I am surprised to see where Warne has put Kapil Dev. Kapil is no doubt greatest all rounder of India and one of the best all rounder in the world.

Dharmesh Bhardwaj, Brampton, canada

Maybe McDermott should convert to Islam. That way he won't the target of such incessant whining.

murph, London, UK

No Botham or Viv Richards?? are you having a laugh Warney? how can you put someone like Brett Lee above these greats, he might be a good stock bowler but hey what's he achieved compared with these real cricketers of yesteryear. This shows Warne for what he is - a self centred Aussie who stood out as far from clean in the game of gentlemen, good bowler maybe, but arrogant definitely, you really shouldn't patronise him and massage his ego anymore, its big enough as it is. The Times has lost points in my view for giving him license to do this.

Richy, Birmingham,

greg from Vancouver challenged anyone to find a more balanced team than this:
1. Barry Richards
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Ricky Ponting.
4. Viv Richards
5. Brian Lara
6. Gary Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Wasim Akram
10. Shane Warne
11. Glen McGrath

I have done this.
1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Graham Gooch
3. Ricky Ponting.
4. Viv Richards
5. Brian Lara
6. Allan Border
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Wasim Akram
9. