This was a great list. people should understand that this list is not the Greatest Cricketers, but it is the greatest Cricketers that Shane Warne has seen. So, arguibly this would be the best list., but still some names for the local Australian county doesnt impress much. Otherwise, its awesome.

John Raj Joy, Chennai, India

It was a near perfect list in my opinion as well but i believe rahul dravid shud have been included in the top 10, may be in place of ian healy or mark taylor.He has been the back boon of the indian batting line up 4 over a decade now. the sheer class of his battin makes him deserve that spot itself

Farhan Ahmad, oxford,

sumal of Melbourne suggests that Murali deserves 1st place??? If he played for Australia or England, his career would have been no-balled into obscurity.

Steven, Risdon Vale, Australia

if Ponting will have 'smashed all Test batting records' then why is he only ranked at #8? Surely the man who will most likely hold the test record for having the most runs and centuries in tests deserves to be at least #5. but Warne has definitely got it right by putting tendulkar at the top..

Jeevan , Boston, US

Keep in mind Warne ranked the players of his era.

Dravid and Gooch could have gone higher than Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh.

Rachel C, Florida, USA

Murali is 7th... he deserves the 1st place.He is the best bowler of all time.Where is Sangakkara? Imran Khan?

sumal, Melbourne, Australia

I think Saqlain Mushtaq and Kumar Sangakara should have been picked. Saqlain simply because of his bowling average and as a founder of doosra. thats my opinion.

Ali, Bristol, uk

i am ok with the ratings..but warne should give best spot to Rahul dravid.. because dravid is better than sachin..dravid came to the international side in 1996 and he was able to reach the 10000 runs land mark easily than sachin as well as in odi's..dravid is better than sachin

Sri, chennai, india

I Don't think that we must comment on players like Sachin, Lara. definitely don and sobers were better than sachin, but its hard to digest lara. simple enough lara had a great time in 90's and sachin in 00. so that doesnt make difference, both had same pressure, although sachin may have edge over it

deepak, mumbai, INDIA

what ??? no sir ian botham ??
monty but no botham, i just dont get it ?? he was better than at least half of this list !? so warne is saying that freddie is better than beefy ????????? its just wrong, i thought warne knew about cricket ? sachin should be top though i agree .

js padgett, london, england

I dont think Sachin deserves the top position. It is probably because Sachin has played Warne the best.

Suhail, Bangalore, India

I dont understand why thank Shane for putting Sachin on top...

I really dont feel Sachin deserves the top place, still thats Warnie's opinion but does anybody have to thank him for it?

Sujan Rao (sanath189), Mangalore, India

thanks warne for putting sachin on top, its a best list of top 50 players, but why u dropped ganguly, anyways its a gud list

guru, pune, india

Sir Don Bradman, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Ian Bothom are not in the list because Shane Warne hasn't played against him. A bit surprised at the non inclusion of Vittori. And, if the list was about the best players Shane Warne has played with/against, then it surely must include VVS Laxman who has been India's leading run scorer and match winner against Australia in the 21st century. Also missing is Sir Richard Hadlee, and I am surprised Atherton isn't a bit higher. I would also have expected Shane to list Inzamam and Chanderpaul in there, but on the whole, the list looks ok.

Chinmay, Mumbai, India

Sir Ian Botham
Sir Richard Hadlee
Sir Donald Bradman
Sir Viv Richards

I can't see why any of them was left out of the top twenty, let alone the top fifty.

Harv Chester, Christchurch, New Zealand

this list is absolutely meaningless with -out Sir Ian Botham and quite a few others I could mention.

a bit silly really !!

Mike Greening, York, North Yorkshire

Where is Waqar Younis and VVS Laxman. These two have the right arm and wrist of the lord. Sachin at number 1 ughh, hate to admit it because of the rivalry but that's the correct position after his recent expolits. Though Waqar took him out in 1989 when they were both young guns, but Sachin put him into retirement WC2003 with that amazing 98. Crickets only a game calm down.

Moinuddin, Karachi,

Where the devil is Daniel Vettori? Sorry, he's just my favourite cricketer... I guess there's no reason for you to like him as well. Not a bad list though. I respect most of your favourites.

Maha, Karachi, Pakistan

Erm........ Ian Botham and or Viv Richards not there. Very poor judgement not to include either of these.

Henry Giles, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Where's Richard Hadlee - surely deserves a place before Chris Cairns?

mark Champion, Sydney, NSW

Surprised no place for Ian Botham

Dave, newport,

Thank you Warne, you're a great bowler and really understand the great Tendulkar. Youre both World best

Atika Varachhia, Gloucester,

glenn mcgrath is a great bowler but you cant compare him with wasim akram ,wasim akram was class bowler, i m not agreed with 5th number 2nd some great players are missed,shane warne himself,imran khan,courtney wash,marshal as well,inzmam-ul-haq.ranatunga,and many mores,so shane no doubt tendulker is a good great player but hes not match winner player,mostly he just played for hisself ,i think brian lara should must on top.

atiif, copenhagen, denmark

hey wheres richard hadlee???

joe`, stoke, england

Courteney Walsh 22 places above Allan Donald?!?!

Jacques Kallis below Gooch, Dravid, Mark Waugh, Boon, and Merv Hughes?!?!?!?

And where are Inran Khan and Sangakarra?

This might be the worst list I've ever seen

Rob Fenner, Joburg , South Africa

i agree with warne about the number 1 spot. tendulkar is a class player and deserves the spot. lara is also a superb player, but he is less able to perform at away grounds. tendulkar meanwhile has a similar average both home and away.
also, lara was captain and was able to decide when he wants to declare....hence the 400* innings. tendulkar has not however been as fortunate. however, lara's persevation and mental strength is highly commendable, as it is an incredible feat to achieve 375 and 400* (albeit on a flat ground, against a below-par bowling attack). tendulkar shud be commended on his ability to deal with the pressure of a billion plus indian population, all wanting him to score big runs.
also tendulkar is the better CRICKETER - i.e. he bats incredibly, can bowl reasonably well, is a good fielder, and has a gentlemen like humility. lara is only really a batsman (and an ok fielder), and as displayed during the india-windies test series, that india won, lara is not as humble.

Samir Mehta, London, England

not a full fledged list..

where did lakshman go.. who lead the india win from a follow on by facing sharne bowling well in 2003, which made AUS to losr a test after 16 consecutinve wins.. Nad lakshman played a good rol in last week's test to defeat AUS after 16 consecutigve wins again..i believe sharne warne has a loss of memory..

where is Ganguly.. Inzamam, imran khan

Why the great captain Steve waugh is at 26.. Sharne is jelous of Steve..

RK, Cypress, CA

if peitersen is in the list, i think michael hussey shud also be included.
also laxman and ganguly shud be there.
how is darren lehman better than steve waugh? that is just retarded.
stuart macgill is not better than kapil dev.
jacques kallis - the best modern day allrounder- sholud be higher up,as should pollock
also jayawardene/sangakarra should be there
SACHIN's PLACE IS RIGHT!

Samir Mehta, London, England

Shane is very honest and that only adds to his greatness, who else can confess that he use to have nightmares of Tendulkar charging down the wicket and hit him out of the ground. Speaks volumes about their healthy rivalary and mutual respect, no wonder Tendulkar stands at top of his list.

I think the list is pretty comprehensive and as a matter of fact Shane’s own opinion and assessments of these players’ abilities and short comings. Some one can disagree...

We miss you Shane, we wanted 1,000 wickets from you, and you did not have to retire so soon...Any chance of a come back?

Cheers,
Falgun Dave, USA

Falgun Dave, St. Louis, USA

Where is Laxman? I thought Laxman should have been there in this list!

Steve Bucknor, Jamaica,

rating is not very impressive.sharne has rated them according to their permonces agaist him.he should have seen their overall performance.there r few players who should have been included like ganguly and murli should have been placed in top 3.
over all the rating is poor

Alok Aswal, dehradun, uttaranchal,india

I think This list only includes players against whom Warnie has played against hence no Viv or Botham....seems pretty good to me as Warne has also taken personal traits into consideration. I think Ganguly should have been in the list for his brilliance as a batsman as well as an aggressive captain. Also, a couple of players in my opinion are highly rated (do not wish to name).
Overall quite impressive.

Rachit, Mumbai, India

Well done Warne.Tendulkar deserves to be in the top.I am very happy with your chronology of the players and this help me to know how the players had been in the past.Make a similar list next year,and don't miss Tendulkar as earlier.

Ram Prasad Panday, Kathmandu,

Why am I not surprised to only see 3 positions allocated to South African cricketers. Ozzie's hates giving quality opposition recognition. This is why Shane only rates Muralitharan (the world's most successful bowler) as No. 7. I REALLY hope that an international side who are able to give the Ozzie's a consistent lesson will step forward - please!

Dirk, Vredenburg, South Africa

No Botham?
None of the current England players listed are in his league!

No Viv Richards?
Larger than life and a true legend of the game!

Ed Burns, hong kong, hk sar

Thank you Warne, Tendulkar is undoubtedly the best !!

Ritwik Bhuyan, Guwahati, Assam

the list is spot on Mr. Warne..sachin has been the best performer n the most consistent in the game after bradman and deserves the no. 1 spot..he also influenced the game more than any other player barring bradman ever..u should have also included ur own name..

kaustubh kulkarni, Mumbai, India

I don't agree with Warne there is no name of some of the legendary players like Imran khan, Inzzy, most needed talent in cricket is fielding and there is no name of legendary fielder Jonty Rhodes, most successful Indian captain Saurav Ganguly. I am not happy with top ten players too.There should be Brain Charles Lara in position 1. There is the name of kapil Dev but the Sri Lanka legendary player Arjuna Ranatunga is missing. Being such greatest player Mr. Warne should not make such a list.

sea, kathmandu, nepal

where is imran khan?

nav, berks, UK

I agree with most of Warne's top 50, but not necessarily in same order. waqar younis (22nd) was a lot better then shoaib akhter (49th). Inzi should be in top 25, prob around 20th. warne himself is in top 10 and wasim akram was better than Mcgrath and Ambrose.
My top 12 are:
1. Brian Lara
2. Wasim Akram
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Shane Warne
5. Allan Border
6. Glen McGrath
7. Curtley Ambrose
8. Muttiah Murlithrhan
9. Ricky Ponting
10. Rahul Dravid
11. Adam Gilghrast
12. Aravinda Desilva

Hamza, London, UK

Don't take it so seriously. This is his opinion, it is not fact.

blair, auckland, NZ

INFERIOR COMPLEX ALERT! from RR (Rameeez RaZa) and Aditya. Grow up, Inzamam was only good only flat pitches thats why he coudnt cut IN Australia his best was against thrid worst bowling attack;India . Look what he did in that 6 day AUS v World XI and all other times v the best team of his generation nothing, crying like a baby because he couldnt get into the team and when he got there because Tendulkar was injured as he has been 2003 to 2007. Potato man got out for a couple of ducks. Inzi is a flat pitch bully who feats on weak bowling. Sachin has established his reputation since 1991 when he blitzed Aussies on a green top. Obviously if you have a better 11, then your team will win more matches. One man can't bowl bat and keep wicket at the same time, but Tendulkar nearly pulls it off.

Jai, Mumbai, India

What about Dennis Lillee? I thought (allegedly) he was one of your idols?

Didi, London, UK

might be late... but one thing i would definately like to say i love indian people. One advice to Jai.... Please grow up!!! it seems a 12 year old kid is writting his views. There is no doubt that Sachin is one of the greatest player but go have a look at statistics sachin have more than 34 centuries but i think out of 34 india won near 8 matches... where as inzi made 25 and out 25, near 20 was one by Pakistan.. So stop behaving like a kid go have a look at statistics... N if shane warne has not written inzi in his best 50 than its ok as inzi has never performed against warne .. but on a whole he should be there in best 20.

RR, Asia, Asia

This are shane warne's views sajjad. He has bowled against all the ones he has mentioned, and if he feels that sachin is better than lara, then it is probably justified him saying that. You just can twist and tweak his opinions to yours. Besides, your opinion is flawed I would say. Firstly, Sachin is a match winner too. More often than not, his centuries have won matches for India, and who as more than him ?! I am not denying that lara is a match winner, but you need to realise that sachin is as well. Its warne's opinion and yours can stay with you mate.

Suresh, Singapore,

jai, u need to shut-up . you already have like 30 comments.

secondly, if warne says tendulkar is best, he is the best. there is no disputing the opinion of the greatest leg-spinner ever.
tendulkar has class, class that no one i've ever seen has.

aditya babel, Old York, US

Tendulkar is a good batsman but not match winner, Lara is better as compare to Little Master even Dravid is a class[to me he is much better than Little Master in Tests],But Waqar should be in top 10, Lee, Sohaib and other can not compare to Waqar. Anyway its opinion. Here comes mine.

1-Lara
2-Tendulkar-Dravid-Clark
3-Murli-Warne
4-Wasim-Macgrath
5-Walsh-Ambrose
6-Inzamam-Arvinda-Steve Waugh
7-Waqar-Mohammad Yousaf-Kallis
8-Stephen Fleming

its my opinion, some played less matches but all have different and solid techniques

Sajjad, Dubai, UAE

This list is very interesting. I like it a lot. It is Warne's top 50 that he has played with and against. It isnt the 50 most tallented then AB and Tubby would not be in the top ten. It was good reading,

Michael, Adelaide, Australia

Nice reaction Rashid From Pakistan, very typical :- LOL). Green eyed monster alert.

You only get a triple if you play to DRAW. Unless of course your Shewag and battered and plunder the opposition into submission by blasting 309 in next to no time. I think you missed out on Tendulkars great innings 194* and century in India until he got cramp and lost hiss wicket for 135.

Tendulkar has never had the luxury of a World Class bowler to defend his runs i.e someone who the opposition fears. The opposition respects Indian bowlers but plays with no fear. If

Sachin had to bat against his own bowlers I think he would have a Bradmanesque like average.

Apart from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe MOST batsmens have their best batting record against India. Thats not the kind of attack you want defending your runs.

Thats why Tendulkar has to bowl for the team aswell, maybe he should have kept wicket aswell with the convicted match fixer Nayan Mogia keeping wicket for most of Tendulkars career

Jai, Mumbai, India

Rashid from Pakistan,

Its pathetic and unfortunate that you can't lean towards Warne in order to convince the World that a Pakistani player is No1. Because they are not good enough for first prize.

Warne's words carry WEIGHT because he was the GREATEST LEG Spinner of all time. It doesn't matter what Tom, Dick or RASHID thinks? unless you have taken 709 wickets?

I think you should ask Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir how great Sachin is. Even though Waqar took out Sachin in 1991, he stills thinks hes the greatest. Sachin put WAsim and Waqar into retirement 98 WC 2003. One man demolition job.

Jai, Mumbai, India

I would definitely put Sourabh Ganguly ahead of Rahul Dravid.
I have seen both of them play several times and the 'Dada' as they call him is head and shoulders above Dravid. I also think Ganguly was voted the India's best test captain ever.

Reba G. Hose, London, U.K>

I love it when the Indians and Pakistanis start their rhetoric about cricket. Neither can see past their own backyard even though their teams have been lamentable away from home. Firstly, Don Bradman IS the greatest batsman ever, full stop. If he played as many tests as Tendulkar, he would have scored 70 odd test hundreds. Tendulkar himself says he is not in Bradmans league. Don't get me wrong, Tendulkar is a champion, but, Bradman was a freak. You will never, I repeat never, see a batsman of his ilk again.
Let's not forget, this is Warne's opinion and based on how he found these players. Inzi is obviously not there because frankly, against Australia, he was rubbish.
I am surprised that he put Tendulkar above Lara because Lara used to save his best for Australia. He was the only reason Tests against the West Indies weren't over in 2 days towards the end of his career. In saying that, Tendulkar was pretty handy himself. I have no problem with Warne's list as it is, only his opinion.

Peter, Melbourne, Australia

Jai, Mumbai, India!

It is pathetic that you have to lean towards Warnie in order to convince the world that Tendulkar is the best. He is a great player. But any Triple from him? And if you talk about sustaining pressure, How many tests has he won against Pakistan?
Come on! be brave, accpet the reality

Rashid, Islamabad, Pakistan

Fine list Warnie, the Greatets Spinner of ALL TIME chooses the GREATEST BATSMEN OF HIS GENERATION as his FVOURITE. THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE

Here is my alltime top 5 for the same period as Warney's career.

5 Sane Warne
4 Glenn McGrath
3 Curtly Ambrose
2 Brian Lara
1 Sachin Tendulkar

What a great top 5

Stop the Anti-Tendulkar's comments andjealousy of the Indian Batsman. I hope you can sleep at night. I can knowing that Warne choose him as his favourite and not Potato Inzi or any ball tamperers.

It doesnt matter what anyone here says you armchair fans the WARNIE HAS SPOKEN. What Warne says goes. Warne PUTS SACHIN No.1 HIS opinion is everything thats why soo many people are complaining. Stop crying.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Fine list Warnie, the Greatets Spinner of ALL TIME chooses the GREATEST BATSMEN OF HIS GENERATION as his FaVOURITE.

THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE

Here is my alltime top 10:
10 Ian Healy
9 Mark Taylor
8 Ricky Ponting
7 Muttiah Muralitharan
6 Wasim Akram
5 Glenn McGrath
4 Allan Border
3 Curtly Ambrose
2 Brian Lara
1 Sachin Tendulkar

What a great top 5 especially, actually this is Warnies aswell what a similar list.

There are so many Anti-Tendulkar's members that must be soo jealous of the Indian Batsman. I hope you can sleep at night. I can knowing that Warne choose him as his favourite and not Potato Inzi or any ball tamperers.

It doesnt matter what anyone here says you armchair fans the WARNIE HAS SPOKEN. What Warne says goes.

Warne PUTS SACHIN No.1 HIS opinion is everything thats why so many people are steamming and crying. Get over it if you can. LOL.

Jai, Mumbai, India

dear neil,unfortunately the "excuses"= facts.
i would have thought shane warne,wasim akram,allan donald,don bradman,richie benaud,etc etc. would have a slightly greater knowledge than you as regards cricket.
and they all regard tendulkar as the greatest of the era.
or perhaps they're all sitting around cooking up excuses too?

sheet, delhi, india

Shane warne a brilliant cricketer is entitled to his list of top 50. This is how he viewed cricket. You are awesome warney. I am a big Fan. Ofcourse there are few question marks but again this is shane warne's top ten not world crickets.

Tendulkar is egoist and selfish. Lara on other hand has far less of an ego and selfishness. Little master has shown over and over again.

Moaz Tariq, Lahore, Pakistan

Sheet, stop making excuses.

Neil, Toronto,

Hi great list by Mr Warne, I understand why INZAMAM UL HAQ is not there because he was rubbish against the best bowlers. He makes most his runs on FLAT PANCAKE PITCHES. Whereas Sachin and Brian have done it on all pitches.

Waqar should be in the top 20 for sure, even though he was wayward, he can be devastating.

Where is VVS Laxman who destroyed Warne and Aussies?????

Tendulkar is the best batsman no doubt, he has a rubbish bowling attack to defend his runs, but still does the job on his own and takes some wickets aswell with his clever bowling.

He also destroyed us in 2003 World cup with 98 OUT. I could not belive that great innings under the pressure, batting against 3 Modern GREATS of bowling Shoaib, Wasim and Waqar.

Decent list warne. I am pround Pakistani to see Wasim bhai at number 6.

Tendulkar at No.1 is a sensible and correct decision if all factors are considered, even if he is Indian. Congrats.

Mohammed, Karachi, Pakistan

TO SAM, Washington DC,

Its really surprising to see u comment like that without knowledge or anaylising stats..Tendulkar is way ahead of all these batsman and the closest any other comes is Pointing (but still he a far away from little champion) becaz of his ability to play birliant knocks in big matches.
Brian has his birliant times but usually selfish and egoistic.

Raj, cricket ,

Waugh and Gilchrist make the first 11 Australian cricket team of the century yet Warne has them at 26 and 20. Very curious - it's unfortunate Warne is still unable to get over being dropped in 1999. I had hoped he was a bigger man than that. Obviously not.

Anthony Hall, Sydney, NSW

To say lara played for the team and tendulkar didn't is the OPPOSITE of what the actuality is.
Even right after his last game he asked the crowd "did i entertain?"
what's this , a circus?
lara ,in fact always played for himself.
ridiculous records like the 400 were pure selfishness . not even a thought was given to declaration ,to go for a WIN.
even the ONE and only matchwinning innings of lara ,the 153 was one of great luck and also healy dropped a regulation catch.
tendulkars 136 against pak was a flawless innings,till the last stroke when he could hardly stand due to back spasms.
the last 5 batsman couldnt put together the 17 runs required for victory!
in sachins prime the indian team was poor.
lara was infact in a VERY good team: ambrose,walsh,hooper,chandrapaut,richardson etc .
only during laras last 5/6 years did he have a bad team.
but during these last years pitches were flatter.
these last 5 yrs have also corresponded with sachins decline due to injuries

sheet, delhi, india

How can he say Tendulkar is mentally stronger than Lara. Lara has twice set the record for most runs in an inning. Its true that it came against crappy English bowling. Still, it requires a tremendous discipline and focus to go on and on like that and score that many runs in an innings. Isn't that sort of discipline and focus a sign of mental strength? Tendulkar has never won a test match for India. I'm an Indian, and I dont rate him ahead of Lara or Ponting or Warne... My list of 1o greatest cricketers of last 20 years (around the time Warne appeared in cricket)
1. Brian Lara
2. Shane Warne
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Wasim Akram
5. Muralitharan
6. Sachin Tendulkar
7. Glen McGrath
8. Ambrose
9 Alan Donald
10 Jayasuriya
I'm an Indian, and I dont rate Tendulkar

Sam, Washington DC,

I can't take a list seriously that omits Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards. Where's Sir Viv? Where's Garry Sobers?

Bah.

andrew lees, london,

Stop being jealous all you Lara supporters. Tendulkar is INDIAN and Warnies No.1 not POTATO INZI nor ball tamperers like Wacky and Qasim.

Warnes favourite cricketer on the planet is Indian. Dont be jealous other ASIANS.

What a tribute that the GREATEST LEGISPINNER OF ALL TIME has put TENDULKAR AS HIS GREATEST Player (during his time).

First is everything 6th is Nothing. Especially when there has been some ball tampering to get there!

Jai, Mumbai, India

Lets settle this. Tendulkar was a better batsmen than lara in ODIs but when it came to tests Lara is the best. for right handed bowlers, it is a lot easier to bowl the left handers and make it go across them. His high backlift, c'mon, a full on swing every time and still you couldnt get him out. I like them both and dont mind whose number one.
another thing, Javed Miandad? hello? he did play in his eera...???Waqar lower than druggy shoaib? Allan border was alright and scored many runs but he played 150+ tests, and michael vaughn...ha...ha...ha my backside.
Fat flintoff is alright, and all you people who think wasim is ball tamperer, you're either stuck up english or a biased aussi, i mean c'mon mcgrath, nothing to wasim or waqar!

madoody, chamulk,

oh,lara's good,no doubt.
thing is.......
SACHIN's BETTER!

