker but now everything seems to be relying on AB and his partner in class, Hashim Amla. In the current series with India, it’s AB whose wicket is the one they want. Following three successive one-day centuries, he battled to a couple of ‘halfs’ in the opening Tests while all around him collapsed to Ashwin, Jadeja et al so that reputation is well deserved.

Meanwhile, Jos Buttler’s woes were conveniently forgotten after his latest 50-over blast against Pakistan, the third time he has broken England’s fastest hundred record in recent years. Poor Jason Roy. Strikes a maiden international century and few seem to be interested! As a wicketkeeper, comparisons with De Villiers are inevitable, but utterly ridiculous. Unless you consider the Twenty20 format….

AB’s T20 international career is his Achilles heel but when you include all the IPL and other biff-bash stuff, his century count and strike rate look world class. But so do those of Buttler. A top score of 72 not out is hardly earth-shattering, but an SR of 144 is one of the best in cricket. As a finisher down the order, few are superior to Jos. I remember seeing him a few times at Taunton as a teenager or 20 year-old. While Kieswetter and Trescothick peppered the legside boundary up the order, young Jos could improvise with innovative shots like the ‘inside out’ over extra cover for a rapid 30 or 40 not out.

Trouble is, Buttler has yet to learn the ropes in first-class cricket. That’s why Kieswetter was preferred to him as Somerset’s regular ‘keeper and why Buttler consequently jumped ship to Lancashire, a so-called ‘bigger’ county. An average in the longer form of 34 is satisfactory but way short of AB’s. Yet AB doesn’t thrash the ball around in Test matches. He says he learned how not to get out several years ago, not taking unnecessary risks.

Renowned strokemakers like Sehwag and Gilchrist retired with Test match strike rates in the 80s, yet AB’s is a relatively sedate 55. Buttler is a creation of the modern era; a brilliant batsman capable of thinking on his feet and with supreme timing able to find the boundary almost at will. AB is, too, but has the added advantage of knowing not only his considerable strengths but also the requirements of the different formats, especially the number one: five-day cricket.

Jos Buttler is just 25, six years younger than the South African maestro, and there is still time to learn.his first-class trade in county cricket to become a Test superstar. The thing is: does she want to or need to, given that the rewards of the sport lie mainly in limited overs, where his talents are most obvious? Meanwhile, let’s relish the all-round brilliance of AB De Villiers while we can. One he learns how to negate spin on a turning wicket, no bowler will ever have a chance against him.

Craig Kieswetter - a fine career curtailed

He may not have broken any Test run-scoring records like Alastair Cook or wicket-taking barriers like Jimmy Anderson but Craig Kieswetter’s retirement today draws down a premature curtain on a mould-breaking England cricket career.

After the freakish accident caused by a short ball from David Willey penetrating the helmet grille and smashing his eye socket, the Somerset star spent weeks in hospital and several months trying to recover his eyesight and form. While he did manage a few county outings towards the end of the 2014 season, a dismal T20 season with the Warriors led Kieswetter to feel he couldn’t see the ball as well as he used to. When he decided to sit out the 2015 season, I think we all knew it was just the prelude to a full retirement from frontline cricket, so today’s announcement comes as no surprise.

As a Somerset fan, it’s particularly sad. He followed a well-trodden route from Millfield School to the County Ground, and made his one-day debut in April 2007. Batting at eight, he struck an unbeaten 69 from 58 balls to set up a 24-run victory.. In May, he was given his chance in whites. It was a strange start. Derbyshire batted for two days to amass a huge 801-8 declared, yielding just one catch behind the wicket for the 19 year-old. He contributed 63 runs to Somerset’s reply but given that even Charl Willoughby scored two sixes, it must have been a typical Taunton batting track!

Like many other England players at the time, he started his career in South Africa, representing his home nation at under-19 level. He scored plenty of runs in the 2009 domestic summer before he could qualify for his adopted country, then made his first appearance for England in 2010 in a one-dayer in Bangladesh. He played as a specialist batsman as fellow South African Matt Prior took the gloves. Kieswetter scored only 19 but he went on to acquire 46 ODI caps and 25 at T20. His big-hitting style earned him a berth as opener in the 2010 World Cup, and he was the Man of the Match in the final against Australia.

