These Are the Greatest Cricket Players in History, Ranked

This article appeared in sportinal.com and has been published here with permission.

Who are the greatest cricket players in history? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer, considering cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world. This exciting sport has many legendary players from all around the world. Here are the greatest cricket players in history, ranked.

Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)

It's difficult to believe that Sanath Jayasuriya was regarded as a bowler with some batting ability for the first half-decade of his career. When you think of him now, you think of forearms straight out of a movie, shots hammered through point and cover, and balls scythed over the leg side: a man who could score quickly in any form of the game and slashed and burned his way through bowling attacks.

Jayasuriya served as captain for four years, culminating in a semi-final appearance in the 2003 World Cup, and in 2004, he had one of his most successful years.

AB De Villiers (South Africa)

De Villiers made his Test debut as an opener against England in 2004 (the same match as Dale Steyn), after only 16 first-class games. Later, he was promoted to the middle order and asked to keep wicket, which he did successfully: he batted anywhere from No. 1 to No. 8 and performed admirably in most of those positions.

Following a brief slump in form in 2006 and 2007, he returned to form in early 2008 with a blistering 103 not out in the Durban Test against the West Indies. Later that year, in an innings win over India in Ahmedabad, he became the first South African to score a double-century.

Shaun Pollock (South Africa)

With a string of wickets behind him, it's no surprise that Shaun was thrust into the rigors of Test cricket when South Africa faced England in Centurion in 1995. Shaun's uncle, Graeme Pollock, was the chief selector at the time, but there was no indication of favoritism regarding Shaun's debut.

His first 5-wicket haul in Cape Town capped off an impressive first series. After a slow start, Pollock came into his own in 1998, taking 69 Test wickets in 14 Tests, including a career-best 7/87 against archrival Australia in Adelaide.

Allan Border (Australia)

Border arrived on the Australian cricket scene at a time of turmoil. His maiden Test century was bittersweet; Australia needed 382 runs to win the first Test against Pakistan in 1979, and the border hit his first century as Australia reached 305/3.

He set a slew of records that have since been broken. He played in the most Tests (156), scored the most runs (11,174), appeared in the most consecutive Tests (153), and captained the side 93 times, a world record. Allan Border is the colossus who laid the groundwork for Australia's long-term success.