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.

Steve Smith mixes it with Bradman but Viv and Sunil reign supreme!

As any cricket fan, Sir Don Bradman was the greatest batsman of all time. Full stop. Of course, players have accumulated far superior run totals given the huge increase in international cricket played these days. After all, in the time it took the Australian squad to sail (yes, sail) to England, modern day India and Sri Lanka would probably have squeezed in two three-Test series, seven ODIs and five T20s.

It was therefore interesting to see Steve Smith's aggregate of 769 in the recent series at home to India celebrated as beating the Don's previous record for a rubber against the Indians - and even that was over five matches (but only six innings) back in his twilight years following the Second World War. Bradman's overall series aggregate record of 974 in seven innings (in England in 1930) will take a lot of beating, with five-Test series a rarity these days. Nevertheless, Smith's total was the third highest for four-Test series in cricket's long and illustrious history. He struck four hundreds (all in the first innings) and two fifties, but what about the players above him?

Well, Smith was just five run adrift of Sunil Gavaskar, after whom half the current India-Australia trophy is named, who accumulated 774 in early 1971. The superb opener's feat was notable particularly because it came in the West Indies and also marked his international debut! The Windies had yet to develop their classic fast bowler battery, although Gavaskar would later prove one of the best players of pace and bounce since Bradman himself. Nevertheless, his debut featured two knocks of 60+ and two weeks later came the first century and a resilient 67 not out. He made an uncharacteristic failure in the first innings at Bridgetown but delivered another match-saving performance (117) a few days afterwards. Trinidad then witnessed Gavaskar at his best.

With India needing just a draw to secure the series, the decider as scheduled for six days. Gavaskar started with 124 but the Sobers-led opposition put together a strong first innings lead. He proceeded to grind out a memorable double-century spread over three days which not only saved the match but also set up what was nearly a shock victory.

However, even the great Sunil Gavaskar was overshadowed by one West Indian, King Viv himself five years in the long hot English summer of 1976. In the series which cemented Viv Richards as my favourite sportsman of all time, he batted only seven times yet topped and tailed the series with double-hundreds of power and strength not witnessed for decades.

At Trent Bridge he struck 31 fours and four sixes in 232 off the likes of John Snow, Derek Underwood and Mike Hendrick before top-scoring in a swift declaration-setting second innings. He missed the Lord's Test but on the second day at Old Trafford (rain almost wiped out day 1) nineteen wickets fell, including Viv's for 4. Gordon Greenidge's 134 was sensational in this context. Viv and Greenidge (again) reached three figures next time out, leaving Roberts, Holding and Daniel to destroy Tony Greig's supposedly stubborn veterans and take the game. At Headingley, Viv produced scores of 'only' 66 and 38 in another triumph but it was the Oval climax which raised this series to the heights of one of the most devastating England defeats of modern times.

I recall paying tennis as a 15 year-old in the summer holidays while spectators and families had radios tuned to Test Match Special while England were put to the sword on a pitch browned by weeks of relentless sun and negligible rainfall. Bob Willis had Greenidge LBW early on for a duck but in came Richards to plunder a fabulous 291. We all thought the Sobers record of 365 was absolutely there for the taking. Tony Greig was probably the only man there celebrating when he bowled the great man. Indeed, the crowd was full of can-tapping Caribbean fans anyway. To his credit Dennis Amiss responded with a double of his own but England were still dismissed 250-odd short. Instead of enforcing the follow-on, Clive Lloyd sent in Fredericks and Greenidge to smash 182 in 32 overs before on the final day Michael Holding was unplayable and the series was theirs. Everybody remembers Holding breaking wickets and English hearts that day but it was Viv's 291 and series aggregate of 829 which provided the anchor - nay the shield and sword - for that success. It was Greig who grovelled and the Windies never looked back.

Steve Smith produced a wonderful sequence of scores in the past few weeks but for excitement he has a long way to go to beat those performances of Gavaskar and Richards.

April 15th - a day to forget for England in Antigua

England and the West Indies have a had a fair few ding-dongs over the years, with the former coming off second best more often than not. The home series whitewashes of 1984 and 1988, and the long hot summer tour of 1976 remain vivid memories to me, although Tony Greig, David Gower and Mike Gatting may prefer to bury their heads at the very mention of Michael Holding, Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose et al.

The two sides enjoyed some entertaining contests in the Caribbean, too, often taking place later in the winter. Indeed, the 15th April alone has witnessed some great performances over the years. Traditionally, the final Test took place at St John's, Antigua and in 1986, by the time the teams moved on to this beautiful island, England were already facing a second successive annihilation having lost the first four matches. Centuries had been few and far between, but Gower's side had consistently been blown away by Marshall, Patterson, Garner and an ageing Holding.

On his home ground, Viv was the skipper, but in the first innings, Desmond Haynes scored 131, and some beefy late-order blasts from Marshall, Harper and Holding took the Windies to 474. In response, openers Gooch and Wilf Slack shared a century partnership and Gower stroked an attractive 90, batting into day four. A draw looked a likely outcome. However, following the rest day (yes, they had them in those days!) Garner and Marshall instigated a late collapse and in came Haynes and Richie Richardson. The latter crawled to 31 but when Emburey had him caught, Richards ambled on, determined to win. When in that kind of mood, he was going to lead from the front and woe betide the bowlers.

What followed, 26 years ago today, was one of the most scintillating displays of batting ever seen and even now, Viv's 56-ball century remains the fastest in Test match history. There were seven sixes, from the casual to brutal. One straight hit almost decapitated his friend Ian Botham! He struck two more boundaries before declaring at 246-2. Roger Harper, himself no slouch, had contributed just 19 out of an 85-run partnership. With a target of 411 in just over a day, England desperately dug in to avoid defeat, surviving almost 80 overs but they could score only 170 before Man of the Series Marshall applied the coup de grace. 5-0, and probably only possible because of that breathtaking innings by the mighty Viv Richards.

Exactly four years later, the West Indies produced another record-breaking performance. However, the backdrop was very different. Still Antigua, but they were all square in the series and so this was the decider. England had shocked the world by winning the First Test with ease but in the Fourth, Curtly Ambrose's 8-45 had restored parity. Loads of LBWs but no DRS!

At St John's, England won the toss and scrambled 260 runs by the second morning, Ian Bishop taking 5-84. In marched Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes and they were still there at stumps, each in three figures. On Day 3 (April 15th), they swept past England's total and by the time Greenidge was run out for 149 the pair had racked up what is still a record opening partnership for the West Indies, at 298. They had many double-century stands over the years and together scored more Test runs than any partnership ever.

What made this one even more remarkable is that nobody else in the game could muster even a 50. Second time around, England fared even worse, with some fearsome short-pitched pace bowling which would never be permitted now. In fact, it probably shouldn't have been allowed then. Robin Smith eventually retired hurt with a broken hand, while Nasser Hussain and Allan Lamb top-scored while each nursing fractures of their own. The West Indies won by an innings with well over a day to spare, and snatched the series 2-1.