Dimpl, mumbai, india

india haha all you've ever had is sachin, never had a good bowler in your life, kapil dev was miiince. dont insult larahed destroy any attack and look at the pressure he had, a horrible west indies team to deal with and still double centureis against australia, quadruple against england, and dont call inzi fat, seeeeeewwwwaaaaaag, pooowwwwwaaaarrrrrr lmao

madoody, chamulk,

Lets settle this. Tendulkar was a better batsmen than lara in ODIs but when it came to tests Lara is the best. for right handed bowlers, it is a lot easier to bowl the left handers and make it go across them. His high backlift, c'mon, a full on swing every time and still you couldnt get him out. I like them both and dont mind whose number one.
another thing, Javed Miandad? hello? he did play in his eera...???Waqar lower than druggy shoaib? Allan border was alright and scored many runs but he played 150+ tests, and michael vaughn...ha...ha...ha my backside

madoody, chamulk,

according to me sachin ramesh tendulkar is the greatest cricketer ever to walk on the planet . some may disagree . some will say sir don bradman and siir garry sobers. and they may be right too, but some say lara better than sachin, but......sachin has made cricket more popular than anyother previous player, he has made cricket popular in small villages leave alone cities, for instance i tell a true incident
in the hockey dominated villages of punjab a state in north india , navjot singh sidhu was going to feliciated , ther a old man who knew nothing about cricket asked mr sidhu " DO U PLAY THAT TENDULKAR GAME? this is what sachin means for me , i have been brought up watching sachin play and he is god foreever
how ever one disputes his matchwinning capablties or othe things one think cannot be denied SACHIN IS HEART WINNER AND CROWD PULLER
SALUTE TO THE GREATEST LEG SPINNER EVER SHANE WARNE
LONG LIVE SACHIN

swapnil hasabnis, mumbai , india

Great List in most places. Tendulkar is the Greatest BATSMEN of all time. He's has played with and taken out all the best at one stage or another.

Lara got blasted away by England fast bowlers in Englad got taken out by Brett LEE and Shane Bond and all other fast men.

Sachin is RIGHT HANDED which makes it easy for bowlers to bowl to him.
Lara is LEFT handed which is like an advantage for him and disadvantage for most bowlers. AS IT IS PROVEN TO BE MNORE DIFFICULT TO BOWL TO LEFTIES.

Stop being jealous all you Lara supporters. Tendulkar is INDIAN and Warnies No.1 not POTATO INZI nor ball tamperers like Wacky and Qasim.

Warnes favourite cricket on the planet is Indian. Dont be jealous other ASIANS.

Jai, Mumbai, India

SOMEONE SAID THAT BECAUSE LARA SCORED NOT MUCH RUNS AGAINST S. AFRICA AND PAKISTAN, IT IS PROVED THAT HE WAS NOT A GREAT BATSMAN OF SUPER-FAST OR GENUINELY FAST (AS I UNDERSTAND). LARA SCORED AT AN AVERAGE OF 49 AGAINST S. AFRICA AND AT 53 AGAINST PAKISTAN. ADDING, AVERAGE OF 62 AGAINST ENGLAND. FURTHUR HE SCORED THAT 277 AGAINST AUSTRALIA SPEARHEADING MCDERMOTT-- A FAST BOWLER, OF COURSE; 400 AGAINST ENGLAND IN A SERIES WHERE STEVE HARMISON STARTED TO START A STORM (BUT ONLY FOR 12 MATCHES) WHICH ONCE INDUCED SAURAV GANGULY TO SAY HARMISON THE BEST FAST BOWLER THAT TIME, TAKING 23 WICKETS IN THE 4 MATCH SERIES. HE ALSO SAID THAT MCGRATH WAS A MEDIUM-FAST BOWLER. BUT MCGRATH WAS IN HIS YOUTH AND A GENUINELY FAST BOWLER IN 1999 WHEN LARA SMASHED HIM FOR THREE KNOCKS OF 213, A 84 BALL 100 AND A MATCH- WINNING 153* IN THE 3 MATCH SERIES.

ANURAG, ROORKEE, INDIA

i do appologise for insulting english and aussies, some are stuck up and some are biased but i mis read some comments and who wrote them and it turns out to be indian

madoody, chamulk,

all INDIANS are very happy specially jai, becoz sachin is no. 1, no doubt in it that he is a good player but he is not a match winner . DO u know what is meant by a great PLAYER??????? a great player is that who play at crucial time and win BIG matches , like Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting who win the World cup for their countries. and also remeber that this is Warne's list not the greatest of all time
In this list Wasim Akram is at no. 6 , i think that he should be at no. 2 he was a great bowler and also a good stoke player and He win the world cup for his country and goes in another final at his own( on his all round performance). he deserve to be at no. 2 of all time becoz he win no. of matches for his country,
INZI has got 20000 runs in International cricket and he is not in top 50 what a great joke by Warne,
and where is M. Azharudan, Ganguly and Gibbs.........
waiting to see Murli's list now that who is no. 1 in world ?????????????

naveed , sheffield, uk

Great List in most places. Tendulkar is the Greatest BATSMEN of all time. He's has played with and taken out all the best at one stage or another.

Lara got blasted away by England fast bowlers in Englad got taken out by Brett LEE and Shane Bond and all other fast men.

Sachin is RIGHT HANDED which makes it easy for bowlers to bowl to him.
Lara is LEFT handed which is like an advantage for him and disadvantage for most bowlers. AS IT IS PROVEN TO BE MNORE DIFFICULT TO BOWL TO LEFTIES.

Stop being jealous all you Lara supporters. Tendulkar is INDIAN and Warnies No.1 not POTATO INZI nor ball tamperers like Wacky and Qasim.

Warnes favourite cricket on the planet is Indian. Dont be jealous other ASIANS.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Fine list Shane. I know why you have left Inzamam Potato out of your list. Firstly because he scores runs of flat jack pitches and has never hit runs on a green top whereas Sachin has done that since 1990. Also Inzi potato has not scored against the best bowlers of his era. He is a 100% flat pitch bully. He thrives on rubbish bowlers. Thats why shane has not put him on this list. Don't worry Inzi potato fans Shane will place him No.1 is the best EATERS that Warney has dined with.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Lots of arguments about Lara being better, as he is a world record holder in tests with a string of huge scores. But what about total runs scored-tests and ODI'S? What about the pressure of playing for India as a superstar-Lara would not be able to comprehend this. Look what happened to Kambli-someone as talented as Tendulkar but the pressures of fame were too much. I'm not sure Lara would have coped. No one here has spoken about the bowling-few know that Tendulkar has taken more than 150 wickets in ODI'S-he is amateurish but can turn the ball both ways and all said and done has taken more wickets than any world leading batsman in anyone's list. NOw-Thats a complete cricketer-something Ponting or Lara will never ever be. I know this list is all about cricket but one last brownie point for Tendulkar-thats something even Warne recognised-with his humility and behaviour and character he is also probably the greatest man on that list. Thats settled then-Sachin rules.

Satish, Cardiff, UK

Lots of arguments about Lara being better, as he is a world record holder in tests with a string of huge scores. But what about total runs scored-tests and ODI'S? What about the pressure of playing for India as a superstar-Lara would not be able to comprehend this. Look what happened to Kambli-someone as talented as Tendulkar but the pressures of fame were too much. I'm not sure Lara would have coped. No one here has spoken about the bowling-few know that Tendulkar has taken more than 150 wickets in ODI'S-he is amateurish but can turn the ball both ways and all said and done has taken more wickets than any world leading batsman in anyone's list. NOw-Thats a complete cricketer-something Ponting or Lara will never ever be. I know this list is all about cricket but one last brownie point for Tendulkar-thats something even Warne recognised-with his humility and behaviour and character he is also probably the greatest man on that list. Thats settled then-Sachin rules.

Satish, Cardiff, UK

i think Warney's compiled a decent list.
Flintoff at sixteen though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!he can't even manouevre a pedalo!!! and his current form is nothing short of shambolic.
Obviously Shane's picked those he's played with or against.
Top 3 of all-time, 1. Viv Richards, 2. D Bradman, 3. The man himself - the look on Gatts face when Warney clean bowled him was one of the greatest moments of all time for a scottish cricket fan.

john Wilson, ayrshire, scotland

What about Imran Khan, Azharuddin, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Abdul Qadir (he was better than Tim May atleast).

Referring to Jai, I guess he doesnt know Inzi won Pakistan a test at Karachi in which Warne was playing and was at peak of his career (the match in which he accused Salim Malik of bribing them although the crucial stumping was missed by Healy).

Where is Salim Malik, scored double century against them, Ijaz Ahmed

Analyse Sachin and Inzi. Inzi played for the team but Sachin played for the records!!

Adnan Khan, Islamabad, Pakistan

Not a Bad list at all. Bcoz Sachin's achievements are actually under estimated by biased comments. He carried a whole team and the expectations of a CRICKET LOVING nation. A man who don't know what is batting is all about also will expect him to fire!!!! Furthermore, Sach's on-field behaviour is exemplary amid whole lot of senseless decisions and comments against him. That's why he's ahead of em'all. But Steve Waugh, Gilly, and some others deserved higher recognition and Harmison can't be in this list at all. If Kapil is in there, where is King Richards.....Kapil may have won India a world cup, but at the moment he is trying his best to destroy the Indian team by comparing Senior players like Dravid and Sachin...Lucky we didn't get him as a Coach....Kapil is a good cricketer but not a good person...he is a curse for Indian cricket and he himself retired immediately after breaking Hadlee's record...he prolonged his career for personal records...he shouldn't be in this list

Keith Kumar, Toronto, Canada

Referring to Scott's comments coming from Brisbane - Australia, i think he forgot the Karachi Test Match which Inzi won singlehandedly for Pakistan. If the number of 100s are a testimony of having a better record against a team than scoring matchwinning scores, then u have to feel for Shane. Also his heroics in 1992 WC.

I did'nt see the names of Saurav, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Abdul Qadir, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sunil Gavaskar, Azharuddin, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Viv, Richardson, Micheal Holding, ...........and the list goes on!

Record shows that Kevin Pieterson and Harmison's performances in Ashes were just flash in the pan.....how on earth can they be better than Waqar and Kapil. Saqlain does'nt even figure in the list.

In the end, I think Lara is better than Tendulkar. Keeping everything else constant, I think he was a better matchwinner than Sachin.

Adnan Khan, Islamabad, Pakistan

Do you think Ganguly is not in top 50 list...who was one of the greatest batsman,bowler and captain.
What about Broadman,Sunil Gavaskar, Javed Miandad,Chaminda VAAS,Jhonty roads,Dhoni,Atapattu,Kaluvitarna,Inzamam-ul-Haq,Krishnamachari Sreekanth . I guess these players are better than some of the players who are already in the list.

sagar, andhra pradesh, india

Warne actullay is spending his free time by writing this kind of list.He actually dont know how the crickerts are Great.He has no taste at all.

Muhammad Arshad Bhoarvi, Kundian,

That is a great judgement by Shane, particularly with regard to the top 10.

Surya Prasad Nadiminti, Hyderabad, India

Warne has erred by putting Gilchrist at 20. He would be in everyone's best side of the last 40 years - as for Taylor ahead of Steve Waugh - heaven forbid, no wonder Warne never made captain!!! If Waugh received a wonderful team from Taylor, how come that team had a far better record under Waugh. Get over Waugh dropping you in Windies Shane!!

brett jobson, sydney, australia

Great List in most places. Tendulkar is the Greatest BATSMEN of all time. He's has played with and taken out all the best at one stage or another.

Lara got blasted away by England fast bowlers in Englad got taken out by Brett LEE and Shane Bond and all other fast men.

Sachin is RIGHT HANDED which makes it easy for bowlers to bowl to him.
Lara is LEFT handed which is like an advantage for him and disadvantage for most bowlers. AS IT IS PROVEN TO BE MNORE DIFFICULT TO BOWL TO LEFTIES.

Stop being jealous all you Lara supporters. Tendulkar is INDIAN and Warnies No.1 not POTATO INZI nor ball tamperers like Wacky and Qasim.

Warnes favourite cricket on the planet is Indian. Dont be jealous other ASIANS.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Mark Waugh above his brother? Certainly Mark was a joy to watch, much more so than his brother, and he was certainly the finest slips fielder I’ve ever seen - and I have memories going back to Ian Chappell! If Aesthetics were all that mattered than Trumper was a far greater batsmen than Bradman, but the reality is that the sheer volume of numbers is what ultimately dictates the outcome of matches, and on that score Steve was clearly the better of the Waugh twins, particularly when it counted.

The likes of Flintoff and Pietersen have not yet done enough to stake their claims to greatness, though they’ll undoubtedly get their eventually. Harmison though? The guy can barely stay fit enough long enough to really produce for England, and even then he saves the efforts for English ovals. His performances away have been fairly pedestrian.

tim, sydney,

who da hell says warne's better than sachin, i guess this chap has watched any of the warne-sachin clash. and then warne's statement that he gets nightmares about sachin and coudnt figure out a way to tackle him. of course he is way ahead of everybody but definitely not sachin. be a sportsman buddy and dont just critisise just because he is an indian. that;s why your nation is getting doomed day by day of jelousy.

Kamal, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Potato inzamam was just not good enough for Warne he is nothing against Aussies, he is only good on flat pitchs against rubbish bowlers.

Your are the man Warne. The king of spin.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Many of the comments are about Lara and Tendulkar comparison and which one of these two players should be at the top of the list. What if I say neither of these two deserve the top spot and if it were my list neither of them would feature even in top 5. In other words this exclusive comparison between Lara and Tendulkar is quite misleading because it presupposes a conclusion that if, say, Tendulkar doesn't get the first place, he'll get the second place by default. Now let me compare both of them together with one player in terms of effectiveness, especially in the shorter version of the game. Your guess is right! The name of this great player is Michael Bevan. Now how many times you saw him fail his side? and how many times you saw Tendulkar and Lara failing to live up to the expectation of their teams and fans? The objective analysis will show that he won more matches for his side than both Lara and Tendulkar combined for their respective side. I have nothing more to say.

Gulzar Ahmed Baryar, London, United Kingdom

Dont be jealous of Sachin The Great because of His Nationality and Religion. Warne choose him over your favourite star so there. What Warnie says, Goes. Top list made by Warne regardles of what ARMCHAIR FANS may think.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Lara played the Aussies on bouncy tracks , in Australia and relatively quick tracks in the Caribbean. He was good enough against them always. Sachin played Warne on low to moderate bouncy wickets in India (not known for leg spinners being successful unless they are Indian) and he did only "well" in Australia. Lara for the last 10 years of his career played in a shoddy team - a skeleton of the great teams of the 80s and early 90s. Sachin had good enough support around him. The only reason why Warne has Sachin ahead of Lara is because Sachin gave Warne a hiding in India on tracks with no pace nor bounce.
Besides when "his team needed him most" was the criteria Lara is way above Sachin. And overall in the list he has at least 10 players , a good 7-8 of them Aussies who do not deserve to get in there.

Final Verdict : A typically biased verdict by typical Aussie cricketer in the post-Border era.

Roshan Fernando, Negombo, Sri Lanka

at least this guy is good enough to hahe played with these great players . long live warney!!!!

P.S i dissagree with satchin ahead of the great brian charles lara.

danny edwards, preston, england

For all those justifying shane for great waqar at 45.
In the peak time Australasia cup(sharjah)waqar demolished class acts like border, jones and boon. We hardly see their stumps uprooted but he did that easily.As 4 his avg record against aus have valid solid reasons.1:his rib injury in late 96s made him to ball less and medium.2: politics in the team and rivalry with akram made him to ball in the middle of the innigs and in short spells.3:consistent in & out in the team reduce ur performance.Above all The list is against 50 greatest of all time not 50 greats vs aus.If this is the criteria then no 1 can forgett mr VVs Laxman.Or if this is the criteria then wat abt waqar's great record against mighty westindiands(lara,simons,hynes,richrdson,chanderetc),southafricans.Although fielding+bowling+batting made them best like Mcgrath can't take 3 wickets in last over but they do get a run out and super catch.Therfore less match winners in Aus but total team effort.Not match winners like waqar

Ali, Lahore, Punjab

Waugh 26 Taylor 9 what a joke. Waugh not a matchwinner ?- 1987 and 1999 World Cups - every series against South Africa - 1989 ashes - West Indies 94/95 - Old Trafford 1997 - 98/99 ashes - all Waugh matchwinners, most for Tubby Taylor. In two or three series, Waugh topped the bowling and batting averages.
As for inheriting a top team from Taylor in 1999, by the end of 1999, the team had lost Taylor, Healy, Lehmann and Miller. In Taylor and Healy according to Warne, Waugh lost two of the best 10 in Warne's era. It is history that Waugh took the new-look team to new heights. What about Ponting inheriting a great team from Waugh - does that diminish Ponting's achievements? Clearly Warne has let his judgement be clouded by his personal likes, a good reason for never being test captain. Waugh should be much higher than Tubby.

Warne's poor judgement is again seriously questioned by his ridiculous ranking of Gilchrist.

brett jobson, sydney, australia

Courtney Walsh is NOT better than Waqar and Donald. Taylor is Not better than Hayden. Ian Healey is not better than A Gilchrist (the greatest WK batsman off all time by a distance).I suspect he has no compettion for that position in anyone's greatest 11 (apart from Warne that is).

Richie Richardson, London,

That's right. This is a list of the best 50 players Warne has played with or against, not the best all time. Of course there will be an over-representation of Aussies because they've dominated cricket during Warne's career. And players like Inzamam and Kallis hardly threatened Australia so why should he rate them? Still you've gotta question the high inclusions of Merv Hughes, Boof Lehmann as well as some Australian domestic cricketers and international also-rans.

Des, Melbourne, Australia

Warne 50 list is only related, where warne played against them. this is not all time great list nor all time great player list. once again this is only Warne favourite list and whom he played against each other. Hope this will clarify.
thanks

imtiaz javed, Framingham, ma, USA

Lara is not a match winner. How many matches outside the Caribbean did he help win? There are only two matches you can say he played a big part in winning - in Barbados and Jamaica against Australia. As for Tendulkar, maybe he should have helped India win more matches but he did play match winning innings in WI, England, Pakistan and India. Also people forget that bowlers mostly win matches and India's have generally been poor - that's why Tendulkar's 241 in Sydney and 113 in Wellington, eg, didn't count towards victories. Lara played with Walsh and Ambrose for most of his career as well as Bishop. During the 90s when Tendulkar was at his peak India only had Kumble.
As for pressure and being a team man - there's little doubt Tendulkar scores better on both counts. When India got the WC final in 03 largely because of Tendulkar he still got slated for failing in the final even though India's bowlers lost them the game. That's pressure. Where was the criticism of Lara for WI's poor show?

sudip, london,

Offcourse Tendulkar has most number of centuries most number of runs scored in the history of Cricket but he aint a match winner. 1992 1996 1999 2003 2007 and is gonna play in the next worldcup. But he hasnt won anything for his country like for example Steve Waugh. I rate Steve Waugh much high than Tendulkar. He won 2 worldcups for his country and many series.

Gulam Ali Mohsin Khan, Abu Dhabi,

Let's put some perspective on the Waugh/Lehmann ranking. It's the deciding Ashes Test, Australia is 4/40 chasing 300 - who do you want to see walking through the gate - Steve Waugh or Darren Lehman?. Give me a break Shane - did your mum do this part of the list?

Peter, Sydney,

As much as I am a fan of Shane Warne, I must say he is a very spiteful man. Just witness his hate for Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, John Buchanan. While those three seem to respect Shane and do not make their disagreements public, Shane constantly criticises them in the media. Very sad Shane, very sad!! Sometimes I felt Shane wanted England to win in the last two Ashes series, as hlong as he did OK himself.

I feel any division in the Aussie ranks in the last few years was entirley sue to Shane.

Richie Richardson, london,

Who'z Shane Warne? :-)

Srini, Hyderabad, India

This list seems to have created a lot of controversy. If Warne thinks Tendulkar is better than Lara then that's OK with me. Having bowled a considerable number of overs at both players, I guess he's in a pretty good position to judge - certainly better than anybody here questioning his decision..! However, what can't be questioned is that they are both truly GREAT players. Interestingly, don't know if this was deliberate, but Warnes top 11 would make an exceptional and balanced test side. It's got four number 11's but with the batting above, I doubt it would be a problem. Can't think of an obviously better 11..?
Taylor
Tendulkar
Ponting
Lara
Border
Akram
Healey
Ambrose
Muralitharan
Walsh
McGrath

Graeme, Leeds, UK

Well done Shane ! Really apprecited your list of top 50 players(especially sachin as no 1). There are some great names in that list and perhaps everyone is gifted in their own way . To put a list down would not have been an easy task. But I think u have done a wonderful job.

Andy, Birmingham, UK

How can Tim May be a better bowler than Allan Donald and Waqar Younis??????

Teddy Hilton, Sydney,

Pakistanis sure do to take pride from their cricketing greats.

Deepan, London, U.K

Good job shane.. I agree with most of the top 50.. Gillespe & Vass are probably the most underrated bowlers and sad they miss this list too.. Gibbs and Damien martyn are few of my fav batsmen.... Would have loved to see Gilchrist in top 10..

Happy to seee Sachin's name at the top where he deserves to be.. and appreciate shane's understanding of the pressure sachin has to take every time he is on crease.. a huge % of indians switch their tv's off the moment sachin gets out.. Lara is a great batsmen but Scahin is the top (if Viv Richards is not considered)!

Srikanth, pittsburgh, PA

TENDULKAR IS NO.1

Show your Support.

Nice list although VVS Laxman is missing, stop being jealous with Warne putting Tendulkar (INDIAN BATSMAN) at No.1. Just watch all the encounters, especially 'Operation Desert Storm' Sharjah.

Nobody gives nightmares to Warnies like sachin does. Which he himself admits.

As for Sir Viv Richards who never played against Warne well he said that Tendulkar is 99% Perfect batsman. Warnes opinion carrys a lot a weight but it is not the offical list it's the Legends opinion; to all those getting a bit restless.

Sachin is the King with the Bat..
Warne is the King with the Ball.

Sachin put Akram, Waqar and Shoaib into RETIREMENT.

Jai, Mumbai, India

Its funny to read that people are saying that Lara does not plays for records and Indians/Pakis do.

HELLO !!!!! Does his score of 400 came in winning matches or came in 400 balls?? After scoring those runs even once the match showed like producing results ?? Talk about playing for records ...

Secondly, people are asking about Harmison, He has at least changed the way Eng played and helped them win series. It was no surprise that Eng lost first home series after 2001 in his absence. He has performed even in Australia which Waqar could not. So there.

Thirdly, its Warne's list. Everybody can have their own views and Warne has his own. He has played cricket for 16 long years and knows his job. people may differ and have their own list but i am sure Not many will choose same 50.

KC, Faridabad, India

Against TOP CLASS SPIN;
Warne,Murali,Saqlain etc:
SACHIN : A
LARA : A+

Against TOP CLASS SUPER FAST BOWLING;
Akram,Donald,Akhtar etc:
SACHIN : A+
LARA : C

TOTAL SCORE :
SACHIN : A
LARA : B

OF COURSE SACHIN'S BETTER!

Lara against super fast bowling is a joke! you can' t even call him a great, let alone compare him to Sachin!

1) all the pakistanis in favour of lara over sachin.
2) sachin is indian.
coincidence?

Dimpl, mumbai, india

This list has a very big question mark to it. There are some very strange choices. I definately expected S Waugh and Gilchrist in the top 10. Allan Donald and Waqar Younis should be much higher also (definately in the top 15, if not higher). For example, Mark Taylor makes it in the top 10 and Allan Donald doesn't. Surely, A Donald is one f the great fast bowlers over the last 3 decades. Where is Dean Jones (did Jones play while Warne was playing?). D Jones played one of the most remarkable test innings at Madras and averaged 46. Of course, he was also one of the greatest ODI players of all time.

No, I did not expect Viv Richards (and a few other names a few people mentioned)to make the list because Warne never played against him or the others. This list is Warne's choices based on the guys he has played with or played against i.e players that played during his own playing career.

A smythe, london,

No Geoff Boycott ?

Stu , Bristol,

To me the most interesting omission is Jason Gillespie.

Nick, Singapore,

Grow up Dav Wolves...... people have a say here, thats why comments are invited. Anyone can critcize/praise/comment on the list. Nobody is questioning the greatness of Shane Warne, only that his picks can be improved.

Shahid, New York, USA

Also, one must consider the fact that Warne is looking at both Test and one day performances....
which probably explains Steve Waugh's lowish rankings....

my nitpicks -
Gilchrist rated a tad too low :)

Shrikanth K, Bangalore, India

The list is very impressive.Thia puts shane on the top of my list of cricketers.Good job Shane!!!

Martin, London,

TENDULKAR IS NO.1

STOP BEING JEALOUS OF the INDIAN BATSMAN.

Nice list although VVS Laxman is missing, stop being jealous with Warne putting Tendulkar (INDIAN BATSMAN) at No.1. Just watch all the encounters, especially 'Operation Desert Storm' Sharjah.

Nobody gives nightmares to Warnies like sachin does. Which he himself admits.

As for Sir Viv Richards who never played against Warne well he said that Tendulkar is 99% Perfect batsman. Warnes opinion carrys a lot a weight but it is not the offical list it's the Legends opinion; to all those getting a bit restless.

Sachin is the King with the Bat..
Warne is the King with the Ball.

Sachin put Akram, Waqar and Shoaib into RETIREMENT.

Jai, Mumbai, India

How about this Mr. Warne .. A country which was really minnows in world Cricket then came and trashed the Aussies and became the world champs which no one even dreamt of but for Sir Richard Halee...Sri Lanka.. who do you think the mastermind and the leader behind that was .....Arjuna Ranataunga ...now come on Warne would not lisit him high with the past encounters he have had with the captain cool now would he. Arjuna you were the man who changed one day cricket. who was the only mind that beat the full strength Aussie unit when it really mattered. Arjuna Ranatunga the captain cool.

Chanuka, Riyadh, KSA

Though Warne ranks Murali at 7, I think he doesn't give enough credit to Murali. Does murali’s generosity makes him a better cricketer or is Warne trying to imply that he just had to say those things because he has nothing much to say about Murali the cricketer.. Typical eh ..

P.S - I'm not criticizing him for the rankings .. He has the right to choose his top 50 as he likes.. But if someone is in your top ten you better say more to say then his generosity and smile ..

Udara Ranasinghe, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Bowwwwwwwwling Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane!! Great List . especially you are bang on target about sachin. people in the indian media always neglect the 'huge pressure factor' that sachin faces everytime he bats. Tell me who else faces this kind of pressure? not brian lara (he never really cared about his cricket board or the media) , not kevin peterson, i cant imagine anyone else. People should stop complaining about his match winning abilities for he has never played in a match winning team.

Keyan, Chennai, India

What about Imran Khan?

Abdul Hadi Khan, Frisco, Texas - USA

sachin=pure classical music
lara= reggae

norman, calicut, india

Raghunandan is right.
Lara is all very good tonking hapless spinners.
But against quality fast bowling, real fast bowling.
(not the medium pace of mcgrath)
He's a joke.
Sachin is miles and miles ahead.
and a far superior batsman.

peter, bombay, india

Interesting choices Warnee..well he has every right to rate anyone as he believes .. Rightly he didnt play against Imran but i guess he did play against Botham ... on pure cricketing grounds. Ian wd be in anyone's Top-50 (at least !!) any day ... Warne himself mentioned, prior to compilation, taking into account performances under every conditions.So wt abt Harmison n Reid on dead sub-cont pitches ?? n the man with best record there is ranked 45th !!! Ironically , fastest to reach 200 wkts is said to be benefited frm some body's presence at other end... Strange !! Well donn know how much Waqar benefited frm Akram's presence but surely Akram did a huge amount !! Come on Warnee ..... at least donn disgrace the original 'Toe-Crusher' by saying that !! Then again ita your list but give some cricketing reasons.

Salman Shah, Lahore, Pakistan

I feel Warne is being honest with his thoughts.

Steve Waugh at 26th position looks to be because Steve is the one who dropped Warne for MacGill in West Indies. It would rankle Warne for the rest of his life. VVS should have come in somewhere. His only achievement is his performance against Australia.

Finally, Warne was smart to keep the debate on when he placed Sachin above Lara. Sachin is a better one day batsman than Lara is a better Test batsman. The stats would prove that. Who is greater depends on whether ODI or TEST is a greater challenge. Sachin was an entertainer, but Lara has been and will always be.

Difficult to accept that huge expectation is a pressure on Sachin's part. It should have been moral support for Sachin and no economic worry. It was Lara who was under more pressure - going through from a winning team to a losing one, keeping WI afloat, fighting the internal politics but never flinching & always entertaining. He still does not earn what he deserves.

vpgrahi, Santiago, Chile

How can Richard Hadlee not be included?

Mike Fitzgibbons, New Plymouth, New Zealand

I am ok with top ten which warne has chosen but surprised to see steve waugh at 26th place.He truly deserves to be in the top ten.Sachin deserves the top mantle followed by lara but why is ambrose at 3 surprise really.I think Mcgrath or Akram should have been there

Gopal, Mumbai, India

To be great you need to be consistantly excellant over a number of years .... what on earth is Harmison doing in your list mate .... 2005 ashes still rankling ... come on ! .... he wouldn't even have been a reserve in some of the WI teams from the 80s !

andy, Lardieres, France

Murali should have been at least No 3. Warnie, you do not have much to say apart from his Tsunami work etc. Of course he is your great rival who needs a match or two to go past you. I don't think there has been any one player who has won more matches for his team than Murali. You Aussies, from Prime Minister to the ordinary man on the street like to mention his "action" whenever you comment on him.

Ajith Alwis, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Many of you must remember that Australia has dominated cricket over the past 15 Years and have been barely beaten in a series over those years. There are players in Australia like Siddons, Lehman, Berry etc that would have played many test matches for any any other country in the world. Let's not forget Matthew Hayden could not get a game for Australia for many years.

Those complaining about 5 aussies in the top ten- maybe that is why they win all the time!

Also, players like Inzy and Waquor performed poorly against Australia- If you fail to perform against the best you are not that good!

Wes, Melbourne, Victoria

For those querying the respective positions of Tendulkar, Lara and Inzi perhaps their averages against Australia in Australia (surely the toughest test for any batsman over the last decade) goes some way as an explanation

Inzi averages 30.87; Lara 41.97, Tendulkar 54.15. While averages aren't the whole story, they surely give a good indication of who's performed best in the most hostile circumstances. Inzi is just not in the same class as the other two.
As for the Lara/ Tendulkar debate, Lara struggled more against fast bowling eg unlike Tendulkar he never scored a ton in tests against S. Africa when Donald and Pollock bowled in tendem, nor against Pakistan when Waqar and Wasim played. Finally, the issue of match winning innings .Lara played one, maybe two in his career so he's hardly a match winner. Tendulkar played key roles in Port of Spain, Headingly, Trent Bridge and Rawlpindi in recent away victories for India. If India had another bowler his 241 in Sydney would have been too

sudip, london,

Imran Khan, Inzimam , javed Miandad,Gavaskar Viv Richards are not on the list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? Amazing!!
Waqar Younis and Steve Waugh d ve been up there in top 10, wasim a bit higher

Rizwan, Lahore, Pakistan

I'm not pretty sure how he came out with the list. Ofcourse, there's some politics involved and its natural. If you see the list check it out how people are jealous about Sachin being no 1 and Lara no. 2. though the positions are debatable.
Top 10 is ok but its not perfect. Yes, Shane Warne is a great bowler but chunk of his greatness is due to the all dominating Australian Team. Imagine if Shane Warne was playin for Pakistan or India would he be the one of the greats? i doubt that. Any comments????

M Khalid, Houston/TX, US

Not sure what criteria were being used, but a lack of Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards , Dennis Lille, Tommo or Ian Botham, seems a tad strange.

Donald, Hayling Island, England

I'm sure the reason Warne has gon for Sachin is largely due to his record in India, Warne never managed to dominate there as he did around the rest of the world. So I can understand why he's gone for SRT.

However, in the modern decade, the top 4 players for me would simply have to read - in 4th would be tendulkar, 3rd would be Murali, 2nd Brian Charles Lara but out in front - and by some distance I might add, is the man himself - Shane Keith Warne.

Take a bow Warner, you were the man!

Luke, brentwood, UK

By 50 greated cricketer, Warne means players he played against. Probably he didn't make it so clear before publishing the list. That's why people like Imran khan,ian botham, sobers,richard hadlee,viv richards are not in the list. Either he didn't play at all or didn't play enough against them and that's why he didn't rate them. There is little bit bias towards Australians but then that's expected (also Australia is the domainating team for last decade or so). For the top 8 he is spot on though and doesn't show any bias. He did take into count the pressure Tendulkar has to endure. I am a bit surpised not to see VVS Laxman in the list though.

Satyajit, Hyderabad, India

The top ten of Warne's list is impeccable. Sachin Tendulkar is without a shadow of doubt the number one... next to Brian Lara. I love watching Sachin and his immaculate shots. It all seemed natural.Sachin Tendulkar has been acknowledged by Don Bradman as his reincarnation.

Sasuke64, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Remember a guy called Kaluwitharana a tiny fellow who smashed you around in your own country as much as any one in the list has done.

Chandana, Rajastan , india

It's an interesting list and one has to understand that it's an opinion of a person who would easily be among top 5 of the same list if it was prepared by any other unbiased observer of the game. But since it's more of an opinion than a judgment so I think we can add some comment to it. First, the criteria for ranking used by Shane Warne - i.e. part statistics and part other attributes such as flamboyance, strategic thinking, ability to lead the team to victories and uniqueness of skills etc. - can lead to a decent comparison between the cricketers BUT it cannot produce universally acceptable results. And most importantly, it took him a long illustrious career full of success, exciting experiences and keen observations to come up with this list SO he deserves not to be discredited by fans with emotional attachment to the cricketers he didn't mention in the list or mentioned but rated lower than their expectations.

Razi, London, UK

Sorry to say Warne...Staying Controversial is your game and you're a champion of it. No Inzamam ul Haq, No Salim Malik????? 20 aussies in Top50????

I know you can't answer these questions. Why???? Because you yourself doesn't know why you were placed in the TOP 5 players of 20th Century.

Umar Khan, Islmabad, Pakistan

hadlee,botham,imran khan, why arent these in there, and many more greats? I can't argue with the top 5, he got that right. THough i belive he put these people here, as they were the people he faced or played with

rory, exeter,

Where would warne rate himself? i guess he's better than sachin.

Farooq Ahmed Aziz, Lahore, Pakistan

Well its HIS list so its bound to be different but to err is human.Regardless of his maestro on the field, he has indeed made some questionable choices.Most alarming are the exclusion of Inzamam and secondly, the ranking of Waqar. Now anyone who say Waqar in early 1990's know he was the King.I mean they toe crushers,the bouncers,reverse swing in&out it was just mindboggling, Even the hammerings he received later in his career, he finished as the one of the most successful bowler of all time.His strike is still one of the best. As for Inzamam, he has scored more match winning knocks than anyone since 2003.Apart from that, in terms of centuries in winning causes by a captain, he is only behind the Don and Ponting which doesn't explain why he was excluded, specially the very criteria Warne used to rate Waugh at 26 was his lack of match winning streak(I strongly disagree though)Nevertheless like Warne's entire career,this list certainly has zip aswell controversy, something wild amid class

Omar Ahmed, Karachi, Pakistan

U have to agree that Lara is a grat player but consider both the forms of the game and let me know as to what is it that u will make out, Lara's ODI record is pretty ordinary bu8t still you consider him to be a better player than Sachin and that is absolutely wrong because he has been ruling both forms of the game for more than 18years with a great average and let me highlight that both the forms of the game have to be considered and he truly deserves the spot he has been given. Sachin is truly the best!

Akhil, Hyderabad, India

Surprised to see Laxman missing in top 50. Laxman has been thorn in Australia's flesh, much more than what Tendulkar has been. Not to forget Laxman's feat in Eden Gardens and in India's tour of Australia.

Where is Inzy in Warney's list?

RaviShankar, Chennai, India

Lots of surprises in the total and it is skewed on personal choices the big surprises who miss out Jason Gillespie, VVS Laxman and Inzaman-ul-Haq. McGrath and the Oz were so good during Warnes peak because it coincided with Gillespie was also a force to reckon with,always overshadowed by Warne and McGrath he has his share of Admirers throughout the cricketing world. Expected Laxman to be there considering his epic 281 was against the mighty aussies in their Pomp.Inzy for all his overhyped laziness is the only person i have seen who has had so much time to play the fastest of bowlers. And Last but not Least Lara is way ahead of Sachin in all parameters.

Kaushik, Chennai, India

Sachin in not just the greatest of Warne's era.
He is the greatest.
Period.
Lara can't hold a candle to Sachin.
It's all very well tonking hapless spinners around.
Put Lara up against genuine pace..Akram,Donald,Akhtar..
then you see the difference between Lara and Sachin.
Sachin is in a league of his own.

norman, calicut, india

What about Imran Khan, the legend and the master in the art of cricket. Surpisingly I see Saeed Anwar there but not Javeed Miandad who helped Pakistan to win the World Cup and any other time Pakistan needed his batting he was there specially who can forget the Six in Sharjah. I completely understand that these are completely Mr. Warnes' own views but I think he should keep these kind of views up to himsels because I dont believe that you can make top 50 players' list without including Sharne Warne and I dont see his name in this list.
Good Job Mr. Warne but you need to redo the list.

Imtiaz Bukhari, East Hartford, Connecticut, USA

After re reading his comments about sachin, would love to go to india to see him play

Adam, Sydney, Australia

my best from 80s.
Sir Richards
King Khan
Murali
lara
sunil
headle
marshal
botham
Akram
rahul
AB
ambrose
warne
K.dev
tendulkar
javed
gooch
mgrath
kalis
pointing
....................

simon, FP punjab, india

Atherton made it to the list..but where is Gavaskar? No Hadlee, No Botham..and you find Tim May and Merv Hughes..
There is no Viv Richards..Something is seriously wrong in this list..

Biju, Singapore, Singapore

Ah, but I would put Warne ahead of them all!

Gautam Rao, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

for over a decade sachin tendulkar single handedly kept india from being a mediocre team to being a competitive one...the game wasnt over till you got tendulkar. that and that alone justifies him sitting at the top spot.

rustom, mumbai, india

great selections !! could not agree more! Inzamam missing because of his inability to win test series of his own bat. his greatest innings was against Bangladesh. Tendulkar and Lara could define the way A TEST SERIES would turn out against the best team Australia , Border- Gavaskar trophy 1998, Tendulkar 2 100's and the Frank worell Trophy 1999, Lara 2 100's . I dont remember Inzamam ever changing a test series with his own bat . probably Laxman could have been included.and Inzamam never had presence or aura.

Sidharth, Chennai, India

Hello Mr,Arun,
I do not beleave Sachin can overtake Lara. If u see sachin's record, all are accumalated things, most runs in career, most matches, most number of 100s, etc. But on a single day he cannot do anything special. but Lara can. that's why Sachin's match winning capability is always debatable. If sachin overtake Lara in a test innigs that will be a 10 days test match.

sinoj, bangalore,

i agree with shane warne, sachin is no 1 , the reason i say that bcoz lara may be more talented than sachin in skill wise , and ability to score big runs buttttt sachin has scored runs for india in both forms of the game. he has been a man of tournament in 2003 world cup . again a tops scorer in 1996 world cup, and still his test record is stunnung, the questions of matchwining doesnt arise as he averages 85 when india wins test or draws test, sachin is life for us , i dont know y should i go to grounds to watch matches as sachin is now the last of the golden of generation of greats like lara warne mcgrath . sachin is life

swapnil hasabnis, mumbai , india

Warne’s list just highlights the lack of professionalism. He was a genius at what he did, no doubt, but he cannot even draft a list of players both logically and impartially. His personal grudge against Steve is so obvious! And as a Captain, Warne would not have achieved half of what Steve has. Shane was an intelligent bowling genius, nothing else and nothing else at all.

Jeevan, Sri Lanka,

Fair enough, it is your opinion and based on who you played with or against, also you have to be a mate. No doubt there is a little spite and a bit of humur to ensure everyone continues to talk about the list. But, Taylor, Healy,Flintoff,Lee all too high. Harmison,May,Berry at all ? Younis, Ponting too low. On Waugh, I can see what Shane is trying to say, he thought his brother was better, so it was easier to put him lower than expected. Good call on Siddons, there are a lot of good judges that could not understand why he never played tests, did something happen behind the scenes with one of the Waugh's ?? But Gilchrist , even for people that don't like cricket they flock to the TV to watch pure entertainment, knowing that in an hours time they can return to normal life and have enjoyed "Something Special"... at 20....maybe Warne thinks Gilly is his biggest challenge.

David Bright, Eagle Vale, Australia

It is only Warne's own personal list. One does not have to agree with his list. But at least he is decent enough not to include his own name even though he had every right to do so. Last month when an all time greatest Indian team was announced by a group of Indian cricketers in which Prasanna and Gavaskar were selectors, they were shameless enough to include their own names in that list of all time greatest Indian cricketers' 11 team. That shows how petty and shameless Prasanna and Gavasker are.

Jayanth, Houston, USA

The most astonishing thing about this list is how many of the people commenting on it, never bothered to read the article.

It's not SUPPOSED to be who Warne thinks are the fifty best players of all time; it's the fifty best who he has shared a cricket pitch with. Since he never played against Botham, Richards, Sobers, Bradman and so on, their lack of inclusion has nothing whatsoever to do with how good they are. They don't qualify for consideration.

Bernadette Archer, Sheffield, England

No Sangakara, inzamam, thorpe, bevan, azharudin? Forgive me, but there is somone who has never played a test. Hhhmmm?

Lehman better than waugh? Darren bloody LEHMAN?! Harmison better than Waqar? Actually, Harmison in the top 50? Gilchrist changed the game. McGrath better than Akram? Andy flower was alot better than 36. He has a 50+ ave playing for zimbabwae, says it al. Murali has done as much for the game as sachin and lara.

Give me a break

Ahmer, London,

Where is Sir Ian Botham in this list? Surely one of the best cricketers of all time!

Nick Menges, Beckenham,

Who is Shane Warne to post this top-50 list? He is an over-rated cricketer. He is looking for extra publicity. Please ignore this list.

Shamal Jayakody, Orlando, USA

How can Tendulkar be above Lara? All indian players are individuals interested in stats and a high average. Match for match Lara has won more and he knows how to bat with the tail. Warne is wrong to say Tendulkar bats with pressure. Lara has been a one man team for the majority of his career. Tendulkar hadshad Dravid, Ganguly and all sorts to support him.

There is know doubt Tendulkar is a great batsman and a great man. But Lara was a 'great cricketer' and that makes him better.

AJ, Newham, London

my best 20 from 80......
Sir Richards
King Khan
Murali
lara
sunil
headle
marshal
botham
Akram
rahul
AB
ambrose
warne
K.dev
lil master tendulkar
javed
gooch
mgrath
kalis
pointing
.................is there something wrong?

simon, FP punjab, india

Richard Hadlee?

Stan, Birmingham,

Lara played his natural game always becos there was not so much pressure on him from his contrymen. But Sachin could not do that. He has had to sacrifice a lot for the sake of the team. People remember Lare more becos on his day he is devastating. But Sachin hangs in there and ensures consistency and stability. It is stupid to say Sachin is not a match winner. Facts will show u what he did for India during the 90s. India reached the WC final in 2003 thanks mainly to him. I'm a fan of both of them but agree with Warne when he rates Sachin a shade better than Lara.

Tom , Leeds, UK

... Lara is far ahead of Sachin ..... at least Lara didn't played for records and centuries... Lara played for the team.. Sachin for the fame

Sharne missed a number of great players also ... the likes of Miandad, Inzamam, VVS Lakshman, Vivian Richards, Mohammed Azharuddin, Clive Lloyd, Saurav Ganguly, Gavaskar, Allan Donald.....

Allama Iqbal, Dubai,

I think shane has just pick 20 player after than what ever come to his mind he rate them and he probably have some serious issue with steve 26th no Gilly he broke all the rec.. of ian healy and far more better batsmen then him this list suck

Ahsan, london, uk

Bowling,Shane!
Your list is as spot on as your bowling.

Roger, Bandra, india

I couldn't help myself but laugh loudly going thru' the list of 50. Warne deleted names like Don Bradman, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Dennis Lily, Jeff Thompson, Sunny Gavaskar, Sir Vivian Richards, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee, Ian Chapell, Gordon Greenidge, Michael Bevan, Abdul Qadir, Azharuddin, Imran Khan, Inzamam Ul Haque........! Need I say any more to judge Warne's ( whom I think should be on the list ) faculty of cricketing wisdom ??

