Top 100 of the 21st century: 60-51

Counting down: 100-91; 90-81; 80-71; 70-61; 60-51; 50-41

60. Graham Thorpe (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 43 matches, 3,145 runs at 53.30 

A mainstay for England throughout the 1990s, Graham Thorpe rode the highs and lows of all that comes with being an international cricketer post-2000 but ultimately emerged triumphant. Choosing not to tour South Africa in 1999-2000, his future appeared in limbo, but his reputation as a tough, counterattacking middle-order batsman was too much for the selectors to resist, and he returned with a bang over the next 18 months, topping off a productive run with a career-best 200no in Christchurch. Personal crises saw him miss the 2002-03 Ashes tour to Australia and almost put a line through his time in England colours, but the left-hander again resurrected his Test career with a fighting century at The Oval and went on another hot streak before he was overlooked ahead of the 2005 Ashes for a kid called Pietersen.

Best Performance: Thorpe’s 124 in the fifth match at The Oval in 2003 was his first Test innings in more than 12 months and helped England level a five-Test series against a high-quality South Africa side. Honourable mention also to a match-winning double of 113no and 32no against Sri Lanka in Colombo in a contest in which no other player made more than 71.

59. Matthew Hoggard (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 67 matches, 248 wickets at 30.50

Equipped with the greatest name in cricket, Hoggard was England’s premier swing bowler throughout his time with the Three Lions. While the likes of Flintoff, Harmison and Jones could bang it in with searing pace, Hoggard’s skidding seamers yielded a bucket load of wickets. The right-armer’s toothless grin will remain imprinted in the minds of Australia’s players during the unsuccessful Ashes campaign in 2005.

Best Performance: Twelve wickets against South Africa in January 2005 led England to a memorable win in Johannesburg and began building the momentum toward the winter’s spectacular Ashes. 

58. Kane Williamson (NZ)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 41 matches, 3,199 runs at 45.67

A Test century on debut launched the career of a Black Caps batsman that former Australia fast bowler and Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie predicted to be “one of the all-time greats”. Accomplished off the front and back foot, Williamson’s prolific form has gone global, scoring hundreds in India, Zimbabwe, England, the Caribbean and UAE and on home soil. Not bad for a 24-year-old. 

Best Performance: Williamson already likes to cash in when he reaches triple-figures, so it was no surprise he notched his maiden double-century (242no) against Sri Lanka in Wellington earlier this year. 

57. Thilan Samaraweera (SL)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 81 matches, 5,462 runs at 48.76

A century on Thilan Samaraweera’s August 2001 Test debut immediately gave Sri Lanka fans hope that another gifted batting talent had skipped off their production line just in time to replace Arjuna Ranatunga. And while he lacked the presence of Ranatunga, the right-handed Samaraweera filled the middle-order role brilliantly, quietly accumulating more Test runs than the legendary skipper and at a better rate. His high and low points came within the space of a couple of weeks in March 2009 when, after compiling double centuries in consecutive Tests in Pakistan, he was shot in the left thigh by terrorists while on the Sri Lanka team bus. He returned to Test cricket four months later, adding another five hundreds to his name before playing his last match in 2013.

Best Performance: Samaraweera scored centuries against all Test-playing nations barring Australia, but his finest effort was in Durban, when his superb 102 helped deliver Sri Lanka a first Test win in South Africa.

56. Ryan Harris (Aus)

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Key numbers (Jan 1, 2000): 27 matches, 113 wickets at 23.52

A late bloomer by any measure, Harris’s career ignited with a move from Adelaide to Brisbane and the addition of a few extra kilos. The transformation produced one of the world’s best fast men, whose deadly accuracy, rapid pace and lion heart has made him Australia’s top ranked Test bowler. Ryno’s efforts in a losing cause in England in 2013 were heroic, while he played a perfect second fiddle to a rampant Mitchell Johnson six months later in Australia. Consistent injury has been the only thing stopping the 35-year-old from reaching legend status. 

Best Performance: On one leg, Harris willed his deteriorating body and his desperate team to victory on the fifth day against South Africa in Cape Town last year, bowling Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel inside three balls to secure the series 2-1. 

