Top 100 of the 21st century: 50-41

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

50. Andy Flower (Zim)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 24 matches, 2,214 runs at 63.25; 56 dismissals (52c, 4st)

This generation knows Andy Flower as the stern-faced former England coach, but in another life, he was one of the world’s most fluent batsman, a more-than-capable wicketkeeper and his country’s finest-ever Test player. Flower only played 24 matches from 2000 but his quality was in evidence regularly, beginning with a classic unbeaten 113 against Walsh and Ambrose in Trinidad and following it up with 232no and 183no in India, all the while handling the glovework for his side as well.

Best Performance: Flower showed his batting wares in many countries but it was an epic double effort on his home patch of Harare that stood out this century. Against South Africa in September 2001, he made 142 from 200 balls in the first innings and, asked to follow on, backed it up with an unbeaten 199 across 10 hours second time around. Zimbabwe lost the match, but Flower had stood defiant throughout.

49. Virat Kohli (Ind)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 34 matches, 2,561 runs at 45.73

When Sachin Tendulkar retired, India needed a new batting hero. They didn’t have to wait long. Tattooed, aggressive and supremely skilful, Kohli debuted as a spunky 22-year-old in the Caribbean but announced himself in the five-day format with a sublime maiden Test century against a rampant Australia in 2012. Rock solid in defence, rubber-wristed in attack, Kohli’s 360 degree game has improved as the young man has matured. Now tasked with leading the Test team, the right-hander welcomed his new role with twin tons in Adelaide last summer. With the weight of a billion people on his shoulders, Kohli looks to have the strength and determination to carry the load.

Best Performance: Chasing 364 to win in the emotionally charged Adelaide Test of 2014, Kohli had the match on his blade, scoring a brilliant 141 before a mental error ended his innings and India’s pursuit.

48. Stuart Broad (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 79 matches, 287 wickets at 29.77

It’s little wonder Stuart Broad is loved by English fans and loathed by Australians; the right-arm quick has saved some of his absolute best spells for the Ashes. Capable of hostile pace and bounce and able to swing both new ball and old, Broad is this century’s 12th-highest wicket-taker. He has his critics, who believe his inconsistency remains an issue, but he also gained some begrudging admirers on England’s dismal 2013-14 Ashes tour, during which he snared 21 wickets at 27.

Best Performance: Broad sealed the 2013 Ashes for England with 11 wickets in the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street, and it was a real sense of déjà vu; four years prior, in the decider at The Oval, he ripped the heart out of Australia’s first innings with five wickets in seven overs as the tourists lost a spectacular 6-26 and with it, the Ashes.

47. Chris Gayle (WI)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 103 matches, 7,214 runs at 42.18

Imposing, imperious and at times incredulous, Gayle’s giant frame has produced some of the most jaw dropping innings this century. Gayle’s not just a slogger – two triple-centuries signify his patience and concentration – but when the left-hander does go the long handle fielders no longer matter. So cool is his demeanour that Gayle can look like he’s not even trying, and with only 15 Test tons in 103 matches, his output belies his talent. The Jamaican showcased his amazing abilities in consecutive matches against Australia in 2009 when he carried his bat in Adelaide, scoring 165 from 285 balls, before blasting a 70-ball century in his next innings in Perth. He also has his own ‘Triple Century Sports Bar’ in Jamaica. So cool.

Best Performance: The 70-ball effort at the WACA was simple breathtaking. Nathan Hauritz felt the full wrath of the Gayle force, launched out of the ground by the hard-hitting opener.

46. Jason Gillespie (Aus)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 57 matches, 209 wickets at 27.09

The legend of Glenn McGrath perhaps overshadowed the deeds of ‘Dizzy’, but on his day, the right-arm quick was as fearsome and dangerous as any bowler on the planet. Quicker than McGrath, Gillespie could swing the ball but his real weapon was the movement he generated off the pitch at high speeds. Like his long-time new-ball partner, he was also unerringly accurate and the unsung hero of Australia’s ground-breaking series success in India, 2004. While the 2005 Ashes blighted an otherwise exceptional copybook, he took advantage of a swansong in international cricket a year later against Bangladesh, becoming the first nightwatchman to post a Test double century.

Best Performance: The man himself would probably elect his 201no, but in terms of value to his country, it has to be his nine-wicket match against India in the third Test of the 2004 series, in which he implemented a game-plan perfectly to bowl Australia to a series win. 