Shahidul Islam, Chittagong, Bangladesh

I think Warney's list is good. The reason there are not too many westindians in the list is because they were not a force when he was at his peak. His judgement of batsman is more accurate than the bowlers. He should have rated Murali higer

ravee navaretnam, winnipeg, canada

Sachin surely is no. 1. You got that right Warne!

Mark, Melbourne, Australia

Lara played for 6 million people.....
Sachin played for 1.12 billion people.....
both where great players though!!!!!!

Shawn, NY, USA

I cant beleive u guys, don't you guys get it...its HIS LIST. Each one of you will have a list which will most probably be completely different to each other. So chill out and give the legend a break. A true champion WARNIE.

rish, melbourne, Australia

I am 23 and have seen all the guys above play.As an Australian, I am really happy with this list. Warney as always has not gone with the norm just to satisfy more people. He has not comprimised at all and picked who he believes were the 50 best cricketers he encountered. I am especially happy to see guys like Jamie Siddons and Darren Berry in the list. Also very happy to see Darren Lehmann ranked highly. Knowledgable insiders will most likely agree with his list whereas casual observers will maybe make a personal demeaning comment about Shane! Lehmann was a master with the blade, should have played 100 tests and Shane knows first hand how great a batsman Darren was and if it wasnt for politcial issues as such in regards to selection policies would have had a tremendous test record with many more test centuries to his name. Warne has taken this into account in his list.

Shamal Jayakody, Miami, USA

Sachin's the greatest. Warne's ratings gives us a cricketers perspective and not a statisticians. Nice to see the list being topped by the 2 greatest batsmen of the current era. If Sachin had played in a stronger team his records would have been much better as he would not have been under so much pressure to perform in every game. It is not possible for one man to keep winning every time for the team. There have been instances when Sachin would make big scores while the rest of them would struggle to make even 20-30 runs to get them a victory. Anyway all said and done most bowlers (including Alan Donald who recently said Sachin deserves to break Lara's record) have greatest regards for Sachin Tendulkar.

Cricket Lover, Chennai, India

How could you miss Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Inzi

In test cricket Inzi has proved himself a better match winner than Tendulker.

Waqar, Ankara, Turkey

Nice job, Shane. Every one has their own opinion. For those that are complaining their favourite players are not there or are not where they would like them, boo hoo! I'd like to see you go up against the players mentioned on the list and do a better job than Mr S.K. Warne

Alan, Sydney, Australia

This is my second one but let me just emphasise on the fact that for the majority of his career Sachin has had to play along side a very ordinary bowling attack if you are leaving alone Kumble in tests, so he has always been under the pressure and responsibility because his teams bowling attack is pretty ordinary and so in true terms he deserves his spot and Shane Warne is one to have taken 700 wickets in tests and noone else knows this game better than him and if he ranks Sachin at the top then i dont think we even have a right to oppose his views

Akhil, Hyderabad, India

harmison over waqar younis???.. come on man.. we all know cricket here.. wht has harmison done his entire career excpet one ashes series and u r puting him ahead of one of the greatest and most feared fast bowlers of all time.
tests- 54matches and 204 wickets at 30.82.
odis- 46 matches 67 wickets at 30.70..

waqar:
tests- 87 matches and 373 wickets at 23.56.
odis- 262 matches and 416 wickets at 23.84..
id like to see harmison take 169 wickets in next 33 test mactches which is like 5.12 wixckets per game!!!
and at odis, he should take 349 wickets in 216 matches..
come on guys.. grow up..waqar should easily be in the top 10 if not top 15 for sure!!!

John Fredson, toronto, Canada

Guys we all read the list and were really keen to know who he chooses and what ranking.This shows that although lot of guys disagree with him but we all valued his judgement. Therefore give the man his due for compiling a good list.And yah there is thin line between Lara and Sachin..but guys its the consistency and manner thats what matters.
Though lara was dominating...but the impact Sachin has on the game will always stay. Why people forget that is you have to pick a gentleman cricketer who would it be by far sachin.
Yah he left out Laxman..he is a good player but yah never great as you can easily say he showed lot of promise but couldnt sustain...And as far as Inzi is concerned he is god but not kinda player who you would line up to watch.(Pakistanis wil be offended ) Rest i guess it was a good list and a nice effort by Shane.

ashley, melbourne, Australia

AGAIN FURTHER TO MY PREVIOUS COMMENTS - BUT I FEEL VERY DEEPLY ABOUT THIS.
TO MISS OUT SIR GARY SOBERS AND SIR DON BRADMAN IS CRIMINAL. WE NOW HAVE SIR VIV AND SIR IAN BUT ONE CANNOT MISS OUT SOBERS FROM ANY LIST.
REGARDS

S SKARZYNSKI, DORKING, SURREY/ UK

where is ian botham one of the great all roundrers

jm, fife, uk

Can't fault Warnie's selections one bit. Excellent. Who's gonna pick their best 50 next?

Jed Stevens, Carlisle, Cumbria

Dont understand how he would forget Laxman in there..... im sure that he has done better against Warney than some of the players listed in the list....

Kumar, Hershey, USA/PA

hey where are INZY,GANGULy,LAXMAN,SANGAKARA,AZAHARUDDIN.
and how ha can select macgill over saqlain & harbhajan

prashant, patna, india

Harmison better than Waqar Younis? or Kapil Dev? You have got to be joking!

Lehmann ranked higher than Steve Waugh?

Tim May?!?!

The list is a bit of a joke really, surprised Michael Clarke is not in the top 10 as it appears to be a tribute to Warne's mates rather than a balanced, well thought out list

David Cotton, Sevenoaks, England

It's an interesting list and one has to understand that it's an opinion of a person who would easily be among top 5 of the same list if it was prepared by any other unbiased observer of the game. But since it's more of an opinion than a judgment so I think we can add some comment to it. First, the criteria for ranking used by Shane Warne - i.e. part statistics and part other attributes such as flamboyance, strategic thinking, ability to lead the team to victories and uniqueness of skills etc. - can lead to a decent comparison between the cricketers BUT it cannot produce universally acceptable results. And most importantly, it took him a long illustrious career full of success, exciting experiences and keen observations to come up with this list SO he deserves not to be discredited by fans with emotional attachment to the cricketers he didn't mention in the list or mentioned but rated lower than their expectations.

Razi Tariq, London, U

QUESTION:I notice that Brian Lara holds the record for the player who has experienced the most Test defeats. Who holds the record for the most defeats in ODIs?

ANSWER:In Tests Brian Lara does lead the way, if that's the right word, with 63 defeats during his career, one of them for the World XI against Australia at Sydney in October 2005. The man who has tasted defeat most often in ODIs is Sachin Tendulkar - at the end of Thursday's one-dayer at Old Trafford he had been on the losing side 176 times. Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya is next with 168 defeats, then comes his compatriot Aravinda de Silva with 163.
MY QUESTION
Based on above statistics, isn't it difficult to place Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar ahead of Wasim Akram in terms of cricket greatness?Wasim Akram's presence ensured wins for his team more than often which we can't say in case of Lara and Tendulkar.I think we can not say that the teams which Lara or Tendulkar had around them were much inferior to what Wasim had.

Ahmer, Manchester,

Come on for all those optimistic people placing VVS in their top 10s....sheeessshhh sure he has played well against Australia and perhaps warrants placement in the top 50, but top 10 crickets dream on.

Surprised about the complete omission of bond, sure he hasn't played loads but his current record is fantastic!

Andrew, Dunedin, NZ,

I agree with few exceptions. Tendulakar case he gave a perfect explanation. Great player and great man. Records always go down. Who thought ever a cricketer can take 700 test wickets.More west Indians should have been in the list. Desmond Hynes, gorden greendge (perfect opening pair for ever), clive lloyd, big bird goel garner they are very good. Steve waugh case also got good explanation. He has more leadrship/tacticle skills than a cricketer and may be got the best teammates to execute his plan. Leadership skills, he may not match with arjuna ranatunga. Arjuna has won the cup with just what he has only by leading, motivating and experimenting. I guess, Kapil should have been in top 20 at least if not in 10. Kapil made a huge difference to Indian cricket. He came-up as a fast bowler in the era and the pitch conditions of India. Made 175, at that time it is some thing world never sean. Won the cup with the team which won't come near west indies team. Ian healey don't deserve that no.

Srinivas, New York, USA

For all those saying where is Inzy on the list. I suggest you check his stats against Australia. 14 test matches and an average of 31.4 with 6 50's & 1 century. He also never scored a ton in one-dayers against Australia. He was never a real thorn in Australia's side. Whats more the Australian team never approved of Inzy's constant call for runners just because he was a fat guy. Lets face it if Warney thought it was warranted he would have had someone running for him will he finished off his pie & fags at the non-strikers end. The point of this list is the best players Warne has encountered in his career. Inzy doesn't rate, quite simply when he was up against the best in the world he was found wanting.

Scott, Brisbane , Qld, Australia

Surely you can't expect Inzi to be rated higher than Darren Berry and Jamie Siddons!! They were test playing greats.......they wish!

EF, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

Shane you name 20 Aussies, but have no place for Jason Gillespie. Shane so many of your world record wickets where secured against nos: 8,9,10 and 11.
How quickly you forget that Jason Gillespie was a major reason why you got to bowl at these batsmen. Jason would have another 50 / 100 wickets if he ever got th chance to bowl at 8,9.10 and11.

Shane, Brisbane , Queensland

For all the peeple complaning about inzi not making the list. I think I know why. People are right pointing out Inzi's stats as an argument but the fact of the matter is he never ever did too well against the Aussies, infact Warne got him out quite a few times. So he was never able to dominate aussies in general and Warne in particular. I think thats the reason why Inzi didnt make the cut.

Awais Kazi, Amherst, USA

surprise surprise, no arjuna ranatunga! but tim may, merv hughes, brian mcmillan ... o dear.

Shad, Toronto, Canada

Good point about Lara's inability against truly express pace bowling.
Lara has NEVER dominated either Akram,Donald,or Akhtar.
Tendulkar has dominated ALL three at some point.
You know why?
Lara simply wasn't good enough.
In the prehelmet days Lara would have been watching Tendulkar bat from a hospital bed.
It is only now with Tendulkar fading that he is getting hit on the head.Never ,ever was this so when he was in his prime.
Sometimes watching Lara,even right in his prime, you would wonder how anyone could call him "great" watching his pathetic display against super fast bowling!

Lara's FLASH
Tendulkar's CLASS

Big difference.
Those superficial enough to think that Lara's better than Tendulkar are chosing the Glitter over the Gold.

prashant, adelaide, australia

Everyone thinks tendulka is great!! What has he done,. Lara has more runs, Ponting will beat him easy. Wasted talent in my mind!!! Murili only has the wickets he has because of 1. the pitches and 2. the compertition. If murili played half the cricket in Australia, England New Zealand and South Africa that Warne has played then he wouldn't be near him!! As for the Glen McGrath and Akram issue, well anyone outside of the sub continent would look at the facts and figures and admit that Glen is the best pace bowler of all time!!

Ricky , melbourne, Australia

So.....where's Malcolm Marshall?

Stefan, San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago

Brett Lee at 24? With such a high average and long term inconsistency he should barely have made the list, though he has put in better performances over the last few years.

And what’s with the double selections at 28, 29, 30? On such a weird list that includes state buddies, he couldn’t split the likes of Shoaib and McDermott?

One final point to a few people making arguments for the likes of Bradman – this is a list of players Warne played with or against, okay? Last I heard Sir Donald retired from the game in 1948!

tim, Sydney,

Can't believe VVS Laxman doesn't make it to his list. He had Warne for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner in that unforgettable Kolkatta test of 2001 and has a fantastic record against the Aussies in Australia.Agree with all those who say that Lara is better than Sachin.

anand, london,

Shane you should be up there somewhere.

Mark, London,

Fantastic list and comments. Obviously, Warne does have an opinion and so do we all and hence our 'fav' players may not feature in the list - or may be even at the bottom.

But not seeing Inzamam and V(ery) V(ery) S(pecial) Laxman in top 50 list doesn't make sense specially when other lesser known players have been included.

Sachin at # 1 in Warne's list does make sense (may not be # 1 on everyone's list).

Overall, an entertaining article and a list - as expected by Warnie !!

Some of the comments were wonderful and at least he is being bold and honest.

Mayank, Sydney, Australia

It doesn't matter who was left out or what the order of the list was as this is just warne's opinion based on his experiences. But I thought Warne's description of Wasim Akram was a bit underwhelming. Maybe it's just because i'm pakistani but I consider him to be the best bowler (right or left arm) of his generation and I expected a bit more praise. Not a complaint just an observation, what do others think?

nasir, london,

Warnie is spot on in picking Tendulker as his top cricketer. But I am disappointed that he has failed to include the brilliant cricketers like Sir Viv Richards, Sir Ian Bottham, Sir Richard Hadlee, Stylish David Gower, Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan , Aravinda De Silva and certainly Greg Chappell. May be he hasn,t played with these top crickers in his time but should have been in his list.

A Ganeshalingham, Sydney, NSW Australia

Waqar Younis and Kapil Dev in the 40s? They are legends of their art and deserve to be much more higher. I think this list can be ranked 75% accurate.

Shabbir Tapal, Houston, USA/TX

No Shane Bond? If we're judging players on their performances against Australia, then Bondy surely deserves a place? And OK, I'm biased but I'd have put Danny Vettori's 200 test wickets and solid batting average above a couple of guys who haven't played test cricket.

Tim May and Merv Hughes look a bit high, as well, especially with Waqar at 45.

Simon, Wellington, NZ,

I am surprised how VVS Laxman is not on Warne's list especially after Warne nicknamed him as "Very Very Special Laxman"

Salil Chadha, Delhi, India

FURTHER TO MY EARLIER EMAIL, SURELY SOBERS AS PROBABLY THE BEST ALL ROUNDER EVER SHOULD BE IN THE TEN??? AGREE WITH ROSHANTH - HAVE A READERS LISTING. BUT SOBERS MUST BE IN THE TOP TEN PLUS POSSIBLY VIV AND IAN.

S SKARZYNSKI, DORKING, SURREY/ UK

Warne's list, Warne's choice.......... your favourites can be included in your list!!!

mathew, sheffield, u.k

Bizarrely many people seemed to have missed the point of the list: it is his estimation of the cricketers he played with and against, going on what he saw on the field. In that regard, it is not surprising that he did not include the like of Inzi and Waqar, since they performed poorly against Australia when Warne was playing. Warne is entitled to his opinion, and who can dispute his top 10? One selection illustrates his cold-eyed calculation - not the Steve Waugh one, but the relative rating of McGrath and Ambrose...he recognised the latter's greater all-round menace, irrespective of the credentials of his fellow great Aussie. However, there is an obvious omission, modesty aside there is only one cricketer who should be number one in ...S. K. Warne. There was a time when I thought he was not as talented as Mushie or Qadir, but no cricketer has contributed more to winning matches that I've seen, especially when it really mattered. A true legend

Vaseem Akbar, London, UK

I think you have accept Warnes opinion. Ofcourse we can have our own and have the right to question what he says. Many choices of Warne I would agree with. The list is bound to be influenced heavily by Australians. In much the say way as Richie Beanud's was when he narrowed down his greatest team and the same with Bradman's all time test team. I think though he did put in some names like Atherton , Stewart , Harmison , Berry , Siddons etc that cannot simply be called Great in any definition of the word. The 1st 2 have no record whatsoever to speak of against Australia. While world class players such as VVS Laxman , Sehwag , Harbhajan and Inzamam (not great against Aus but very good against nearly everyone else) were totally left out. Others like as Gough , Gillespie , Srinath, Azharrudin , Saqlain , Chanderpaul also have strong claims. It would be good to know which players he felt nearly made it.

Raj, London, UK

Pras
Ponting will go down as an all time great and averages nearly 60 in test cricket. Apart from that, he always bats for the team and is a joy to watch.

Lyndon, Aylesbury,

Hi Douglas from Brisbane. You are not at Pakistani's concern about Inamam but as per own criteria Warne's average against India is just a mediocre 47.18 per wicket. Does it mean that Indians have seen just an overweight and ordinary spinner and who does not deserve to be in any list on an Indian and he is certainly no match as a bowler when compared to great Muralitharan.

Hassan, bowie, Maryland, U.S.A.

Shane was simply the greatest spin bowler who has ever walked the earth and I think he is entitled to his views - Murali though he will dountless pass Warne's wicket tally in time is simply not in the same class

As to his omissions the list is based on the players Shane played with and against and he has earnt the right to make his own choice

Mark Login, Peterborough, England

Though numbering is a bit clumsy, all of the greatest cricketers with whom he had played have been mentioned except one!
Come on, how can Warney forget Laxman in his list! All the Australians have rated him high above the current lot!!

Prashanth Kumar Jadav, Kawasaki, Japan

All in all a slap in the face to other countries and their players, and I say that as a passionate Aussie supporter. Certainly I have no argument that we dominate the list given our 20 year dominance, but at least 5 of the Aussie players are thoroughly undeserving of their place on this list.

I won’t get into a mindless pursuit of trying to counter the list with my own version, but I will make some observations of the placings. Adam Gilchrist, while certainly not as fine a technician behind the stumps as Healy certainly rates well above him for his sheer all round brilliance. There has never been another like him, nor is it likely that there ever will be. Other fine keeper batsmen have certainly graced the game over the years, but none have had Gilchrist’s career-long audacity or ability to turn games in an instant.

tim, sydney,

Shane Warne was without doubt one of the finest and most astute players bowlers to have graced the game throughout its long history, but with that said and done I can only say that this list of his is a joke in every sense of the word, not least because of the laughable way he couldn't step away from his raging Victorian chauvinism, thus foisting the likes of Merv Hughes, Darren Berry and Jamie Siddons onto us - the latter two have barely done a thing for their country, so how do they rate higher than the likes of Inziman? And Merv? The guy had a heart as big as Uluru, but that doesn't qualify him as a test great. At best he was an average trundler for Australia who pulled out a few notable performances.

And Tim May and Bruce Reid? Does he owe Tim some money or something? Bruce Reid could have been one of the greats, but crippling injuries robbed him of the chance to really set down worthy credentials.

tim, sydney,

No way Sachin was better than Lara. He will never be. Ask Murli, veettori, phill tufnel Or Danish Kaneria of this world.... LARA was the best bat against spinners of all time.

Asif, Islamabad,

To all the Pakistanis just accept it your great Inzy is not as highly thought of as you think.

It's up to Warne who he picks not you.

Rob, London, UK

well done......warnee....
the list was full of surprises......with...49..50..occupied...by...non-testplayers............
and rightly described sachin no1...for the pressure he handles..
but...few coments of not including viv richards..bradman...have arised............
after all......it is the list warne.....played against.......but no altime great 50 cricket players.............

srinivas, hyderabad,

I have read all the comments that are published in response to Warne's selection of number 1 player. I have been watching cricket for the past 30 years and could support Sachin with the following facts
1) When sachin was at his peak, there were not many good batsmen or even bowlers to support him. I have seen many matches sachin scored centuries, but india could not win because of lack of support from bowlers and other batsmen. Ofcourse, time has changed.
2) To me Sachin is the most complete batsman, but Ponting as one gentleman suggested. Ask any cricket experts.
3) Some body mentioned that Lara was never hit on the helmet, but the fact is i lost count number of times he was hit. Please watch the last series england played in W.indies where he was hit by Harmison.
4) if you have asked most of the top bowlers of the 90's they would confirm that Sachin was the best. It is the bowlers/batsmen who played against players can comment best about them, not us whowatching them from

Mohamad Basheer, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

dude...Gavaskar?

mridula, houston, us

The reason Warne has not picked Sourav Ganguly was because he was not looking for some good captain. Mind you, Australians don't select a captain first and then rest 10 players, they select best available 11 'players' first and then one of them as a captain unlike India.

When Ganguly was captain, I don't remember (apart from 1 knock of 144 at Brisbane) any sustained (or rather exceptional) contribution as a 'player'. That's the reason perhaps he was not picked up.

I almost fully agree with Warne's list.

Radha Ranjan Madhav, Bangalore, India

Sachin truly should be in the numero uno position. Consider this,: Sachin faced high battery bowlers from West Indies, Australia, Pakistan etc...whereas Ponting is spared from facing Warne, Mc'Grath etc.

Nitin, Mumbai,

Inzamam not in the top 50???? Laughable.......!!! Hahaha....

Omar, London, UK

I think what some people are missing is that these are in Warne's opinion the 50 greatest players he has played with or against, not the fifty greatest of all time. Therefore no bradman, sobers, richards, imran, miandad etc. etc. makes sense since Warne has never played against them

Mustafa, Karachi, Pakistan

i cant accept kevin on 30..also dada is not in the list,but mohd yousuf is there...since it is titled as warne's top 50,we couldn't say anything further...
but the moral is ,best player doesn't mean best critic..its obvious here...

karki, chennai, india

An interesting list, agree with a lot of the comments that this is more based on who Warne got on well with (but is his list so fair enough). A few shockers in the number of players missing (Richards, Sobers, Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Bradman to name but a few)
other shockers are Pietersen being in the list (personally I refuse to ever give credit to somebody who turns their back on their country for fame and fortune). Waqar deserves to be a lot higher in the list as does Kapil Dev (easily both should be above the likes of Brett Lee and KP). Lehmann definitely deserves to be in the list, however, I personally would put him closer to the 50 mark.

All in all quite interesting to see what Warne thinks of other players and who he rates highly.

S Ahmed, London,

I agree with Tendulkar as number 1, however I would put Wasim higher than Ambrose. Also very pleasantly surprised about Aravinda being in the top 20. I do believe Steve Waugh is a class apart from lehman or junior, and warney would ahve put him higher up had it not been for their personal issues. Also Jayasuriya has made a much bigger impact and destroyed teams and should be much higher than harmison, fleming and soem of the others on the list.

shah, London,

On the Inzi debate, he only averaged 30 against Australia in Australia - the toughest test for any batsmen over the last decade. Lara also has a poor record in Australia, averaging only 41 while Tendulkar's is 54. While averages aren't everything, they tell a good part of the story. Also Lara was weaker against fast bowling. Unlike Tendulkar, he has no centuries in tests against Donald, Wasim, Waqar. Finally, the myth that Lara is a match winner. Last I saw WI lost most of their matches. Granted his 153 and 212 in 1999 were match winning innings but what others has he played? And before anyone says he played in a weak side, it's only in the last 6-7 years that WI have had really poor players. For most of his career he played with Walsh, Ambrose, Hooper, Richardson, Chanderpaul etc. As for Tendulkar, match winning innings in Port of Spain, Headingly, Trent Bridge, Multan and if India had aanother bowler to Kumble his 241 in Sydney would have been too.

sudip, london,

In my openion, arney should state "50 Greatest Cricketers I have played with or against" rather than "50 Grats of all-time."