55. Brad Haddin (Aus)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 65 matches, 265 dismissals (257 c, 8 st); 3,237 runs at 33.37

A Test debutant at 30, it’s a testament to Brad Haddin’s competitive approach that he has managed to build such an illustrious record despite the belated Baggy Green. When his Test debut did come, in May 2008, the right-hander followed in the mould of his predecessor by batting with natural aggression and exhibiting a stunning range of stroke play at every opportunity. Consistently outstanding behind the stumps, Haddin built a reputation as one of the Australian team’s hardest workers, and his commitment to improvement was rewarded when, at age 36, he enjoyed the series of his life during Australia’s 5-0 Ashes whitewash of England, breaking various keeper-batsman records along the way.

Best Performance: Australia lost the 2013 Ashes 3-0 but Haddin took his keeping to a new level, pouching anything that moved and accumulating 29 dismissals – the most ever managed in one series. His 94 in the first Test against England in 2013-14 was arguably more critical than any of his four hundreds, rescuing Australia from disaster and paving the way for a dominant series.

54. Morne Morkel (SA)

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Key numbers (Jan 1, 2000): 62 matches, 217 wickets at 29.35

If you want to know how fast and ferocious Morkel can be, ask Michael Clarke. A thunderous display of fast bowling in Cape Town in March 2014 rocked the Australia captain, breaking Clarke’s shoulder and bruising several other parts of the Test skipper. Partnering Dale Steyn to form one of the most potent new ball attacks the 21st century has seen, Morkel’s 196cm frame generates extreme pace, extreme bounce and extreme problems for batsmen. 

Best Performance: Against an Indian batting line-up in their pomp, Morkel (and Steyn) humbled Tendulkar and co. with the towering quick claiming 5-20 from 76 balls at Centurion in December 2010.

53. Brendon McCullum (NZ)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 94 matches, 6,008 runs at 38.76; 201 dismissals (190 c, 11 st)

After a decade spent offering the occasional glimpse of his ruthless batting brilliance, Brendon McCullum transformed himself – and with him, New Zealand – into a genuine force to be reckoned with. The seismic shift in his career coincided with his ascension to the captaincy in December 2013, and with a quality batting order around him, the brutal right-hander settled in the No.5 position. In 2014, he produced more runs (1,164) in a calendar year than any Black Cap before him, and matched Aussie trio Bradman, Ponting and Clarke with four scores in excess of 200 in what was also New Zealand’s most successful year in Tests. Aggressive as a batsman and captain almost to a fault, McCullum gave up the keeping gloves in 2010 owing to a bad back but that hasn’t stopped him developing a reputation for the spectacular in the field.

Best Performance: Certainly his incredible second-innings 302 against India last year to ensure put New Zealand in the box seat for a Test series win. The innings is the highest of his 11 centuries, arguably the most important and as his country’s first-ever Test triple ton, certainly the most significant.

52. Andrew Strauss (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 100 matches, 7,037 runs at 40.91

Hard-nosed and authoritative, Strauss captained like he batted: always up for a fight and never backing down. The South Africa-born left-hander debuted with a bang in 2004, scoring hundreds in his first Tests home and abroad while forming a fruitful opening partnership with Marcus Trescothick. Vicious on anything short, Strauss’s early career was punctuated with airborne pull shots before age and scrutiny reduced his repertoire but not his productivity. Like all England captains, Strauss will be remembered for his efforts in Ashes battles, and with two series wins he stands right alongside his elite peers, while his effort in guiding his country to No.1 in the world is an achievement he can hang his hat on.

Best Performance: Strauss enjoyed the tamer version of the West Indies during his career, and it was never more evident when he rattled off three straight centuries in the Caribbean in 2009 before finishing with 142 in Trinidad. 

51. Michael Vaughan (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 80 matches, 5,631 runs at 42.02

Tactically astute and out-of-the-box aggressive for an England captain, Michael Vaughan will forever be remembered as the chief architect behind his country’s unforgettable 2005 Ashes triumph against a great Australia side. His quality as a cricketer however, extended far beyond his man management as a leader; as an opening batsman, he was one of England’s finest and most free-flowing, notching up 18 hundreds including three during a record-breaking tour of Australia in 2002-03. Injuries largely curtailed his career beyond 2005, but not before he’d briefly risen to No.1 among the world’s Test batsmen.

Best Performance: Vaughan made a magnificent opening-day 166 against Australia in the drawn third Test of the 2005 Ashes, continuing to set the tone for his side during a historic series success. 

Counting down: 100-91 Counting down: 90-81 Counting down: 80-71 Counting down: 70-61