45. David Warner (Aus)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 38 matches, 3,231 runs at 46.82

Following in the footsteps of Mark Taylor, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, Warner has cemented himself as Australia’s next outstanding left-handed opening bat. In fact, Warner is a combination of all three: he has the power of Hayden, the stature of Langer and the will of Taylor. Wielding a bat the size of a tree trunk, Warner punches, pull and pulverises opposition bowling like he’s been personally offended by their search for his wicket. It took two matches for Warner to post his first triple-figure score and leading into the recently concluded Test series in the Caribbean he had 12 hundreds at one every three matches – a rate unprecedented this century. What’s more impressive about the dozen centuries and more than 3,000 runs is the rate at which he’s scored them, striking at 74 runs per hundred balls faced.

Best Performance: Warner blasted twin tons against the world’s highest-rated Test attack in Cape Town in March 2014, downing Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander in bruising fashion.

44. Ian Bell (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 110 matches, 7,354 runs at 43.77

Most cricket fans would have called you crazy if you’d suggested a decade ago that Ian Bell would have 22 centuries and 42 fifties beside his name come 2015. Yet despite the critics, one of this century’s most transformed batsmen has proven his mettle against all comers over a sustained period of time, playing a key role in England’s ascension to the No.1 Test ranking under Andrew Strauss. In the 2013 Ashes, he was arguably the difference between the two sides with three centuries.

Best Performance: Against South Africa in Durban in 2009, Bell’s first-innings 140 laid the platform for a huge England win – their only success during a tense drawn series.

43. Matt Prior (Eng)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 79 matches, 256 dismissals (243ct, 13st); 4,099 runs at 40.18

Tidy behind the stumps and tenacious in front of them, the recently-retired Prior was an integral part of the England side that ascended to the top of the Test team rankings. A 25-year-old Prior debuted at Lord’s in May 2007 with an unbeaten 126 but without a dismissal to his name. Prior ended the successful 2010-11 Ashes with 23 catches and a blistering 118 in Sydney. Free-flowing through the off-side, the right-hander was damaging between cover and third man, often driving on the up through the air with precision. An Achilles injury cut short his career at 33, but Prior leaves the game as three-time Ashes winner and England’s most successful Test keeper behind the legendary Alan Knot.

Best Performance: Known for his aggressive stroke play, it was a rear guard century that saved England from a series defeat against New Zealand in Auckland in 2013.

42. Damien Martyn (Aus)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 60 matches, 4,089 runs at 48.67

The 21st century represented a second-chance period for Damien Martyn, a batsman so gifted he made the retirement of the great Mark Waugh seem a mere blip on Australia’s radar. Graceful and with an economy of movement at the crease that made the difficult look easy, Martyn was also prepared to hang tough when it was required. In 2004, he was Australia’s best batsman during series wins in Sri Lanka and India, mastering the spin of Murali, Kumble and Harbhajan. Outstanding against pace as a product of the wild west, those efforts capped off his rise to one of the world’s best all-round batsmen during the first five years of the century.

Best Performance: Two hundreds in Sri Lanka, a match-winning final-innings 101 in Johannesburg, Martyn was consistently superb at No.4 for Australia during the back-end of their golden period. Yet it was 2004 in India, when he came within a whisker of becoming the first Australian since Bradman to score three straight hundreds (104, 114, 97), that he cemented his legacy.

41. Chaminda Vaas (SL)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 77 matches, 247 wickets at 29.69

Where Shane Warne had Glenn McGrath, Muthiah Muralidaran had Chaminda Vaas. Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas (for short) used his economical left-arm action to trouble the world’s best batsmen. Compact and low to the ground, Vaas was a master of extracting every skerrick of swing available and harnessing it to damaging effect. When he wasn’t bending the ball back into the right-hander, Vaas used the crease and a cleverly disguised off-cutter to provide ample service to Murali and his country. In 2001 Vaas destroyed the visiting West Indies with 14 wickets and finished his career with an unbeaten century against Bangladesh in 2007.

Best Performance: Impossible to go past the 14-wicket haul in 2001. Vaas confiscated seven wickets in each innings and finished the match off with four wickets in nine balls.

Counting down the Top 100

• 100-91 
• 90-81 
• 80-71 
• 70-61
• 60-51
• 50-41