His star waned a bit as Prior was preferred in the 50-over format but England’s loss was Somerset’s gain. This also led to a dilemma at Taunton. We also had the promising youngster Jos Buttler in the squad. While not as good in the first-class game, Buttler was even better than Kieswetter in List A and T20 cricket. They vied for the wicketkeeper role, too, and I recall seeing them both warming up on the County Ground outfield wearing gloves, with spectators confused as to who would miss out!

In the end, Kieswetter was given the position on a full-time basis, a decision which was probably correct but which led to Buttler moving to Lancashire to develop his ‘keeping with an eye to the England Test side. Ironically, Lancashire were relegated to Division Two but Jos has since cemented his place for the Ashes summer. From having two brilliant ‘keeper-batsmen, Somerset now rely on Alex Barrow, great behind the stumps but distinctly moderate with the bat. Kieswetter’s absence will be keenly felt.

Craig scored more than 13,000 runs, including 22 centuries. Half of them came in List A games, at which his scoring rate was close to 100, a world-class statistic. He averaged 39 in both format, too, while scoring 29 fifties in Twenty20. He seems to have been on the scene for ages but his career is over at only 27. I hope he can stay in Somerset cricket but I’m sure he must have received a generous ovation when leading out the county team at the start of tonight’s Blast fixture. “See you on the sidelines”, he has announced. I certainly hope so.

Monty at the Crossroads, Matt and Michael in the fast lane

So Sussex have released Monty Panesar, still considered by England as one of the two top left-arm spinners in the country. This would be considered a ludicrous decision in cricketing terms, even though Monty is having one of his bad runs. However, getting pissed and urinating on bouncers at a club is not the behaviour of a cricketing role model and he deserves punishment. Being allowed to leave for second division county smacks not of punishment but exasperation. I suspect the well-publicised boozing incident cannot be not an isolated incident, in which case popular Panesar has only himself to blame. Surely what should concern Sussex more is the curse of Hamilton-Brown. Where he hoes boozing, trouble seems to follow. At least Panesar lives on to play another match. Hopefully the new surroundings of Essex prove conducive to his rehabilitation.

Elsewhere, the start of Premier League football has brought Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker to the fore once more. No mean cricketer himself, the legend of Leicester (not to mention Everton, Spurs and Barcelona) must cede number one Lineker cricketing status to 28 year-old Matt (no relation). He made a duck on his first-class debut for Derbyshire two years ago this week and played his last exactly one year ago this week. Losing his contract took Lineker to Lincolnshire and made him available for the Unicorns in this summer's YB40 competition. Suddenly he has struck form. Last week, his run-a-ball 107 took the fight to Yorkshire and this weekend he flayed the Leicestershire attack for 132, two centuries in only six List A matches. Sadly he can't complete a 'hat-trick' as that was the Unicorns' last fixture in top-class domestic cricket. maybe a county contract will come his way for 2014. Perhaps he should take up left-arm spin.....

England's T20 squad for the Australia game has been announced and no surprise to see Michael Carberry's name on the list. His performances for Hampshire in the summer's Friends Life tournament made him a shoo-in for the side, but if picked for the first XI, who should he replace? I'd have picked the other in-form opener, Craig Kieswetter, drop Jos Buttler (so he can play for Somerset!) and drop both Lumb and Hales. Having seen David Willey's all-round talent on show on Finals Day, why couldn't the Northants man be given an opportunity to prove himself at this level? The rest of the side hardly looks a scary proposition!

FL T20 Cup enjoys a vintage season so far

What a difference a year makes. In 2012, the group stages of the T20 Cup were plagued by persistent rain so that some teams lost half their matches to the weather. Come 2013 and mercifully there has been just the one 'no result', between Hampshire and Essex back in June. That means the eight qualifiers have made it through their cricket. Champions Hampshire look ominously good, losing just the one game, at home to Kent. With Michael Carberry back amongst the runs, supported by Vince, Adams, McKenzie, Ervine, Mascarenhas et al, they are rightly heavily fancied to reach the final, and ought to see off Lancashire in the quarter-finals.