If I were to rate the Cickerters:

Best Batsman of All-Time: The 'Don'

Best Batsmen of Modern-Time: Lara and Tendulkar (it will be hard to pick the better one out of these, owever Lara ould edge for the wyhe played against Murali, and Tendul would edge for the statistics he has, in terms of runs and averages, and te ability to bowl)

Best All-Rounder of All-Time: Garry Sobers

Best All-Rounders of Recent-Times: Sir Viv Richars, Imran Khan, Jacques Kallis, Shawn Pollok, even Sanath Jayasuriyao a cerain extent.

Best Spinners of All-Time: Murali (as he holds more than 6 wickets per match) and Warne (after all, he was the first to reach 700; 708)

Great Fast Bowlers: Walsh, McGrath, Ambrose, Vaas, Pollok

But, any one may have various openions. However, my placements do not console the controversies caused by Warney's list.

Kreshan, London, U.K.

I know the list is supposed to be a personal opinion but Shane seems to have taken to phrase literally in the ranking of Steve Waugh (below Lehmann). Warne's claim that Waugh inherited a good team from Taylor is true, but Waugh took it to a new level of ruthlessness. Anyway, Waugh was also a great player - despite Shane's claim that he was a saver of matches, I can distinctly remember numerous Waugh innings, including two at Old Trafford in '97, which went a long way to winning Ashes matches.

I was also surprised to see no mention of Gary Kirsten who I always thought was the mainstay of South Africa's batting line-up.

Hans, Copenhagen,

I agree with the top 10 more than the top 50

but I don't understand the commotion behind everyones comments. Its Shane's top 50.

He never played against the Imran's and the Javed's and the Richards enough to rate them. Its quite simple really.

Its a matter of personal opinion and I totally agree with his top 10. The reason why he rates Healy higher than Gilly is because he played with him more and respects his role in the team.

Kudos to Warne for coming up with 50 names :) I would rate Lara above Sachin but I ain't Warne, although I bowl legspin with his bowling action :D

Abdul Rehman, Dubai, UAE

I can't understand the omission of David Gower or Jack Russell. The best left-hander and most talented wicketkeeper of the last 30 years without a doubt.

Adriana, Peterborough,

To those idiots that keep harping on about Bradman, Imran, Vic, Botham etc....please take the time to understand that the Top 50 list represents the best 50 cricketers that Shane has played with or against. I do question the order of some players, but for god sake, unless we are anywhere near the calibre of this greatest top 10 of all time cricketers...live with it!!! Seeing 20 Aussies in the top 50 is hardly bias given the dominance of Australia over the past 15 years.

AussieExpat, Bangkok, Thailand

very poor stuff. stick to bowling Warne. i expected better

A Mahmood, bradford, uk

Hey Warnie , Heve you forgotten the pasting you got from Salim Malik (237 runs ) .Also you left out inzi because you lost the 1994 series in Pakistan ...........clearly there is a bias , why leave out Azhar ...........is it guilty conscience that Azhar and Malik got bans and you paid a paltry fine and got away with murder

Rizwan, Lahore, Pakista

Ponting cannot be classified in the top 20 as he does not know to play spin. Do you know that he scored 15 runs (roughly in 5 innings) in the 2001 Indo-Aus series held in India? He is a good batsman against bad bowling.

pras, london, UK

I am surprised that VVS laxman doesnt figure in his list. I dont remember shane troubling warnie. In fact its always been the otherway around.

Krutivas, Hyderabad, India

i think its little unfair on warne's part to not have included sourav ganguly's name...he is atleast 100 times better than stephen fleming and lehmann who are ranked 23 and 25th respectively.I still sourav should have been in top 20.
Thankyou

guru, chennai, tamilnadu

everyone, this is a list of player Warne HAS PLAYED AGAINST. So no Bradman at number one, so Warne, taking Bradman's advice, put Sachin Number one! That's great, some of the rest of the list is a bit iffy, but I respect his opinion, a great list of cricketers I grew up watching.

Rayed, Sydney,

im suprised we didnt wee warne in the list, i know he was compiling it but hey he still could have put himself in the top few just for a laugh

jake, burnie, tasmania

How could you possibly pick a top 50 cricketers and have no Ian Botham or Viv Richards?

Steve Brookes, London, UK

australia v pakistan during skw's career, 15 tests, aus win 12, pak win 1. the pakistan win was way back in 1995.
skw's career average 25.41, against Pakistan its 20.17. It is no suprise that skw does rate inzy or any other pakistani batsmen highly...

fred, anglesea,

My top 10 would be
1.Lara/Sachin nothing to chose b.w em
2.Murali/Warne
3.Wasim Akram
4.Ambrose
5.Mcgrath
6.Ponting
7.Dravid/Kallis
8.Gilchrist
9.Sangakara
10.Flintoff

M Khalid, Houston/TX, US

Warne can select whoever wants. Let him have fun! ZERO objections.

But it looks like a grudge list. :-)

Simply put, if ANYONE including Merv Hughes rates Merv Hughes over Gilchrist, they have a problem, don't they?

In my honest guess, Warne is trying to provoke or sell (money) something. That's what people usually do when they have something locked up inside for a while! :-)

Only two people will appreciate this list. :-)
1. Warne, since he wrote it.
2. Sachin Tendulker, since he is 1.

Some junkie list it is! :-).

But no offense though! he has the right to say whatever he wants. Let him enjoy it!

The guy is better than this though!

Gxn

gxn, Dallas, TX

Sam, from Sydney, asked before about Sachin's Avg in one dayers while chasing. Here you go mate: (Matches, Inn, NO, Runs, HS1, HS2, HS3, Avg, 100s, 50s)
197 193 24 7273 143 141 134 43.03 15 44
He is no doubt the greatest cricketers of all time and a fantastic role model. If someone can have the audacity to have a go at him still, I would feel sorry for you. It must be noted that it's not that Sachin is the best because Warney has named him in his list. He's the best because, he has been created just to play the game, excel in it, set examples for lesser mortals regardless what aspect of life one's expertise lies in, and I can proudly say that he has achieved all of it, but still is so humble, so human. Take a bow Sachin, you put a smile on a billion faces everytime you smile.

Vishy, Sydney, Australia

Well Its Warne's List .So he has full freedom to place anyone anywhere.

However Looks like Inzy, VVS missed out. Hard luck guys wait for Ricky's List or even Mcgraths's.

Personally I thought wasim had to be higher.

SriHarsha, Bangalore, India

Extremely surprised not to see Sir Viv Richards in the list - Hmmm ? If Sachin is 1 and Lara is 2 Viv should be 3 ya
? In my books Viv will be No. 1 Also not happy with Akram going below Glenn though I have load of respect to Glenn - Akram is the best left arm bowler the world ever saw.

I understand the biasness towards aussies from a fellow Aussie - but in his mind set this is how he percieves the game - U ask me I will give a different list and so will many others.

Why not times initiate a voting system - may be let readers jot down their a top 10 and in the end list the top 50 or even may be the 100. will be fun to know what the cricketnig world think.

Roshanth Gardiarachchi, Colombo, Sri Lanka

These are the list of players Warney played against.. hence Imran Khan doesn't appear in the list. Although you have to agree the List is completely biased, and the rankings are definitely flawed apart from the top 9..

And ofcourse BRIAN LARA deserved to be the number 1 just becoz of the sheer magnificance with which he played 3 or 4 of the all time greatest knocks in test cricket..

Eram Saber, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Border at number 4 is a great tribute to a truly great cricketer as it was AB who turned the side around from one of the worst Australian sides to world champions. If you go through Warne's career, all 50 make perfect sense, the only exception being non-inclusion of VVS who has played his best cricket against Australia.
The fact that there are 3 West Indians in top 11 speaks something although they are all well deserving. Brett Lee's inclusion over Jason Gillespie is another surprise. Also Damien Martyn not getting through while Darren Lehmann gets through is a shocker really.

Ashish Sharma, Udaipur, India

Well warnyey put tundulker at no1 .warne saying tundulker is a match winner can u please tell me tundulker average in one days when india batted second?

Sam, Sydney, australia

Maybe I've missed something, but no Ian Botham or Malcolm Marshall?

Chris, Le Pecq, France

Arguably a best pick of the cream of talent ; every one will have their own choices and favorites but Shane has done a good job in balancing the list. it was good to see Curtly Ambrose,KP, Vengsarkar in the list.......

Shashank, Mumbai, India

wat about saurav?

prabaharan, chennai, india

seventeen austrailians in the list this is list of top thirty four test cricketers. no austrailian can be a top crickter.

haidarali, pune, india

i think he is spot on to mention the greats of his era. but i m not agree with waqar younis at 46 and no inzimam as was the the batting stone of pakistan for more than 15 years.
may be they must b included into that.but he also missed courtney walsh as well who was absolutely ruthless in his time. good job mate still.i wish him the worlds best whatever he does. i love u warn for whatever u have gıven to the cricket.
imran abbas....
north cyprus.

imran , girne, north cyprus

all those people, especially from india and pakistan who are complaining about where's viv richards, imran khan, gavaskar miandad etc - remember this list is only people who shane played with or against. check your stats guys- i think you'll find warne didn't play against tests ODI's (maybe not even 1st class games) against the players mentioned above.

Anthony, melbourne, australia

ya,i appreciate shane warne,he placed 50 great players with accurate ranking in his list(specially sachin)

anmol, pune, india

Wheres Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid?? Two greatest batsmen of india.....

Fathmath Nashtiii, Tokiyo,

Nice to see Wasim Akram; he was no doubt the greatest ever left armer world has seen

John, Manchester, UK

Where's Warney on the list...?

Imran, Chennai, Ind

no menton of Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Abdul qadir, Richard Hadlee, Ian botham, Viv richards, Clive Lloyd, Gary Sobers, or Bradman what a joke!

how on earth could people who have never played test cricket be rated better than these guys?

Shane I need to smoke what you've been smoking.

akram, London,

It's an interesting list and one has to understand that it's an opinion of a person who would easily be among top 5 of the same list if it was prepared by any other unbiased observer of the game. But since it's more of an opinion than a judgment so I think we can add some comment to it. First, the criteria for ranking used by Shane Warne - i.e. part statistics and part other attributes such as flamboyance, strategic thinking, ability to lead the team to victories and uniqueness of skills etc. - can lead to a decent comparison between the cricketers BUT it cannot produce universally acceptable results. And most importantly, it took him a long illustrious career full of success, exciting experiences and keen observations to come up with this list SO he deserves not to be discredited by fans with emotional attachment to the cricketers he didn't mention in the list or mentioned but rated lower than their expectations.

Razi Tariq, London, United Kingdom

It's a list of top 50 players Shane warne played against or along during his career. We have to respect his selection and at the same time it is no wrong giving our own opinion.
I believe most of us who are following this will agree with
most of his selections.

Inzy and shane warne played during the same period , inzy's record against australia is very poor by his own standard. i am not suprised seeing his name missing in the list.

Waqar should have come within the top twenty not at 45.

India has been australia's toughest oponents during last few years. Azharuddin, Laxman , Ganguly all played very well against Australisin and should have been in his list of Fifty.

I am a big Lara fan. Disappointed not seeing his at number 1.

But his top ten selection is super though some of us may not agree on their respective ratings.

Good job , Shane Warne !

Masum Dad Khan, Hongkong, Hongkong

Sachin at the very top, and the reasons given, is fine.Warne has shown a bit of his outspoken personality, but the list is 75% okay to me.

Ramanan C., Chennai, INDIA

Test Runs = 8813 (in 119 matches)
ODI Runs = 11739 (in 378 matches)

INZI is not in top 50 of the list ?!?!? One would think Sharne might not have closely observed Imran Khan or Javed Miandad playing but Its unbelieable to see Inzamam not in top 10, not in top 50 even ..ah.

He said somewhere something about match winners, I would only like him to check the stats which say that out of 25 test centuries Inzi scored, pakistan won 20 of those matches. Can the same be said about sachin even?

But then again I think its good that you didnt include inzi in your top 50 because it would be further disgrace to him if you had placed him somehwhere lower down in your list like waqar younis .. 45th place ?!?!? *sigh*

Ali Raza, Lahore, Pakistan

I think it seems like Mr. Hariharan has preconceived notions against THE GREAT SACHIN. Now, when I say this I certainly want to emphasize that, like Warne mentions, Lara is only a hair away (it would not speak of my respect for Lara if I write 'below' instead of 'away'). I would outright disagree that - "Sachin was far from pressure...blessings..prayers..etc". I think one has to see the big picture. In his early part of career he was climbing one after another summit. These very achievements became the prime reasons for the huge mass of the people of India to expect him to score tons everytime when no reliable batsman around. We friends regularly watch/read the live match/comm. We have serious talk of the match - during and after. Eventhough Sachin scores a solid century w/ an excel. strike-rate, still some of my friends hold him resposible for the loss when he falls a few runs short of target and the next 4-5 playes do not perform at all. Now this is called "Height of Expectation".

Dhruv, Springfield, USA/Illinois

well it was a really horrendous decision from warne in omitting VVS Laxman from,atleast ,the top 20.He really is a class act.No one ,not even Tendulkar buthchered the best bowling attack of his time gracefully with such consistency,whether in tets or ODI's.Both Steve Waugh and Brett Lee had agreed that they are lest clueless in taming this hero.personally i would give him some spot between 5 and 20.i tink it was owing to the fact that Laxman was dismissed 5 times in the last Border-Gavaskar trophy(even though it was Laxman's defiant knock whch helped India win the last test match at Bombay,in which Shane Warne also suferred hammering from Laxman's willow) that motivated warne to omit him.Sachin tendulkar's place at the top is absulotely undebatable.Brian Lara might have piled up higher scores,but on any day Sachin can overtake him with his class and agressive intent which is sheer entertainment.

arun p, Trivandrum, India

What's with all the comments regarding no Richards, Sobers, Botham, Imran, Bradman etc??? Surely it has been plainly obvious from the start that this was purely a list of cricketers that Warne has played with or against.

And there are some players that people are saying should have been higher, but in many cases, those players either didn't do that well against Australia or they were near the end of their career when Warne started playing. A good example is Waqar Younis. Those complaining about him being so low should know that in 12 tests against Australia, he only took 30 wickets at 34 and in 7 tests in Australia, he only took 14 wickets at 40. No wonder he wasn't rated higher.

I certainly don't agree with some of the choices Warne made, especially Steve Waugh at 26, but it is purely Warne's own opinion, and he's entitled to choose whoever he wants to. And despite some pretty strange choices lower down the list, I don't think too many people could argue with his top 10.

Ian, Mackay, Qld, Australia

This is a pretty ok list. But, so hard to conclude why Warney missed out Vivian Richards. Viv was in the team till '91, thats when Warne made his debut. If this is the list of players he played with or against, then its quite ok. But in that case he did miss out on Shane Bond.

I don't think he is right about Lara. Warne was in the team when Lara beat the Aussies in '99. I still believe its hard to choose between Sachin and Brian. He could have put both of them in joint first.

There is no way Murali is below any of the bowlers. He is definitely my pick for number 3.

mahi, chennai, India

I think Warne didn't pick Ganguly, because this is not a list of good 'captains', rather it is a list of top 50 cricketers who contributed to the game by scoring runs or by taking wickets, not merely inspiring others.

As ganguly himself said once, that he considered inspiring rest 10 players more important than contributing himself.

Radha Ranjan Madhav, London, United Kingdom

This is a good list. Sachin deserves to be at the top and slightly low is the Mr. lara. As WARNE himself said that Tendulkar is slightly ahead of LARA, so do I feel there is not much difference between the two, if Lara has played with a weak team, u cant ignore the pressure from billions Tendulkar carried and he paid most in 90s. Tendulakr too had a weak team. Indian bolwers hardly gave with him and how u can forget the MATCH FIXING ARENA, when he was at peak, his team mates were busy in atch fixing. Still he maintained is performanace and used butchered every kind of bowlers on every surface. And to those who say that LARA didnt change the batting style But TENDULKAR did, you must have heard the Darwin law survival of the fittest, he changed bating style not just cos of his fitness but also cos of teams necessities and situation during the plays. Thats why you see SEHWAG, who didnt learn to change and learn from mistakes... thats why he is out of team now... over all a goodlist

Smanla, Hyderabad, India

MORE PEOPLE SHOULD MAKE LISTS LIKE THESE
THERE WELL ENTERTAINING

azzy, cheshire, england

Warney,,,, you have completely forgotten Arjuna Ranatunga one of the mentally strongest captain in the world, with having simple cricket team & winning the world cup against your guy in 1996. You may not like him personally, but according to your selection criteria, he should be in this 50, no matter what the position is.

Pradeep N Gajasinghe, Manama, Bahrain

Is this the complete list.. I am not finding Little Master "Sunil Gavaskar"

Amit, Mumbai,

good work shane, how about making a list of all times against Australia? would there be any notable differences? also your all time favorite innings / spells

vineel, hyderbad, india

Warne´s list is spot on !

Obviously, Warne is looking for matchwinners( steve waugh dosent even make the top ten ) Then should rahul dravid be slotted with steve waugh ?

The only shock was the inclusion of Tim May and exclusion of laxman and inzamam.

BY THE WAY, IF I HAD DONE A LIST, I WOULD HAVE PUT SHANE WARNE ON POSITION NUMBER ONE. WARNE IS THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL, NO DOUBT. RESPECT.

vinay, barcelona,

Imran Khan used to say - Inzamam is a great find than Sachin & lara - this list settles it once and for all. It is a difficult take to decide between sachin and lara - But credit to Shane to come out with a clear winner. VVS laxman's exclusion can be understood since his career is just one-sided - good scores against Aussie and below Avg performance against other sides. If performing against shane warne was the criteria he would have ranked NS Sidhu as the best !

rajkamal, Dubai, UAE

where is the master blaster viv richards, michael holding, and other great west indians, this smells

mike, london,

Very much disagree-- Lara was better than Tendulkar and Akram was definitely better than Mcgrath, with Ambrose being a toss really. It is very good that Mcgrath could bowl line and length, but put him in Multan or Karachi and ask him to bowl half his career their with that line and length, and he would never make it into the Pakistani team. Sorry, Mcgrath has a great average and was a good bowler, but neither is his contribution to the game as big as Wasim (reverse swing), neither was he more than a Monotrone to watch. He might not well have played in a Pakistani team with Wasim and Waqar in the 90s, and his alike, Mohammad Asif, will also fail inside Pakistan on flat pitches. It is one thing to let the bowl do something, it is another to make it do something.

Omer Admani, New York, USA

Superb Top 10 . Well done Shane! i guess the word great fits in easily with this top 10 . you will be in the top 3 of every other persons list for sure. Tendulkar's under rated match winning ability has been given due prominence. right from the memorable 119 to save the old trafford test in 1990 as a 17year old to the 126 in the final test at Chennai against Australia in the 2001 Border Gavaskar Trophy to give India the series victory . to the attritional top score of 91 at Trant Bridge to set up India's first series win in England for 21 years , the Master has done it all.

Sidharth, Chennai, India

No list of best 50 players since Warney's entrance (1992) would be complete without Azhar, Inzamam, Ganguly, Laxman(if the list is not only for ODI), Rhodes (if the list is not only for tests) and Shane warne himself.

And there are a lot of things gone wrong on his list. What are Tim May, Robin smith, Jamie Siddons and Darren Berry doing in this list?

Well, it's Warne's list after all. Let him do what he wants. But I think I can make a better top 50 list.

Akhthar, Bangalore, India

Everyone has his reasons for the players that he thinks are the best and credit to Warne for sharing his views with us.

As far as the Tendulkar v. Lara thing goes it is difficult as he says to separate these 2 supremely gifted players.

Statistics don't tell the full story and with batting the style of runscoring has a lot to do with it.

If you overanalyse it I am sure you can find many areas in which Tendulkar is better than Lara and vice-versa.
The term better is therefore meaningless as it is probably impossible to separate them.

However, one thing of note in Lara's favour is that like Sobers and Richards before him, he dominated the world stage with a style all his own and not 'textbook' play.
That is why for a neutral like me, he was the best to watch as you knew that you would not see anyone else playing the way he does.
I would not say that either is 'better' because that is a bit meaningless but for me Lara was always more exciting to watch.

Jason, Derby, UK

does anyone understand why imran khan, who is said to be one of the greatest allrounders, is not included in this list, heck forget being included nearly all other lists put imran khan in the top ten, so what is warne talking about?

michelle, dallas, TX, USA

it is his views and his logic. How can we dispute that and maybe good old Warne wants a contraversy to be in the headlines.

rafi, Srinagr , Kashmir

I just cant believe that Waqar Younis is 45th on the list, to me that is a joke.

Hassan Ali, san francisco, USA/CA

zaheer Abbas, Sunil Gavaskar, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Lance Klusner, Honsje, Inzi, Mustaq Ahmed....... the list of players missed off is endless. But as a personal "Warne" list of top 50, I think you have done a good, as you have justified all your selections. You are more favourable towards the batsmen, then again if they smacked & smashed the Aussie bowling around grounds, they must be good.

Kash, Birmingham, UK

why no VVS Laxman on this list? of course VVS other teams but against australia doesnt have such a great record against he was simply superb. i msure that warne played many tests against him. i thought that he deserved a place

jigar, houston, texas

No doubt, as Warnie rightly put it, Sachin Tendulkar is an incredible batsman we have watched ever. It is just a mere sight of him taking guard in blue coloured clothes under floodlights that would keep your adrenaline pumped up and you would wish for the majesty to go on without any interruptions.

To see someone like Sangakkara, Inzi, Imran Khan, Gibbs, Jhonty Rhodes, Azharuddin, Boucher, missing was really surprising. And what surprised me most was Laxman not in the list anywhere I scrolled. I still have a video tape of Laxman playing Shane Warne in 2001 series in India .... where he consistently ran down the pitch to hit him for six in almost all directions....

Also few people I felt worth a couple of notches more are Rahul Dravid, Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh, Waqar Younis, Chris Cairns......

And few I wished really not to have been up there... are Stuart Macgill, Harmison, Tim May ... esp. Harmison has done nothing for Eng ... other than an Ashes series...

Sara, Madras, India

We have to remember that this is Shane Warne's list. Ask Muralitharan and he will rank Lara higher. Ask Imran Khan and he will rank Inzamam higher than even Sachin. None of us have to agree or disagree with him. This is his opinion. But we cannot dispute the fact that he is a great cricketer who has actually played with all these players, rather than many of us who have only watched these guys on TV. He knows better. Period.

Bravo Warne! Good entertainment as usual. Wish you were Indian.

