10 Greatest New Zealand Cricketers of All Time
The New Zealand cricket team played it’s first Test Match in 1930, making itself the fifth country to play test cricket. They are also nicknamed “Black Caps”. New Zealand started cricket with going against and practicing with Australia right after the second World War. Since then to the 2000s, New Zealand has been proficient in having a competitive cricket team that has managed to gather a lot of attention. Here are the ten greatest New Zealand cricketers till now.
1. Ross Taylor
Born on 8th March 1984, Ross Taylor is among the most popular cricketers from New Zealand. He was the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in test cricket and ODIs. Ross has scored 7683 runs in Test cricket with a batting average of 44.66 and in his international career, he has scored 8607 runs with a batting average of 47.55. Moreover, he captained New Zealand’s cricket team for the first time in March 2010. One of his most impressive feats is scoring 40 centuries in both test cricket and international cricket combined in his career.
2. Tim Southee
He was born on 11th December, 1988. Tim Southee is a right arm fast-medium-paced bowler as well as a hard-hitting low-order batsman. He is the third New Zealand cricketer to take 300 test wickets. Southee has bowled over 21000 balls in Test cricket with 359 wickets, and over 7700 balls in ODI cricket with 210 wickets. He is a certified death overs bowler. At the 2011 ICC World Cup, he was the third highest wicket-taker with 18 wickets at 17.33. Southee has been a great servant for the Kiwi cricket. At the peak of his career, he was one of the most sought after player in IPL.
3. Brendon McCullum
Born on 27th September 1987, McCullum is famous for his brisk batting, he has scored the fastest test century of all time. Besides, he is one of the only two Kiwi cricketers to have scored two centuries in T20I and over 2000 runs in T20I.
He has scored almost 6500 runs in test cricket with a batting average of 38.64 and over 6000 runs in ODI cricket with a batting average of 30.41. McCullum is a right handed aggressive batsman that has the ability to play the Dilscoop, or the ramp shot which is a technique invented by the Sri Lankans. He won the 2014 award for the New Zealand Sportsman of the Year.
4. Martin Crowe
He was born in 22nd December, 1962. Crowe is the greatest batsman in New Zealand’s cricket history. He was credited as the youngest test batter at the time for New Zealand at the age of 19. In 1995, he held the record for the most ODI international cricket runs scored by a New Zealand player. Martin has scored almost 5500 runs in test cricket with a batting average of 45.36 and over 4700 runs in international cricket with a batting average of 38.55.
5. Trent Boult
Born on 22nd July 1989, Trent Boult is a fast bowler for the New Zealand cricket team. He is a left arm fast and medium paced bowler and a right-handed batsman. His bowling feats are very impressive with him having almost 17500 bowls in test cricket with 317 wickets and in ODIs international cricket he has almost 5500 bowls with 187 wickets. Moreover, he significantly assisted New Zealand in winning the world test championship of 2019-2021.
6. John Wright
Born on 5th July 1954, John Wright is one of the finest Kiwi cricketers that also captained the team. He was a left handed batsman and a right arm medium-paced bowler. Wright was the first New Zealand cricketer to score 5000 runs in test cricket at an average of 37.82 runs. In first class cricket he has scored over 25000 runs with 50 centuries; a remarkable feat. In ODIs he scored almost 4000 runs with a batting average of 26.46. After his retirement he coached the Indian National Cricket Team from 2000 to 2005.
7. Richard Hadlee
Born on 3rd July, 1951. Richard Hadlee is one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history. As well as the finest fast bowler of all time. He has almost 22000 balls in test cricket and has taken 431 wickets. Moreover, in ODIs he has over 6000 balls with 158 wickets. For his services to cricket he was appointed as an MBE in the 1980’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List and Knighted in the 1990s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In December 2002, he was named as the second best test bowler of all time by Wisden. Hadlee is one of the finest proponents of fast bowling and many modern fast bowlers consider him an idol.
8. Daniel Vettori
Born on 27th January 1979, Vettori is a coach and former cricketer that was the 200th player to win his Test cricket cap for New Zealand. Daniel was the youngest male to represent New Zealand in Test cricket. He made his debut at the age of 18. He was the 8th player in history to take 300 test wickets and have 3000 test runs. Moreover, he has almost 29000 balls in test cricket with 362 wickets. And, in his ODI career he has over 14000 balls and 305 wickets.
9. Kane Williamson
Born on 8th August 1990, Williamson is currently the captain for the New Zealand cricket team. Considered as one of the finest batsman ever produced in New Zealand. Williamson is also one of the greatest cricketers in current day. He is ranked alongside the greatest like Virat Kohli. He has over 7700 runs in test cricket with a batting average of 53.33. Moreover, in his ODI career he has over 6500 runs with a batting average of 47.83. Martin Crowe and Ian Chappell have ranked him among the top four cricket batsmen, alongside Virat Kohli, Joe Root and Steve Smith.
10. Stephen Fleming
Born on 1st April, 1973. Stephen Fleming is one of the greatest New Zealand batsmen in the history of cricket. He also captained the team and is the longest-serving and most successful captain. Fleming has over 7000 runs in test cricket with a batting average of 40.06 and in his international cricket career he has over 8000 runs with a batting average of 32.40. He is currently the head coach of the IPL (Indian Premier League) team the “Chennai Super Kings.”
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