North division winners Nottinghamshire are many people's favourites despite losing three on the trot in mid-competition. T20 specialists Alex Hales and Michael Lumb have each contributed more than 300 runs to the cause, and Samit Patel has been the leading bowler. They have been drawn at home to Essex, who scraped through yesterday despite being humbled by Surrey. Without Napier, Topley and Ten Doeschate they would be in a right pickle.

Northants were the leading county of the Midlands/Wales/West bunch. Richard Levi struck one of only two centuries in the competition to date but the bowling as been their major strength. Pakistani-turned-league cricket star Azharullah is the competition's leading wicket-taker with 23, 8 of which came against Glamorgan! David Willey is another who has combined stike rate, economy and a few runs to boot. Meanwhile, Graeme White has the unusual distinction of helping two sides through to the knockouts, with wickets for both Northants and Notts!

Durham are Northants' next opponents and I wouldn't bet against Mustard, Onions, Stokes and co upsetting the T20 form book. The fourth quarter-final will involve Surrey and Somerset. The latter have had a topsy-turvy season but their narrow defeat of Warwickshire this week proved decisive as they finished second in their group ahead of the Bears and Dragons. Normally, the absence of Marcus Trescothick would be considered a disaster but the great man has been in shocking form this summer and an injury enabled Craig Kieswetter and Chris Jones to step up to the mark. The former England one-day 'keeper has aggregated 447 runs in his ten innings, while last-minute import Yasir Arafat has bee the pick of their bowlers. Five consecutive knockout stages is an amazing achievement for Somerset but this their weakest squad of them all. Having blown so many finals in recent years perhaps it's inevitable they'll go one better in 2013 and actually win the blooming thing!

One interesting observation: the top teams in the County Championships all performed badly. Sussex had a disastrous T20 campaign, winning just one fixture. Yorkshire also finished bottom of their division while Middlesex just missed out on a last-eight place. Notts are chock full of great one-day players and when they all click, few can match them. Hampshire also have some pedigree and I watched them claim the title in grand style in Cardiff last year. But this is T20 and surprises are inevitable. Don't expect all the home sides to progress, but I predict Surrey to go all the way to the final.

Last Ditch Stand defies Somerset

I usually start my review of the week's County Championship fixtures with the notable wins. However, having endured the heartache of watching Rikki Clarke and Oliver Hannon-Dalby frustrate the Somerset attack on the final afternoon at Taunton for well over an hour, this had to be the bill-topper! So, despite more runs from ALviro Petersen, a fine century from Nick Compton (including some T20-style innovation to set up the declaration) and a rare hundred for Jos Butler, Somerset's April hoodoo goes on and still no victories in three games. Worse was to come with news that Craig Kieswetter broke his thumb and will miss six weeks. Meanwhile, Warwickshire can take heart from their rearguard action and time-wasting tactics having been comprehensively outplayed for three days.

At The Oval, Graeme Smith finally reached double figures in their draw against Sussex, for whom Luke Wells starred with 208 and Chris Jordan claimed another five-for. This week sees Surrey crossing the river for the London derby at Middlesex in a game which could help decide who wins the title - or relegation. Who knows?! At Derby, the home side were well beaten by neighbours Nottinghamshire. Stuart Broad enjoyed a good first-class practice session with eight wickets, and James Taylor did his hopes of an England recall no harm at all by scoring 112. Yorkshire also notched their first Championship victory of the summer against Durham. They did it the hard way after Graeme Onions and Mark Stoneman enabled the home side to set the Tykes a not-so-difficult target of 336, because Joe Root made a nonsense of the declaration and pitch to amass 182, falling one ball before his side get the winning runs. With his Lions captaincy announced today, it's been a good week for the boy from Sheffield. If Bresnan and co can get rid of Chesney Hughes quickly, Yorkshire should make it two out of three triumphs by the weekend.

In Division Two, Steven Crook enjoyed another fine all-round performance as Northants eased twenty points clear at the top. They beat Gloucestershire by seven wickets. Relegated Worcestershire lost their second game, this time by an innings to Hampshire. The victors' bowlers shared the wickets but skipper Jimmy Adams carried his bat for 219 as his team compiled 500-9. The Lancashire weather got the better of Lancashire and Kent in the other match played last week. James Anderson and Kyle Hogg were the pick of the bowlers on display, Katich and Prince were again in the runs for the Red Rose outfit, although Kent's Brendan Nash was the only man to reach three figures as matters headed for a stalemate on day four.