Haamid, Saint Cloud, MN

Ganguly & Gavaskar not even in the top 1000??? & perhaps virtually the entire aussie set of players across their various states shd be in apparently, right, Zebo?? Why do I sense considerations other than cricket hv got in here - obviously, both are unpopular with the aussies bcoz they were the only ones who took them on eye to eye & the aussie pride got hurt!!Doesnt matter what you say, these 2 they will go down as among the greatest ever to hv represented this sport. The entire world knows abt the notorious aussie sledging, so let's not even go that road!! In fact, it is also argued that many aussie performances can be put down to matters other than cricketing skill that they've been known to adopt!!! Tendulkar is great bcoz, unlike many others across the world, he relied completely on his skill & talent to take everyone on!!! Gavaskar & Ganguly will go down as among the greatest cricketers, so, to not include them will hv to be for matters other than cricketing skill!!!

Anand, Mumbai, India

ITS SYRPRISE ME THAT TWO OF MODERN CRICKETS MOST TALENTED & CLASSICAL BATSMEN DAID GOWER & GARRY KIRSTEN NOT IN WARNES LIST

Niranjan Shetty, manama, Bahrain/India

good to see sachin on top
but where is the
SOURAV GANGULY
INZAMAM UL HAQ
AZHARUDDIN
SUNIL GAVASKAR
IMRAN KHAN
JAVED MINADAD

ISHU, KOTA, INDIA

Forget everyone else, Shane Warne is not in the list!!

AG, London,

i dont agree that u put steeve waugh on 26 , he should be the gratest captain i ever seen , so calm, cool and match winner , dont forget his role in world cup quater final and semi final aginst the south africa, he should be in first 10 list

Nehal Prajapati, Ahemdabad/Gujrat, INDIA/GUJRAT

Does Inzamam deserve a place in the top ten?...atleast for Indians like me he was a nemesis.

Ameya Bhujbal, Pune, India

well done mr shane warne.90% correct in picking the players and 10% wrong may be.............but definitely 100% wrong in excluding few players...........where is inzi and where is miandad,and where is gary kirsten,ganguly,azharuddin. anyways,it was really nice.congrats

Nabeel Ali, faisalabad, pakistan

Wasim Akram behind McGrath, Ambrose, Lara and Sachin. Hmm. 5 Australians in the top 10. Still...such was the quality of his 50 - 11 that his top 10 list is looking a bit less funny / controversial.

Overall, pathetic and dissapointing effort to make people laugh and please some mates. I think even his mates like Darren Lehman, Tim May, Brett Lee, uncapped players, etc. would be embarrassed to be included in the list!

Ahmer, Manchester,

I also have to say i think he has some ill feelings towards S.Waugh for taking the captaincy
Saying Waugh is no matchwinner is stupid
What about Waugh's efforts in winning the 1987 World Cup bowling and hitting important runs at the death to win games for Australia, or his 200 which won Australia a series in the Carribean for the first time in 20 years and made them world champions, or his efforts in the 1999 World Cup.
I think Warney is basing his ranking on Waugh's record in the 4th innings of test matches which of course isnt great.
If anything Allan Border is the matchsaver and Steve Waugh is the matchwinner

Jarrod, Sydney, Australia

A very very good list :)
good job!
The best part about the selection is that Warne has judged cricketers solely on the quality of their performances and not got carried away by impressive stats

Shrikanth K, Bangalore, India

Remember that the selection is based on the players' performance while playing with or against Warnie. He might have played a few games with Viv ,Imran and Haynes but I do not think that they ever performed really well at those times.

I agree that the "very slightly" would not have come up if Sachin had continued to play like he did in the past .The change has resulted due to a combo of the alleviation in his flamboyance to adjust to his team's needs and recurrent injuries secondary to playing at a top level for more than half of his life . I am sure if you look back over the last few years you will see that despite everything Sachin has scored handsomely. Definitely there has never been a player who has played Warnie as well as he had.

Overall the list does not look too bad. The absence of Azhar,Inzi,Martyn,Lamb,Richardson & Chanderpaul and inclusion of Harmsion and a few unknown Aussies is bit strange. However , Warnie should be allowed to make a few idiosyncratic selections

SK, Canberra, Australia

In summary, a great description talents of some great cricketers of all times from a great cricketer of all times.

Arpan Joshi, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Nice list although VVS Laxman is missing, stop being jealous with Warne putting Tendulkar (INDIAN BATSMAN) at No.1. Just watch all the encounters, especially 'Operation Desert Storm' Sharjah.

Nobody gives nightmares to Warnies like sachin does. Which he himself admits.

As for Sir Viv Richards who never played against Warne well he said that Tendulkar is 99% Perfect batsman. Warnes opinion carrys a lot a weight but it is not the offical list it's the Legends opinion; to all those getting a bit restless.

Sachin is the King with the Bat..
Warne is the King with the Ball.

Jai, Mumbai, India

No Dean Jones???

Adam, Cairns, Australia / QLD

I dont think Sachin was better than Lara inspite of carrying all the pressure from the Indian public. Lara had the more grit and the stomach for longer innings. If you have 250 to get in the last innings and the side is 3 down for very few, I would expect Lara to get you through. But make no mistake, Sachin is a master class and an artist. I think these days Dravid has taken over the best batsman reign from Sachin. Also Ponting and Murali could be placed much higher. However Shane has been there and seen it all, so we gotta respect his views.

Chuck, Chennai, India

news alert everyone: he has only listed people he has played with or against so stop complaining btw on the ian healy comment he said 'but these days the requirement seems to be for keeper-batsmen, not batsmen-keepers.' think he meant it the other way 'round

brian, melbourne, australia,

So Shane rates Curtly Ambrose the best bowler...He was indeed best along with Malcolm Marshall..They were just too menacing. Wasim is just a shade behind these two...

JT, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

its a good list displayed by shane warne.there should be some more players in the list like inzy,azharuddin,imran,chanderpaul .by the way its overall a good one .

swapnajit, bangalore, india

every one has forgotten david gower.nobody that I've seen made batting seem effortless.

mrussoniello, wollongong, australia

Warne's list is excellent - he shows amazing insight into each players strength. I was upset when I saw Steve Waugh (complete package - great dad, captain, humanitarian and batsmen) and Kapil (arguably one of the 3 best allrounders ever) listed so low, but had to factor that this is Shane's view.

Excellent write-up, Shane.

Hari Kumar, Sugarland, TX

Warne cant see past his own country it must have been hard for him not to pick 50 australians...go back to the "juice" and pies..

Mike, Barcelona, Spain

Hmmm... Warnie has forgotten VVS Laxman. Wonder why!

Amit, Muscat, Oman

Top 1 was correct but why were ganguly, dravid and kapil Dev so low? They should all be top 10. How is Stuart Macgill better than Kapil Dev?
Also maybe Mahela Jayawardene, Greame smith and VVS Laxman
Otherwise no complaints. Sachin is truly the best.

Mihir, London, Surrey

Ridiculous! To call Sachin better than Brian one really has to be a dick head. But still I'm not too much worried as Shane is no god. Brian Lara is and will always be the greatest of all. Sachin can never hold a candle to Brian and Sachin is nothing if front of Lara. Lara the genius is without an equal. Sachin never ever dominated quality bowling like the way the genius Lara did and Brian is simply incomparable. I don't know what the hell is pressure and how on earth one can call Sachin mentally stronger than Lara! If a billion people praying and wishing for you is pressure, then what you will say for Lara, on whom there are always many people baying for his blood? Without being mentally tough you can't score a 400 or some of the innings that Lara has displayed. Well I never rated Warne much and being a mathematics student myself I shall take this positively (As minus multiplied by minus is always +ve) Lara is the greatest ever by miles! Lara's thoughts terrorizes opponents heart!

VSG Harihar, Madurai, India

Warne is a great player no doubt abt that, but his biasness has sidelined the big names like, Sir ViV Richards, Lloyd, Garfield sobers . Man how those big names arent in ur list. Man no one can miss those big names.......Even though u are a great player but i guess u havent learned much abt cricket. Now its time for u to think abt shane........

Prabin, KTM, Nepal

i cant believe mick lewis didnt get a mention.

Micky, London, UK

Shane, you are the greatest and the purest spinner of the cricket ball of all time, never mind the OReillys and the Muralis. It is wonderful to know that you are not only a great cricketer but also a very fair minded judge of world cricket. I am an Indian but I disagree with Tendulkar being ranked no 1 on your list.
Tendulkar was a fantastic player at age 16, 17, 18, 19 but once he got into his 20s he became a player obsessed with accumulating hundreds at any cost against any opposition. His greatest strength and the one that probably influenced your decision was that he probably played you the best among your peers. However as an Indian I know all too well, how often he disappoints when we need him to perform the most. McGrath always got the better of him especially in the latter period of Tendulkar's career.

Prashant, Pune, India

LARA - No.1 surely. He WAS the team. Tendulkar often fails when the team needs him, despite playing with so many other great batsmen to share the load. Lara was a quicker scorer. Tendulkar may ultimately score more runs, but only by virtue of playing so many more matches. He will be remembered as a pure, great player. Lara as a revolutionary genius. Big difference. I know which one I'd rather watch...

john smith, London, UK

Very interesting. Will someone ask Tendulkar and Lara to name their top fifty please?

Shammi, Mumbai,

Warnie have missed some of the greats from around the world, like Richard, Inzamam, Miandad, Imran etc. As well as he included some fresh faces who don't have exposure of tough cricket in tough seasons.

Asim , Lahore, Pakistan

Well done on your Top 10, Warne. Warne's Top 10 list seems more logical than his list from 25-50. Sachin as the No.1 is heartening. Warne has got that one spot on. Rizwan, I think you are completely mistaken in ranking Lara ahead of Sachin. Yes, you have a point about Inzamam-- he could be in the top 50 but below Steve Waugh , at 28th along with Youhana and Saeed Anwar. I think Ambrose, McGrath and Akram in 3, 5 and 6 seems quite correct and not much to argue over. I would however have Ponting at No.2

Prakash, Sydney, Australia

suprise suprise i thought warne will have some cricketing mind but after reading his list i feel he even dont know wht is cricket, if people like Sir.Richard ,Sir handle, Azar,inzy and Dravid are not in list then u can imazin how foolish he is any way guys just ignore this list every one knows how didicated steve waugh was in all feild.

irfan, salmiya, kuwait

I think this list is more about free speech than anything else. It would have been the most shocking list of all times if it was published by...say...Wisden or some other credible resource. Considering the size of the list, following names appear to be highly noticeable omissions: Don Bradman, Dennis Lillee, Viv Richards, Malcom Marshal, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Garry Sobers. If it were a list of 10 greatest cricketers I might not press for inclusion of any of these above-named legends but it's a huge list and none of them are there. So it's just free speech as are my own comments.

Gulzar Ahmed Baryar, London, United Kingdom

why is there so much wonderment at one man's opinion? These are his top 53 cricketers he played with or against. He did not play with half the people most of the commentators are complaining about being missing. ul-Haq? He has a pathetic record against Australia, as does murali, donald, kallis, pollock and a host of others. Frankly they are lucky to be as high as they were or even included. The only notable omission is V V S Laxman. Otherwise its all ok. People please remembder, he did not play in the 80's, Warne started in the 90's, after all your heroes retired. End os story

Nick, Bethesda, USA

Do any of you people read? This list is Shane's greatest cricketers that HE HAS come across in his career. Shane never played against Marshall, Sobers, and barely played against Viv Richards. He also spent most of his time playing with Australia, so no doubt there's going to be a hell of a lot of Aussies in the list. I'm surprised that innings from VVS didn't get him into the top 50, but obviously Shane didn't rate it much. Good onya, Shane! Great list!

Andrew, Perth, Australia

Dear Shane

You seem to have given more careful thought to your first 10 than the 11 to 50. However I think you have not given adequate weightage to the fielding aspect. From your experience on the field, just imagine the amount of runs a catch saves. and why it is said that matches are won by catches.

Lara should be no1, because he is additionally a brilliant fielder. As a batsman tendulkar may be better, but as a cricketer overall lara is better, and the list is for cricketer, not batsman, or bowler. You yourself say that there is only a slight
margin between the two. If you look at the catches taken and calculate how much runs would have been saved by using the average of the batsman, lara would be more valuable asset.

shankar, canberra,

I too was surprise that Viv wasn't on but then i realise that if not all but the majority of the name on the list Shane played against them during his career. and the Tendulkar and Lara's placement too need's adjusting but then thats Shane's list. I was never a fan of Australia or any of it's cricketers but after seeing that you've included Muli and also placed him so high on your list, I've placed Shane high on my list of favourite cricketer i guess you're ok Mr.Warne kudoos to you.

Cliff C Gabriel, Cole Bay, St.Maarten N.A.

Hey Guys ...lot of incorrect commnets for very correct batman of world SACHIN. Who says he is not match winner .......even thou he is not match winnner still he is great
Say if sachin score 100 and team loosing becasue of failure of rest of team ...that is great hundered ..
If xyz .....player score 80 runs team wins becaues of other team mate contribution this knock is called great knock....
tOTALLY WRONG....Sachin is opnner his duty is to give best of start to team and he has done excep well other than....any batsmna ..
What u want from him to bat alone throug out the inning .....
Why dont you understanf the game dear .....
Even is test he score 36 100s mean she doing his job very right to score ....he he would hav been in good time he might have score ....60 + century..
Lara got better team half of hs carrier ..sachin got from last 4 years...
Warne may be wrong but dont critise sachin.....he is pleasure to watch

Aaykay , wolves, UK

Sachin is the best. No doubt.
This matchwinning stuff is hogwash.
Lara has played one such innings.
One.
the 153.
In that innings too he was lucky at least 10 times and
Healy dropped an absolute sitter.
What if he had caught it?

Sachin has batted better than anyone for nigh on 2 decades.

john, Poona, india

Am not asure Sir Viv Richards played against Warne when he was at his peak, the same goes for Botham and Miandad I would personally not rate Gangully that highly - he is susceptable to bounce in a wicket and Shane has that right also A name I was suprised by non inclusion was Damien Martyn who for a few years was Oz's best batsmqan

Mark Login, Peterborough, England

Wasim Akram is the greatest and most versatile cricketer in last twenty years. He was great all rounder. Pakistan won world cup of 1992 because of him. The two deliveries he bowled to get rid of two English batsmen were awesome and unparralel. he was the best one day bowler ever. He was far ahead to Curtly ambrose and Mcgrath when it comes to bowl in slog overs in tough situations. he was the only bowler who cab bowl six different deliveries in an over.In last he had taken most of his wickets in dead pitches of subcontinent.Ten great cricketer should be
1 Wasim Akram
2 Brian Lara
3 Sachin Tendulkar
4 Muralitharan
5 Shane Warne
6 Steve waugh
7 Ricky Ponting
8 Inzamam - ul haq
9 Glenn macgrath
10 Curtly ambrose

peeyush, Copenhagen, Denmark

no imran khan and ian botham still amazes me. few good cricketers who should have been in the list are:-

vvs laxman
imran khan
hansie cronje
inzamam ul haq
shivnarine chanderpaul
gary kirsten
daryl cullinan
shane bond
daniel vettori
mohammad azharuddin
ijaj ahmad
marvan attapattu
mark boucher
chaminda vaas
arjuna rantunga
saqlain mushtaq

haidarali, pune, india

Sachin in not just the greatest of Warne's era.
He is the greatest.
Period.
Lara can't hold a candle to Sachin.
It's all very well tonking hapless spinners around.
Put Lara up against genuine pace..Akram,Donald,Akhtar..
then you see the difference between Lara and Sachin.

norman, calicut, india

Opinion differs from person to person. He almost pointed out the cricket legends in the last two decades.

Raghuraman, Chennai, India

It's an interesting list and one has to understand that it's an opinion of a person who would easily be among top 5 of the same list if it was prepared by any other unbiased observer of the game. But since it's more of an opinion than a judgment so I think we can add some comment to it. First, the criteria for ranking used by Shane Warne - i.e. part statistics and part other attributes such as flamboyance, strategic thinking, ability to lead the team to victories and uniqueness of skills etc. - can lead to a decent comparison between the cricketers BUT it cannot produce universally acceptable results. And most importantly, it took him a long illustrious career full of success, exciting experiences and keen observations to come up with this list SO he deserves not to be discredited by fans with emotional attachment to the cricketers he didn't mention in the list or mentioned but rated lower than their expectations.

Razi Tariq, London, United Kingdom

As a test batsman Lara edges out Sachin, however as a cricketer in general sachin is far and away better than the rest. Sachin has stayed away from controversies and has played the game the right way for almost two decades. Mr. Warne is spot on with his analysis.

Neil Duke, Torornto,

Surely Shane Warne thinks Shane Warne is the best player he has had the pleasure of playing with. Be honest mate!

Brett , Sydney, Australia

how did brett lee even make his top 50 the guy averages close to 32 a wicket and he is ahead of waqar and donald .Fielding in the sun has finally got to him me thinks

saj, sheffield, Uk

It is Warne's list and just like him it is exciting and controversial. Well done sir.

To be in Warne's list, you have to be:
- Charismatic
- "Humble" (maybe he appreciates in others the quality he didn't have?)
- Be able to take on the heat
- Performed well against him

If I can indulge in a bit of arm chair psychology, I think the reasons for some of Warne's googlies are:
1. Steve Waugh - Warne really believes Waugh got lucky by inheriting Taylor's team. Just like his take on Buchanan.
2. Some of Pakistan's great - No Haq, Waqar low. Warne rates Akram and he believes Waqar just fed off him. Haq, if I remeber correctly hadn't had a big score against Australia either.
3. Ponting lower - Perhaps a lack of charisma did ponting in? Or maybe Warne has seen some of Pointing's deficiency earlier and is loath to put him higher up.
4. Lara/Tendulkar - hard to separate again. But Tendulkar got the top rank in Warney'e book surely because of 2001 season.

Amit, Cincinnati, OH,

Spot on ,Shane!
Well bowled!

Roger, Bandra,

rajeev & daniel : Viv richards retired by the time warne started playing test cricket. i guess thats y he is not in the list

sp, Philadelphia,

Its extremely surpiring that 2 great Indian batsmen; both of who have played against Warne, and have smashed him all over the park do not find a mention in the top 50. Mohammad Azharuddin and VVS Laxman. I would have thought that both would be in the top 20 atleast. Would think its an oversight!

Siddharth Shah, Mumbai, India

Arslan
have you played cricket, have you played Test cricket? or Tennis Ball Cricket at least?
Warne has played test cricket, I personally he is the best spinner I have seen and he is saying his best 50 not ours, you wont get it because you have not played test cricket.

Praveen, London, UK

I have never seen ANYONE hit McGrath better then Sachin. Who can forget the desert storm innings at Sharjah. The newspapers mentioned that Sachin in the team meetings for the Semi-final and the final told the team he will first help the qualify for the finals and then in the finals told the team he will win it. Which batsman in the world have the guts to first of all say anything like this and then blast the Aussies so brutaly.

I am not sure which six Warne is talking about that Sachin hit Mcgrath, there were a couple in these two matches. If anyone watches these matches will not argue Warnes no. one.

Most of his 37 hundreds are against Australia.

Let us not forget this is Warnes top 50. He knows these players personaly, how they think and talk, and what goes inside the dressing rooms.

To Warne, it has been a pleasure to watch you play cricket.

Rajesh Sharma, Washington DC, USA

i refuse to believe that there isnt even a mention of Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Inzamam Ul Haq, Mohammad Azharuddin, Hansie Cronje, Arjuna Ranatunga...a whole bunch of South Asian greats left out, I can somewhat understand Cronje and Azharuddin that their careers were marred with match fixing but they still were great leaders and still great players...there are a host of players in this list that do not deserve to be there and some not where they should be...i agree with quite a bit in this list, but it is definitely biased, although kudos to warne for taking the time out to write

saad, Vancouver, Canada

Good top 10 strange top 50.
Why are people still talking about past players, his list is based on people he has played against or with. Yes he may have played against, Richards, Botham, Imran and a few other great players, but they were not in their prime, therefore how can he make a judgement on them.
Persoanally I would of had Lara above Tendulkar, as Lara has won/saved many a game on his own.
My personal top 10 in the era that Warne played would of been:
10. Dravid
9. Akram
8. Gilchrist
7. Mcgrath
6. Ponting
5. Ambrose
4. Tendulkar
3. Warne
2. Murali
1. Lara

Ginger, Aylesbury,

The most ridiculus list is complete. Now one can understand why Warne was never considered as an Australian captain. His judgement of the players is the poorest. His argument about Steve Waugh that he was not a match winning player comes to nothing when we see that Warne's #1 player comes under the same catagory. Ganguly, Inzamam not in the list? Inzamam is a player who is at the top of the list of match winners. Tim May among 50? He is not even good enough to qualify at #200. Bruce Reid, McDermott, Merv Hughes, Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee better than Waqar Younis? Its all laughable. Still it is Warne's right to have his own opinion however absurd it may be.

A. Hassan, Bowie, Maryland, U.S.A.

Harihar you have obviously never been under pressure and never been to a Indian Cricket ground. The list has Players who Warnie feels deserve to me mentioned. There is no need to cry foul over it. Chill and relax

Niks , melbourne, Australia

In my view, he shouldn't have considered Kapil for the rankings and put him at such a low position. He played very little against Kapil and it is not good to put such a great player at 40. Since Kapil is the same generation as Hadley, Botham, Imran played, it is good to keep him out of the rankings.

Another shoking thing was VSS Laxman, Inzamam missing out in the modern list of his top 50.

Ravi Nalluri, Columbus, USA

Shakeel Ahmad: the list is, very specifically, only composed of players whom Warne has played with, or against. There are, of course, many names, including those you mention, which rate in anybody's top 50 of all time, but Shane never faced them.

Paul Heyes, Sheffield, United Kingdom

Yep good list some I aree with some I don't but generally pretty good.

Lets remember this is a list of people Shane has played against, so give it a rest about Viv, Imran, Beefy etc....

I'm an Aussie and think there are probaly a few too many of Shanes team mates in their, but hey where would you put Shane Warne in the list (I'd say in the top 5)

For the record here is my First 11 from Warneys 50

Hayden (yep one of the best openers around)
Dravid (not a natural opener, but can bat here)
Tendulkar (must be included in any list)
Lara (when he is great he is the best of the modern era)
Border (well we need a capatin)
Pollock (bat & bowl)
Gilchrist (best batsmen/keeper, but probaly not the best keepr)
Akram (the best swinger...........just ahead of Wakar)
McGrath (stats speak for themselves)
Ambrose (stats speak for themselves & a bit meaner)
Murili (well the greatest spin bowler...apart from Warney)

Aussie Max, Birmingham, England

Hi, I would not give a second look to it. Warne has rated sacin highest because he never got hold of sachin whilst bowling against him but that admiration of warne cannot supercede all others who bowled against sachin. I am not taking any thing off sachin but being best in technique does not mean being greatest. It has to be a blend of many other factors as well.