Hampshire ought to beat Essex although David Masters returned from injury to strike early blows. Alastair Cook is also having a rare bat for his county which desperately needs his runs. Leicester v Gloucester has a bottom-of-table ring to it even this early in the season, while Glamorgan could defy critics (including me) by defeating Lancashire at Colwyn Bay. A win for Northants at Canterbury will open up a big gap in the promotion race, but Kent are due some runs from their top order, so Stephen Peters et al shouldn't count their chickens just yet...

Battle of the wicketkeepers

As with goalkeepers in football, England has often been synonymous with world-class wicketkeepers. For every Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton and David Seaman, cricket has been blessed with Godfrey Evans, Alan Knott, Matt Prior and maybe even Alec Stewart when his batting was added to the mix.

When Stewart started to focus on opening the batting and subsequently retured, there were several suitable candidates clamouring to take the gloves. Warren Hegg had a couple of opportunities on the 1998-9 Ashes tour Down Under. The following summer, 20 year-old Chris Read claimed six catches and a stumping in a Test victory over New Zealand, but he has managed only fourteen other appearances since then despite clearly being one of the best 'keeper-batsmen in county cricket, even skippering Nottinghamshire to domestic success. Like the others, Essex's finest, James Foster was discarded after an Ashes game, the last of seven caps between 2001 and 2002.

Geraint Jones may sound Welsh, was born in Papua New Guinea but was also the latest in a long line of distinguished Kent 'keepers. He was lucky (or good) enough to be the incumbent during England's purple patch between 2004 and 2006, including the famous Ashes triumph of 2005. He played 34 times in only 2 1/2 years but it was the Aussie backlash in 2006-7 which finished his Test career, even if the heavy defeat was hardly his fault. Tim Ambrose earned eleven Test appearances in 2008-9 after heavy scoring in the Championship and, unlike the aforementioned rivals, began and ended his spell with half-centuries. However, this wasn't enough to keep him as the number one gloveman. Sadly his domestic form with Warwickshire suffered and he eventually took time out of the sport before recovering last summer to help win the title.

Ambrose has been dogged by Matt Prior. The latter displaced him at Sussex and now he has done the same for England. However, this has proved to be a justified decision by selectors as the balding one has gone on to become the fourth highest in England history, in terms of both Test caps and dismissals. His Test average, batting mostly at seven, is an impressive 43, superior even to Alec Stewart's, and his skills behind the stumps has meant his place has not really come under fire - until now.

This week's news of Craig Kieswetter's dropping in favour of his Somerset team-mate and friend, Jos Buttler, in the ODI squad, demonstrates the wealth of 'keeper/batsmen in the county game again. Paul Nixon enjoyed international recognition in his twilight years, and both Phil Mustard and Stephen Davies were given a go for a year or two, along with Prior, of course. With the rise of T20, the ability to thrash bowling to all corners has become an essential part of the 'keeper's armoury. Kieswetter's famous leg-side hoiks eventually had him promoted to opening the batting but it's a while since he delivered a really good innings.

Buttler has earned a reputation for brutal 'finishing', developing his 'scoop' shot and 'inside out' thumps over extra cover. His extraordinary List A average of almost 60 owes much to the fact that a third of his innings have ended not out. However, I feel he needs to have some decent innings for England behid him, rather than just a number of lively cameos. Of course, if he bats at seven in T20, it's not often you get the chance to smash a half-century, especially when your team-mates at the top of the order are doing their jobs.

It's been a few years since the Wedmore lad scored a first-class century and I can't believe he's already 22. Therefore, he is well below Kieswetter and Prior in the Test pecking order. The main danger to the latter surely has to be Jonny Bairstow. While playing 5 Tests, 7 ODIs and 15 T20Is, the Yorkshireman has yet to stand behind the stumps. However, he has a first-class batting average of 46 and has not disgraced himself as a specialist batsman in Test cricket. He can be a highly destructive number three or four in limited overs but has yet to prove it at the highest level. Nevertheless, Jonny is a mere 23 and could become the England regular in a few years' time. However, Matt Prior will have something to say about that!