Usman Muhammad, Newcasle, UK

Some people criticize Sachin. I can understand because even god has been criticized by some mindless people from time to time. Those who says that Sachin never perform under pressure, let me tell them that by the time he is on crease, there is no pressure. Pressure came only when he got out. And this can be proved a statement from Md. Azhar during match fixing investigation that by the time Sachin was not got out, nobody dare to put any money on Indian defeat. He is not only the greatest player but a true Indian who loves his country more then anything. Those who criticized him does only know ‘C’ of cricket while Shane has more the 1000 international wickets and that’s why he put him on the top. Lara just a simple hitter while on technique scale is some where at 4/10.

vikas dahiya, Noida, India

LOL is he joining the ICL .

pete, columbus, usa/oh

Tendulkar and Lara and 1 and 2 is no suprise. Lara is great but Tendulkar is definately the Greatest. Skill, Talent, Determination, Toughness, Personality, Modesty and hard working...... Great human being....definately a great Role Model for kids all round the world.

Shane Lee, New York, USA

A note to all the clowns asking where are the likes of Viv Richards, Gavaskar, Imran etc.... this is a list that only includes cricketers Shane has played against! The only obvious omission from the list is Shane Warne!! A lot of people were wondering where you would put yourself, but of course you leave that up to us, most of which put you No. 1 and you know it! Bowling, Shane!

Tony Bradley, Sydney, Australia

ppl are too critical of Warney's opinion. Theres no right or wrong about this list, its just a matter of warneys judgement. Warne was a legendary cricketer but that doesn't mean he was the best judger/rater of players. Its stupid to say he shouldnt have published this list or that he was entirely wrong. Its interesting to read how players rate other players.

Branna, Sydney, Australia

well done shane, i agree with your list of great cricketers.Your final top ten is absolutely unarguable,sachin,lara,ambrose,glenn,wasim,murali,ricky....,tat s awesome,debates regarding who s d finest batsmen sachin r lara will always be there, scoring couple of triple centuries doesnt make lara great, as warne said u have to be in india and watch sachin play there,sachin is the only batsmen to played against some of the best bowlers of windies and duo of shane-glenn.apart from performances on the field shane had taken into account the players's maturiry,mental toughness and tat s appreciable, Great work shane

sajiesh narayanan, chennai, india

Well Amer Siddiqui looks like you cant read properly, this is a list of the 50 greatest players S.W. has played with/against. Enjoyed the list, Sachin was going to be the obvious choice for you. I thought V.V.S. would have got a shout too.

Nav, London,

Navjot Sidhu & V V S Laxman are the best playeys Warne would have faced. Where are they ?

Santhosh Kumar L, Chennai, India

Thank you,Shane Warne,for sharing with us your experience and insight.Some of the points you have observed and noted have escaped most of the so called ''pundits'' of the game and its such a refreshing and yet thought provoking analysis. Guess certain greats (Sir Ian Botham,Imran Khan,Richard Hadlee)have been left out due to the period you have considered ?? Best wishes Anil Bhimjiyani

Anil Bhimjiyani, London, UK

Warney was a great cricketer, but never had too much between the ears. The list shows that - Tim May and Darren Lehmann on par with Steve Waugh? I think not.

Julian, Singapore,

helllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooo mr.
where's imran khan....best allrounder eve.
r u nuts or something else......
top 50 without imran khan?????????????????????????????????????????

rafay, karachi, pakistan

SACHIN IS NOT ONLY A MATCH WINNER BUT ALSO A HEART WINNER.EVERY GREAT PLAYER WILL PLACE HIM IN THE FIRST POSITION.NOT TO FORGET DON BRADMAN WHO HAD CHOSEN SACHIN IN HIS DREAM TEAM 11.

BHUMISH , Mumbai, India

Why isn't one of arguably the greatest all-rounders of all time and one of the most inspirational captains of all time in Warne's list... IMRAN KHAN.

And also Ian Botham.

Saad Khan, Dubai, UAE

i cant beleive these people sledging you for your top fifty it is after all shane warnes top fifty not these other spectators or clowns warnie you made cricket your legacy will live on cheers to you

dj, brisbane, australia

I respect Warney as a player very much. I've never seen a better cricketer than him..infact, everyone goes on about Bradman being the greatest..I feel Warney has earnt that right to be compared with 'The Don'. Regards his top 50...there might be few personality clashes and past run-ins with certain players that have determined certain positions. Steve Waugh at 26 (below Darren Lehmann!) and Adam Gilchrist at 20 are two that come to mind. This is only my opinion, but Gilchrist is the greatest hitter of the ball that I've seen in world cricket. He takes bowling attacks apart frequently and if anyone saw his century last year in the Perth test vs England will have witnessed one of, if not 'the', greatest test innings of all time. He averages over 50 in tests and that's batting at number 7. His keeping is excellent...but it's common knowledge that he and Warney have had their differences over the years, that's why he is only at number 20. Steve Waught below Lehmann you've got to be joking!

Bell, Perth, WA, Perth, Australia

Hadlee!
Bang bang bang!
Hadlee!
Bang bang bang!

frank mccallister, edinburgh,

ofcourse Sachin is a better batsman than Lara and his consistency proves it...who says Sachin's one innings can't match Lara's..i can name many...Sachin definitely deserves to be the number 1...its a great list and thanks Warne for entertaining us...one final say, you are the greatest bowler of all time Warne..no doubts about that..

Vimalan, Jersey City, USA

Viv Richards and Imran Khan are not in the list as Shane Warne hardly played against them. While Sir Garfield Sobers and Sunil Gavaskar had retired years before Shane Warne made his debut. The two interesting names missing from the list are that of Salim Malik a good a player of spin as anyone in the 90s. The other being Navjot Singh Sidhu who was rated very highly by Warne in his autobiography. The other surprise being Adam Gilchrist being rated so low. Well cricket is all about opinions and we have to respect that.

Akshaya Bhatt, London , UK

This is a good list in my opinion. However how can a top 50 exist without Shivnarine Chanderpaul? Are you crazy? It does not matter that this is Shane's top 50. There is absolutely not way a top 50 or top20 list can not include Shiv!!!!!

DJ, Toronto, Canada

What ,no VVS Laxman? Fabulous bat, one of the best slip fielders Ian Chappell says he has ever seen? Presumably, mr. Warne, all that time you spent in the field listening to his music has been discounted as just a bad dream! On the other hand, I wish I could have seen Simmons play, he must have been a helluva cricketer!

ramesh Narayan, Bangalore, India

53 man of the match in one dayers world record and rhey say sachin has not won matches how easily tou forget 2003 world cup ,and the list my dear illeterates is abput people with whom shane warne has played with or against i dont think bradman and imran played with him ,my god it is opinion a free world in which free speech is allowed

shakti, delhi, india

I think Warne showed his traditional biasedness by Ignoring Inzamam and a man all of us are forgetting IJAZ AHMED (lways reserved his best for the australians 6 test hundres against them) if warne is taking in to consideration perfornmances agianst australia and Inzi in case of overall great record in both forms of the game and what should I say about WAQAR In his Pomp and at peak of his powers i dare to say even DONALD BRADMAN would have been no match to him leaving aside Lee, Shopaib Mcdemot,Fleming,and lot of others in this list who were smply no match to WAQAR.........

Shahid Iqbal, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Warne mate i rekon you chose this list with the passion you played your cricket ...you've done well ...obviously people won't agree with everything ...but to be honest i rekon it's a fair list. And to those people commenting ...one bloke in particular...of course its a biased list mate, it's 'warnes' list ...whats he supposed to do, give us a list based on someone elses opinions ?? ...anyway ...good on ya ..and thanks for all the memories ...:)

Arj, auck,

Man, all the Pakistani's whinging about Inzamam is ridiculous. He averaged 31 against Australia, which isn't good from prime batsman. Even less in Australia. Pakistan have only won two tests with Inzamam in the side and he didn't score even a 50 in those. And as captain in the one series he played against us he scored all of 1 run. And in one dayers when Warne was still playing he averaged 27. Now I'm sure he's been a great player for Pakistan, but he hasn't been any good against Australia. All Australians have ever seen is a fat bloke.

Douglas, Brisbane,

very sound list. its just a shame more english players couldnt force there way to the top. Not his oversight, we just havent had the players this past 15 years who could truly rival the very best

Barnes, edinburgh, scotland

Mr Warne

Seriously mate, did you actually play test cricket because seeing your list, I doubt it?

Let me remind you a few key absentees from your list. Imran Khan, Viv Richards, Miandad, Ian Botham, Don Bradman, Inzamam?

Cant remember you getting hit on your head during you career but seeing your list, looks like you did and it had a lasting impact!

Amer Siddiqui, London, UK

The list looks quite biased..... for eg, inzi missing out was totally unbelievable... but still it's his opinion

about the top 10, it looks ok... sachin has a well-deserved top spot... for a man who carried a whole team's game and a whole country's expectations on his shoulders for years, very successfully and with immense grace... he is a great man... lara is obviously next up, no doubt about it.. but i would have ranked akram more than glenn.. but again, it's warne's list, and nice to see the perspective of the greatest leg spinner of all time... good job mr.warne..

Chandrasekar, Chennai, India

Murali should at least have been 3rd in the list. Well it was compiled by an Aussie and more importantly his rival. Considering that Murali has done o.k.

Ajith Alwis, Colombo, Sri Lanka

For reasons that Warne stated Sachin is the best. No one handles pressure with such confidence and grace as Sachin does. Who can forget the World Cup2003 innings against Pakistan!!! Immense Pressure - both countries close to war - Pakistan puts up a good score - Sachin comes in and crashes them for 40 runs in the first 3 overs - And you can go on and forever - Remember he is even more difficult to get out now than any other time - Sachin has stayed at the top longer than most cricketers - He is born to play cricket and to be the best - Just As Warne was as a Bowler - Sachin and Warne two of the very best we will ever see.

sridhar, New York, USA

sachin is the best of the best. this is for sure.lara, ambrose, mcgrath no doubt about their position as well. though i am not agree with some of the player and their ranking. still this ranking is alright overall.

anik, sydney, australia

Warne never actually played tests or one-dayers against Viv Richards or Javed Miandad, as Viv retired in mid 1991 after the English tour. But a forthright call by Warne, interesting that S.Waugh was rated realitvely low compared to the other Australian captains. Given Australia's dominance since the mid 90's, it's little wonder there are 20 Aussies in the list. Fair enough i reckon.

Dave, Geelong, Australia

That list is ridiculous! There is a whole roll call of great west indian cricketers missing from that list. Where is Michael Holding, Vivian Richards, Desmond Haynes & Gordon Greenidge (one of the most formidable opening partnerships ever), Gary Sobers, Clive Lloyd? The 80's West Indian cricket team was an exciting, brilliant powerhouse of a team that regularly demolished opposing teams. To not mention many of the titans of that team as well as some from a former era is a travesty. That list is worthless

Mark Duesbury, Harrow, United Kingdom

Shane, why no Viv Richards, Ian botham, Garry Sobers, Gordon Greenidge, or Malcolm Marshall?

Eddie Forde, Livingston, West Lothian

The entire list is pretty much a joke, but hey what do you do, its in the opinion of 1 person. To me Lara is number 1 just for his sheer brilliance... who could ever forget the 1999 series where he nearly single handedly won the series for west indies against australia. 2,3,4 and 5 would be between tendulkar, ambrose, akram and murali. Lucky some of the greats did not play in Warneys era who knows where they would be placed like Marshall, Richards, Imran Khan just to name a few. overall biggest shock Inzy not even in the top 50!

ImmI , Syd,

Sachin is a brilliant player of all time. True; but what he has given for his country. Very minimal. He mostly play an individual game rather than team. Concentrate on individual goals rather than team. If warne has taken "wiining maches rather than saving" to downgrade Steve Waugh, then don't know what place Sachin will have! For that matter Aravinda De Silva, in his non selfish manner, has won many more maches fo his country than Sachin. Also ommission of Inzamam, Mahela Jayawardhane and Sangakkara raise more doubts about the credibility of the list.

Udaya Dasanayake, Colombo, Sri Lnaka

Tendulkar was a disaster for Yorkshire, very sad & a blot on his copy-book.
By comparison, Sir Richard never let anyone down.

Michael Gibson, Wellington, New Zealand

Where is the Dude, Mr Inzamam-ul-Haq? Gracefully compelling does not tell half the storey - uses the bat like it is a stick of celery.

Henry, London, UK

tendulkar simply isnt anywhere near stylish enough to warrant being first.Lara was so much more beautiful to watch,had a far less talented team to play with and had the added pressure of the captaincy and a whole host of other things that went with it.Tendulkar was allowed just to get on with his batting and though his record obviously speaks for itself,having only seen him on this tour to england,one would wonder what the fuss is all about..Laras sublime artistry was obvious from the very first time you saw him and if you believe in valuing beauty and grace over run-hording machines,then Lara simply leaves Tendulkar for dead.

james, Colchester, uk

did you ever play with imran khan?
who is the best pakistani player in your opinion?
imran or wasim.i cant challenge your judgment about waqar.you may be right but what about inzi?not even the list????:)because he lost the world cup?
the way martin change the game was incredible,but for you he is not creditable:)anyway,thanks for your judgment,i agree with most of the figures except anil and waqar,they should switch the place.

Ghazzal Mehdi, stockholm, sweden

inzamam's name is missing. it is the biggest surprise. also surprising to see harmison ahead of waqar and kapil. probably laxman also deserved a place. and of course, you should have included azhar, warnie

rituraj, dubai, 1142

This is the best list that I have seen for the players that I grew up watching - early 90's till date. I agree with Warne's assessment that a great team was handed over to Steve Waugh by Mark Taylor. Taylor was a superior captain to Waugh any day and he would always play for a result. Although I am Indian, I would rate Lara's two match winning innings in the Windies against Australia as probably the best that I have ever seen. After being walloped in the first test, Windies won the next two matches largely because of one man - Brian Charles Lara. I guess Inzy not being in the list is largely due to the fact that his average against Australia ain't all that great. That would also explain Laxman not being in this list - not a great record against Pakistan, South Africa. Over all, a great list to read. Had fun following this. Would love for Warne to become a coach and do what he could have done for Australia as a captain.

Takla Makkan, Fremont, USA

Where is Ganguly's name? Shane's list incomplete without Ganguly!!!

Shetty, Dubai, UAE

Good work Warneee!!! Now the people who say that 'Sachin is not the best' would eat their words... If he dosen't scores the last run dosen't mean that he is not a match winner...Can they recall how many matches other team members have won for India?
Shane has not only been the best bowler but also has been a part of the best team in the world... he knows how difficult was it for his team to get sachin out. You don't get to see the kind of celebrations from bowlers when they get sachin out for no reason till today (remember Monty!)... He is right about people waiting outside stadium till he gets in... even family members of other players in the Indian team switch of the TV when he gets out.. (heard man of the match Kaif's father went to watch a bollywood movie when his son was batting as he thought India will loose when Sachin got out).
Sachin is and will remain Number 1.

Mac, Australia,

Dude where is Imran khan,Ian Botham >inzamam-Ul-Haq and the list is endless. 20 Austrlians in Top fifty and so many Top Players of other countries Ignored .My dear it is not justified

Ravi Kumar, New Delhi, India/Delhi

What happened to the greatest of them all - Viv Richards?

Krishnan, Kolkata, India

I was a little bemused to hear people blaming him for being biased. Imagine making a list of your choices and not being biased about it!! I appreciate him for putting Sachin first even though Lara has played more match winning innings because he has gone for the overall personality, character, people's expectations and the player's overall maturity. Whatever else Sachin has done or not done he has not for once lost his calm on or off the field. He doesnt have a single reportable incident in his career (except the Mike Deness one which is inconsequential). This behaviour from a man who has easily been on the wrong side of an umpiring decision for the maximum number of times. Exemplary! The list is fantastic Shane. It shows what a brilliant cricketing brain is ticking inside that head. Particularly impressive was the recollection of minor details like Rawalpindi, 1994, stumping Boon down the legside, Chris Cairn's hoick in Hamilton. Good on you mate.

Ganesh, Bangalore, India

Where is Inzamam ul Haq in the list? Inzamam not even in top 50?

Zain Abbas, Honolulu, Hawaii

I've enjoyed your list Mr Warne; you've named a fair few greats of the game. I feel very privileged to have seen a true legend such as yourself bowl at the FP final the other week; even as a Pommie I'm very grateful for what you've done for this beautiful sport.

James McQuaid, Stoke-on-Trent, England

Test Runs = 8813 (in 119 matches)
ODI Runs = 11739 (in 378 matches)

INZI is not in top 50 of the list ?!?!? One would think Sharne might not have closely observed Imran Khan or Javed Miandad playing but Its unbelieable to see Inzamam not in top 10, not in top 50 even ..ah.

He said somewhere something about match winners, I would only like him to check the stats which say that out of 25 test centuries Inzi scored, pakistan won 20 of those matches. Can the same be said about sachin even?

But then again I think its good that you didn’t include inzi in your top 50 because it would be further disgrace to him if you had placed him somewhere lower down in your list like waqar younis .. 45th place ?!?!? *sigh*

Ali Raza, Lahore, Pakistan

I think Warne got it right. Tendulkar is No.1 considering the consistency of his performance under immense pressure

Mark, houston, USA/Texas

Tendulkar as number 1. No suprises there. Warne has always rated him as the best.

He says he puts him very slightly over Brian Lara.

I think the very slighty has cropped up because of Tendulkar's relative decline in the past 3-4 years.

The fact is no batsman has played Warne in defence or attack better. Some have had there moments against Warne like Navjot Sidhu , VVS Laxman , Azharrudin , Salim Malik , Dravid , Cronje etc.

Tendulkar has however pulverised Warne on too many times to mention starting at age 19 and then throughout Warne's career.

Raj, London, UK

Imran khan,ian botham,clive rice,abdul qadir,sir garfield sobers,richard hadlee,viv richards??????????????????

Shakeel Ahmad, lincoln, uk

A provocative and fascinating list which is sure to lead to a lot of debate, discussion and text messages. We are watchers but Shane Warne actually played against and with these players which gives him a different view. The list provides many talking points - Robin Smith obviously deserved far more tests than he was awarded and Atherton and Stewart rather fewer - not just from Warne's positions but from the stats.

Mike Williams, Sturminster Newton, England

I tried to predict the top 10 yesterday and picked 8 right - but what happened to Allan Donald?

Tim Sargent, Esher,

There is no question abt Sachin n Lara occupying top two places.. The reason why Warne has put Sachin ahead of Lara is that Sachin has dominated him not only in tests but also in ODI's, not only in India(spinner friendly wickets) but also outside the subcontinent. Also, even though Sachin is right-handed batsman, he has always played Warne beautifully. In the test series of 1998 and 2001(in India), and 1999-00 (in Aus), Sachin had outplayed Warne in both tests & ODIs. Who can forget his centuries in Shrajah. Sachin will always be no.1 in Warne's list. & yes, I am sure Lara will top in Murali's top 50 cricketers because he has played Murali better than Sachin. But why argue, both Sachin & Lara are gods in their own way!! Well bowled, Shane!

Ninad J, Pune, India

sachin is a great batsman , no doubt in it but you cannot say that lara is not better than sachin, lara is a much better player than sachin in tests.in this list there is no botham or imran khan ?????? quite surprise and no INZI, guvasker, . why ????? he was a match winner batsman for years.

shane, london, uk

sorry, Uday. I've seen, and I bet other avid watchers of the game would've, Lara getting tonked on his helmet quite a few times, particularly against SA in SA few years ago. Moreover, Lara had had bowlers of the calibre of Ambrose and Walsh playing along with him. Sachin did not have that luxury. Many of his brilliant knocks would've turned match winning but for insipid bowling from the likes of Srinath, Prasad, Zaheer and Co.

RAGHUNANDHAN, CHENNAI, INDIA

Great list, Shane... if there was a list of cricketers who I'd pay to see over and over again, you'd be Number 1. Thankyou for all the endless summers of mystery, tension, skill and sheer entertainment. Can't think of a game you ever gave up on, and so many where you plugged away again and again. Watching a master spinner at work was just magic. Not to bad with the bat, either.

pepp, Sydney, Australia

How about Laxman Shane?

Azeem, San francisco, USA

This has to be one of the most controversial lists ever.

I am surprised Imran or Miandad are not there, considering they are considered by most to be the two finest cricketers Pakistan produced.

But as far as Lara ir Sachin goes, I think Warne cannot be blamed. After all, the two are so evenly matched, I guess everyone will have his or her own opinion.

However, I still dont agree with 90% of this list.

Suhaib Jalis Ahmed, Manama, Bahrain

nonsense list Lara is much Better than Tendulkar Where is VVS Laxman , Nemesis of the Aussies

Saravjit Singh, New Bombay, India

I totally disagree if you can leave out two of the greatest of all time Sir Vivien Richards & Sir Garfield Sobers

Charlie, Liverpool,

What's with all the anti-Warne comments??? Just because he hasn't picked your favourite player doesn't take away from that player being a good player. This is Warne's personal top 50 and will feature players he has played with and against who have influenced him the most. I'm sure if any of you here were ever in the position of having someone actually interested in your opinion then your list would be totally different. I know mine would be because mine would be based on different experiences and players I've watched for the last five years i have been watching cricket. What I do know is that Shane Warne would be at the top of my list. Not only has he been a great player but he seems to be a decent bloke and he's not sanitised for mass consumption. So what if he's had affairs and smokes and drinks? Just because your moral compass points a different way doesn't give you the right to judge. Just wish he'd been English and not an Aussie!!!

Mark , Manchester, England

Hey Shane, Where does your buddy Arjuna Ranatunge rank? ;)

sabesh, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

I think Lara is better than sachin when considering match winning ability. Inzamam should be in top 10. Waqar should be in top 15.

Hanees, Malwana, Sri Lanka

It is his logic , his viewa and his greatest 50. How can we dispute that and never trust Warne ,he may have delibrately fudged the list to create a contraversy. Nothing like good publicity.

rafi, Srinagar , Kashmir

I have some serious misgivings about this, at times, absurd compilation. It's apparent that Mr Warne has allowed his personal affiliations and emotion to cloud his judgment. What else can explain the presence of Waqar behind the likes of Reid and May? Despite Waqar's somewhat mediocre record against Australia, he ought to be there, certainly ahead of Harmison, whose record against Australia is worse.

Who can overlook the barbs that Warne aimed at S Waugh, a 'match-saver', 'inherited' a good team from Taylor? If match-saving is such an unworthy trait, why did the Aussies celebrate the draw at OT in 2005 with such vigour as if they won? Allan Border didn't leave behind a bad team for Taylor, did he?

I can't fathom why Inzamam-ul-Haq is not in the list. De Silva, Fleming, Jayasuriya. Lehman, Atherton etc ahead of him?

Murali definitely should be higher, what with his irrepressible and infectious qualities.

Lara should be No 1, he has had to carry the pathetic and maligned WI.

Shahib, Essex, London, England

Tendulakar is the best. No doubt about it.

Shinil Joseph, Kuwait, Kuwait

if you were asked to choose a combined XI from 1992 to 2007 based on warne's list you'll have

taylor (c)
gooch
ponting
tendulkar
lara
border
healy (wk)
akram
ambrose
murali
mcgrath

it doesn't sound too bad really... good job shane!

Siva, Chennai, India

Warne would not have played Sir Viv. This list consists of the best Warne played with, is it not?

Jack, Cambridge, UK

Sorry to say this but Warne's knowledge seems to be really really bad. I mean when you see the list and don't see legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Imran Khan then I must say the list is not correct. Also Stuart Macgill finding a place in top 50 surprises me.

Anup Gandhi, Nagpur, India

John Wood, came to Lancashire from Durham, he was an unmovable object...Literally!

Seriously though, Inzamam, come on, an average of over 50 and not in the list, a long with greats like mushtaq ahmed, ganguly and others

Sam Maguire, Manchester, england

Mr. Warne,

where do stalwarts like Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Holding,
Malcolm Marshall stand?

Tariq, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

where is inzi. Far greater player than boonj, may, some of aussie domestic players, lehman, and so on. rubbish list

aziz mengal, karachi, pakistan

i certainly respect Brian Lara, but...but....but....Sachin is the best.Sachin Tendulkar is the strongest,toughest and incredibly skillful cricket player that not only india, but the world has ever produced.

Ishan, Auckland, New Zealand

I would rank the list around 85% accurate. Whatever the bad times he had with Arjuna shouldn't have been taken into consideration when it came to ratings. Arjuna Ranatunge wouldnt have been in the ranks of the best batsmen list, but he had won several matches for SL and that too against Australia. In addition he was one of the greatest captains that the world produced. He virtually transformed SL cricket from nothing to amazing!!! If he ranks Murali as No 7 then it was Arjuna who guided him to that slot. Remember the match in Australia against England where he threatened to walk outta the grounds? If there was any player that the Aussies were afraid of sledging, it was non other than Arjuna.Cmmon you've got to admit that.

Roshun, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Where is VVS Laxman?? He deserved to be in TOP 50 atleast.... I think Warne forgot the pasting he gave in Calcutta and Chennai test matches??

Mohit Kumar, bangalore,

Shane has taken pains to select his best 50 cricketers yet he has left out remarkable players of yesteryears including Don Bradman,Everton Weeks, Frank Worrel, Len Hutton,Laker and several others. If he has taken into account only players of the recent past or current players his fifty may be acceptable.

J.J.Atputharajah, Toronto/Willowdale, Canada,Ontario

Warne, where is Imran

waheed, islamabad, Pakistan

I think he should have re-named this list: "The Top 50 Cricketers I have ever played with". If not, the list is a poor account of the kind of players that have made cricket classy, entertaining and memorable. If a complete laymen were to ask me for a list of the top 50 cricketers that truly embody the game, maybe only half of the current list would feature in it..

FM, Melbourne,

The list is okk, but definately missing few very good n talented players of wane's time specially inzimam, saqlain, ganguly, vaas, marshal, walsh, haynes, richie richardson, botham, thorpe, smith, boucher, kristen, bond, beven. They all have played against warne in thier career then why not in the list, i thing many of them are/were much better cricketers then few of those in warne's list. It looks as expected dominated by Australian n then England players which is not totally on merit but anyway it is his list, anyone can make his list of good players so in the end decent effort but not a great one. For me sachin is an individual player who always performed for himself not for team, plz ask warne to tell us how many games sachin won for india compare to great team players like inzimam, dravid, lara, ponting, d.silva, kallis, steve, kriston, thorpe, vaughan, yousuf, laxman, langer, chanderpual etc etc comn warne how can u rate him at top, he is good but not best!

azhar, karachi, pakistan

Warne is a Legend! Who are these people to question HIS choice of top 50? Everyone's list will be different, even the big alloo himself.

Dav, Wolves,

I am 33 and have seen all the guys above play.As an Australian, I am really happy with this list. Warney as always has not gone with the norm just to satisfy more people. He has not comprimised at all and picked who he believes were the 50 best cricketers he encountered. I am especially happy to see guys like Jamie Siddons and Darren Berry in the list. Also very happy to see Darren Lehmann ranked highly. Knowledgable insiders will most likely agree with his list whereas casual observers will maybe make a personal demeaning comment about Shane! Lehmann was a master with the blade, should have played 100 tests and Shane knows first hand how great a batsman Darren was and if it wasnt for politcial issues as such in regards to selection policies would have had a tremendous test record with many more test centuries to his name. Warne has taken this into account in his list.

Quentn, Woomelang, Australia

Lara at no 1, no doubt! Sachin is great, but Lara often turned the gamed on it's head. To be able to change a game all by yourself.... That's greatness! Never mind the negatives (and who doesn't have them) he was sure class. Seem like this list is the top 50 of the last 20 yrs though. That's the guy's opinion though. Sachin is great, Lara better still.

Mervin James, Castries, St Lucia

Warne list is ok, he rated sachin as no.1 though he is not a match winner but where is vvs lakshman, a real match winner and what is the rank for him. if he is not in the list of top 50 cricketers then warne had forgot the historic series 2001-2 series and especially kolkatta turnaround. The one innings of 283 was morethan enough for warne to rate lakshman in top 10 list. As far as my concern many players have been missing in the list but missing lakshman out of the list is huge disappointment and the list is not the worthy one.

sridhar, Chennai., India/tamilnadu

A very good top 50 but where should Shane Warne be in the list?!

Dennis Towers, LANCASTER, Lancashire

oh man, Sachin on top, true to his class . . . but wher is our DADA ??? i really was hoping to see him in the top 10.

Athideerapandian, Madurai,

What about Imran Khan? Surely he deserves a place in the top 5

Adnan, karachi,

I am happy that Warne put Sachin at No.1. Really he is. No one should forget the fact that in his early days, he was the only man, who had scored heavily for India, but on the losing cause in most of the occasions. Because, India didn't have energy and variety in Pace dept. and in spin too except Anil. Take an example about India's tour down under in 1999-2000, he was the only man scored runs (VVS too scored a century at Adelaide) and poor umpiring decisions denied him some more. In Chennai Test Vs. Pak. (2001) in which Sachin scored a skillful 134 on the final day, still the rest of 5 batsmen couldn't score the required 17 runs to snatch the victory. But critics blame only Sachin stating he doesn't have the knack of finishing games. I won't agree, since CRICKET is a team sport. Now that India has the variety in Pace Dept. they could consistently secure wins overseas. If India had this variety in Sachin's early days, who knows all the runs from his willow would have resulted in WIN

Krish Sankaranarayanan, Chennai, India

I think Viv Richards and Imran Khan had finished by the time Warne entered the test arena. Don't know if he faced Botham or Miandad, but Botham retired months after he started and Javed Miandad was probably well past his best. Aside from those, have to wonder at his comments about waugh being a test saver rather than a test winner, and then putting Dravid at number 11. Consequently, dunno if Australia really did lose out by never selecting him as skipper.

chris, London,

so interesting to see ganguly is not in the list!!!
of course, its warnies list...and he can pick anyone he likes...but tendulkar is no match winner... lara is!

hassan, Cambridge, uk

iam glad he left out ganguly and gavaskar.....they dont deserve to be in the top 1000 even

zebo, melbourne, australia

Sunil Gavaskar??,Botham?? Imran?? Hardley??Viv Richards?? Where are these guys ??? What about Shane himself??? Do he thinks they are not among the top 50 cricketers in the world??

Hemanth, Chennai, India

Perfect..If there has to be a king in batting then it has to be sachin tendulkar without any doubt....sachin is really ahead of lara because he didnot have that many failures that lara had....This means sachin is more consistent than Lara.....Give them 10 inns each,u might observe sachin succeed in 6 inns out of 10 whereas lara succeeds in only 3 or 4 out of 10...even though he wud have scored a big inns in one of the 3/4 inns he still fails in the rest 6 inns.That sums up on why sachin is ahead of Lara....who said sachin didnot win many matches for india which Lara did to WI?..I think they have their stats wrong....Sachin indeed has more match winning performance than Lara.... who said Lara didnot have many batsman to support?I think Lara was able to win matches because he had Ambrose,Walsh(the threatening bowlers ) and carl Hooper to support him.offlate Chanderpaul and Sarwan are more consistent..The fact is it was sachin who didn't have many support for most part of his career.

Kaarthikraaj, chennai, India

Where are you Warnie in the list

Arun , Hyderabad, INDIA

What about Inzimam??? He is not in the list of 50 best players of Shane? Robin Smith, Alec Stewart, Shastry, Lehmann, Macgill etc are better players then Inzi?

Jabir Shah, London, U.K

I agree with almost e'thing Warne has said. Sachin is undoubtedly # 1. He is one of the greatest batsmen of all time (actually next only to Bradman). Of course Brian Lara too is great but I think Sachin edges him out due to one important reason: throughout the early part of the 90s it almost seemed that India had just one international std player. If he got out it more than always meant that India would crumble. One can't imagine the kind of pressure that would have been on him. Inspite of that he has held on. Maybe a few years from now Ricky Ponting can go past his records. Only time will tell. For now Sachin rocks :-)

Velam Charm, Los Angeles, USA

Its obvious its a list of players he played with and against...thats why Viv Richards isnt in the list. Because Bradman, Sobers, Botham arnt in the list aswell.

Ponting should be higher!

Matt, Sydney, Australia/ NSW

Remember guys, this is the top50 players Warne played with and against
Thats why there's no Viv Richards, No Imran, No Sir Richard Hadlee, No Beefy Botham, No Javed, etc
I wouldve swapped S.Waugh and his brother M.Waugh around.
Wouldve put Laxman in for Robin Smith, and Gillespie in for Harmison, but its Warney's choice and its good that he went by his gut instinct!

Jarrod, Sydney, Australia

where is inzy.... where is vvs... where is gillespie

Arpeet Agarwal, kolkata, india

I am not sure about the other 40 players (11-50) but the top 10 in Shane's list make complete sense. Really glad to see Sachin on top. He very well deserves that spot. Cricket is my RELIGION and Sachin is my GOD.

Ram, Chennai, India

I think warnie has rated mainly those whom he has played with- even for a little bit. This might explain the absence of some of the other greats (richards etc)

Vick, Bangalore,

Lara is the greatest ever by miles............
Tendulkar can never hold a candle to Lara
Lara is more mentally tougher and in all sense Lara is immeasurably better than Tendulkar.
Lara's 277,375,501*,213,153*, 400* and immeasurable fighting knocks makes him the undisputed best of all time!
Tendulkar plays with his bat, while Lara plays with his heart.
Lara is a walker, while Tendulkar is a sticker. Lara has had more troubles and pressure than any one else in the entire history.
1 billion people praying and wishing for you is not pressure. It is a blessing! If it is pressure, then what you will say for Lara. Apart form Trinidadians, the rest of entire Caribbean (baring his adoring public) were baying for his blood.
This is a ridiculous comparison and Lara is peerless.
1000s of Sachin can't match a single sizzling Lara.
His other comments are also very poor. For instance he has said Steve Waugh is no match-winner, and what will you say about his 120 vs SA in 1999 WC super six match?

VSG Harihar , Madurai, India

what about inzemam ul haq he plays fast bowlers as well as anybody else & scored runs all over the world.he is a class above from many other cricketers selected, e.g in south Africa last year in a test match he single handedly won a test match on a pitch that was 10 times more favorable to bowlers than batsmen ..he is Best under pressure as we have seen him and thousands believe it.i think warn selected only those cricketers which he likes n not those who are the best.i think Brian should be ahead of Tendulkar.

Rizwan, Gujranwala, Pakistan

@arslan ... warnie didnt play against imran, javed and richards ..they were all before his time.

skv, Chicago, USA

cant really disagree with the top ten. But where are VVS Laxman and Jason Gillespie?

Adam, Sydney, Australia

Murali on the list...thats a welcome surprise!

Woke, Bangalore, India

Sir Ian Botham?

Tom Cairns, london,

Cricket in the modern era is an altogether different cup of tea, what with television, technology & psychology combining to make the art of batting in particular difficult, so am pleased that the top 2 in one of the greatest bowlers this game has seen, are 2 premier batsmen of our era. Having said that, I am completely shocked to find a few names totally missing fm the entire list -Laxman, Inzamam, Ganguly (I insist he's a much greater captain & leader than people give him credit for), Harbajan, Ranataunga (in my view, one of the greatest captains ever), Miandad (he played in the 96 WC, so he did play during warne's time), & even Sehwag. Give me a break, you hv some relatively unheard of names, but, not those who've been proven performers!!! Also, the ranking of some - Tim May ahead of Kapil Dev, Allan Donald & Waqar Younis?? Is Warne suggesting that he had more influence on the game than these?? This is not a rookey cricketer naming his best 50!!!

Anand, Mumbai, India

Shane you are a good player within the boundries of "CRICKET FIELD". I am sorry but your judgement is terribly wrong about players.
ONE BIG EXAMPLE OF THIS IS INZAMAM ul Haq not even in FIRST 50?
You could be blind but the rest of the World isn't

Zain Abbas, Honolulu, Hawaii

Superbly entertaining, as was to be expected.

Cheers!

Jeff, Baltimore, USA

Having expressed some of my rservations in my previous post, I must also say some of the things he's said for some people are extremely touching & brought-out the good man in him. In any case, to have included the likes of his Victorian team-mates over so many others means that he's essentially a good man & recognises one, as he's done - for instance, he recognises that McGrath helped him get many wkts, Mark Taylor taking some brilliant catches to give him crucial wkts! Also, extremely touching to read what he had to say of Murali helping out the tsunami victims. He also applauds Sachin for the huge public pressure of expectation & which puts his assessment of him in perspective!

Anand, Mumbai, India

I think Shane is right in picking Sachin ahead of anybody as he has been match winner. How can you say that Sachin hasnt won anything when more than 80% time India won when he scored century. Also he has kept India in the cricketing map especially in most part of the 1990s by simply carrying the team on his shoulders. Skippers like Ganguly, Azhar, Dravid always had Tendulkar to plan the strategy around Sachin. The pressure under which he comes to bat anytime simply because of huge expectation from the huge supporters in India is too much and he disappointed very little.

Ashish, Manchester, UK

Mr. Warne has done very well.
The aim of the effort is to: Have fun, reflect upon our own experiences in watching great players, and engage in healthy debate. The hundreds of people who have commented are thus essential to the exercise. As Mr. Warne points out in his leader article “I hope that it starts a few debates; I would be surprised if it settles any.”
The List can be endlessly debated. What was, however, perhaps most interesting and appealing was the selection criteria. In this age of computer- driven analysis it was refreshing to find someone rely on human instincts. It was because of this the List is successful in the sense that it entertained and engendered debate: Instinct, by definition, is not ‘rationalizable’; in fact it is often counter-rational. But it is quintessentially human and hence essential to the appeal of sports and sportsmen. If we concede to this and that the instinct of one of the great cricketers is not a bad guide to start with, we can enjoy the List.

MS, Kolkata, India

It has to be remembered that this list is a compilation of the best cricketers Warne has played with/against. That explains the absence of Imran Khan. This is a fair list. Though I wouldn't put Sachin above Dravid myself, it has to be remembered that this is Shane's list and Sachin tormented him far too much in 1998 than anyone else in the world and that would have ensured that Sachin takes the number 1 spot.

Inspite of that, the absence of Inzy in the Top 50 is baffling.

Bharath Somayaji, Bangalore, India

I like the look of that list just one thing is that i thought Sir Richard Hadlee should be on there. He was a great player that carried New Zealand for many years. I think he should have had a mention somewhere in the top 50. But it is your opinion so shot Warney

High, Christchurch, New Zealand

Warne has stuck to his admiration....of both lara and sachin, nothing much to choose. Warne will never rate someone as Number 1 unless he belives that the guy is true match winner and has scored against Aussies and other teams both home and away. Well done Sachin, you have made whole of India proud yet again

Subu, Atlanta, USA/Georgia

What about Beefy (Botham) a.k.a the greatest all-rounder ever and bane of Australia throughout his career? I would place him well above Flintoff anyway.

Daniel, London, UK

Sachin at No. 1 is Great but i think Brian Lara Is even Better than Sachin and deserve to be at No. 1. bcoz Sachin always have other batsman in his team who can assist him and share the pressure but Brian for Best part of his carrer has no one to share the pressure , and Brian knowed that if he gets out , west indies will be out even under 100 runs [9 out of 10 times]. and also Brian Lara didnt change his batting style from the day he made his debut to the day he retires .... which u cant say about Sachin... and biggest can anyone in the world say ........I have seen Lara hit on the helmet..... ANSWER is No..... Which shows he picks up ball better than anyone.....On sachin he is greatest for being so down to earth even having so many records..
BUT if u will give free tickets to watch Brian and Sachin play.. i will definitely go to watch Brian Charles Lara....


but this is shane warnes TOP 50 , So if he puts Sachin Ahead of Lara... that is his choice...

Uday, Punjab, India

no .sachin is the greatest..he truely deserves the first place.he won many matches for india than any other batsman.who will get 54 mom and 13 mos

bharath, chennai, india

I agree Tendulkar is among the modern-day greats, but Lara has achieved more in a weaker team and Ponting is probably the most complete batsman in world cricket in recent years. Of course, Warne has always struggled against Tendulkar, so no doubt that has influenced his judgement.

We must remember this whole "Top 50" is one man's opinion and, let's face it, he is a man who does not possess the best judgement: the Indian bookie, the drug ban, the text scandals, the infidelity etc etc.

Given that he rates Steve Waugh, Australia's most dependable batsman for a decade, so lowly says plenty. We've heard time and time again that he has a great cricket brain, but with judgement like that I am thankful that Warne was never given the Test captaincy. Perhaps he would have dropped Waugh in his prime?

Perhaps it is sour grapes that Waugh was given the nod ahead of him and that Waugh is still more highly regarded by Australians in general - as much for their differences off the field.

Fred McKie, Brisbane, Australia

i think it is an excellent list except some controversies, lara should have made ahead of sachin only because he has won more matches than sachin,wasim should have also made ahead of mcgrath and ambrose because of his allround abilities, nonethe less very good compilation, i feel strange M.BEVEN is missing in his list.

arsim, rawalpindi, pakistan

Sachin didn't play the all-time great innings like Lara (153* etc); rarely performed when his team most needed him (see record in finals of one-day tournaments); and compromised his attacking instincts as age caught up (who can forget his recent painstaking test century against Bangladesh). But no complaints otherwise.

Darren, London,

Great list but very controvercial.Where is Viv Richrds?
Shane you forget VVS Laxman also if you talking about the players you played aginst , probably the best player on Australian pitches and real headache for Australians in recent years.
4 - 100's and 6, 50's in test and 4 - 100's and 2 -50's in One dayers against the best australian team in Australian Cricket history.
Macgrath also in recent interviews acknowledge that in team meetings the main topic of discussion was how to get him out.
Rajeev , Trinidad

Rajeev, Sanfernando, Trinidad

Mr. Warne has done very well.
The aim of the effort is to: Have fun, reflect upon our own experiences in watching great players, and engage in healthy debate. The hundreds of people who have commented are thus essential to the exercise. As Mr. Warne points out in his leader article “I hope that it starts a few debates; I would be surprised if it settles any.”
The List can be endlessly debated. What was, however, perhaps most interesting and appealing was the selection criteria. In this age of computer- driven analysis it was refreshing to find someone rely on human instincts. It was because of this the List is successful in the sense that it entertained and engendered debate: Instinct, by definition, is not ‘rationalizable’; in fact it is often counter-rational. But it is quintessentially human and hence essential to the appeal of sports and sportsmen. If we concede to this and that the instinct of one of the great cricketers is not a bad guide to start with, we can enjoy the List.

m sen, Kolkata, India

Good point Arsian, how could you miss out Sir Viv Richards?

Daniel, London, UK

Certainly some interesting selections and opinions by Warnie! The top 5 are quite understandable but i don't agree with having Steve Waugh so low and Mark Taylor so high. Taylor was a great captain, however most people know that he was carried for the last 4 years of his career. Waugh and Border were mentally strong and possess outstanding records over 150 + tests. Ponting is a far superior to any Australian batsman to have played the game (except for Bradman) and as Warnie states that he will hold every test batting record in the book when he retires.

In respect to Lara and Tendulkar, both are supremely gifted players but I wonder how much better their records/results would be if they were in decent teams?

I can understand some of the selections as results are only one selection criteria - opinions can be somewhat skewed . For example Bell, Trescothick, Strauss, Kallis, average around 50 but will never be regarded as great players or matchwinners. They are LEMONS!!!!

Brett , Melbourne, Australia

Sachin is the best! You never hear bowlers are selfish ..you hear batters are selfish...it's a sad reality that people equate batsmenship with BIG HITTING and STRIKE rate.Altho these are undeniably important..but they dont dictate who is the best player.The best is the one who has characteristics of both- i guess sachin and lara fit the bill equally well.Sachin on his prime was brutal ,dictating terms and who will forget his 241*? Lara was the artist...batsman artist ....his swagger and his movement was class.These 2 still would have been great if it was in warneys era or in bradmans era or in any damn generation.They were born to play cricket!!! Ambrose was a class..only way to evade him is not to hit him.He was simply difficult to play in any wicket...i guess glenn was easier in subcontinent pitches..Ambrose had a good height and he used to his advantage-fast and furious..with good line and length bowler.

Austin, London,, England

Sachin Rocks............no doubt about that . Shane, Ambrose , Akram .........everyone recognizes that

Nitish, Pune, India

IMRAN KHAN? JAVED MIANDAD? Tendulkar et number one is just wrong - he really hasn't won anything? I mean at least with Ganguly we have a winner or as it is DRAVID is much much better. Don't get mer wrong tendulkar is good - when it comes to being strong mentally - Lara (he has actually changed the course of more games than Tendulkar ever has), Dravid, Miandad, Ganguly, Anwar, Ponting, S. Waugh, Border, Hayden, Langer, Inzamam, Yousuf, Sangakara, Jaysuriya, DeSilva, Richards... they are better winners.... I just don't get it

Arslan, Oslo, Norway

That's an awesome list...Many may question it, but Warney have stuck to his position and has judged the cricketers whom he had the opportunity to play with. Good job Mr.Shane.

Dr.George Alex, Kuwait,

This is Shane's list of the best 50 players that he has played against. So there can be no Don Bradman, Viv Richards etc..................WELL DONE SHANE!

Rohan Chambers, New York,

sachin #1...wow ;)

manish batsa, roorkee, india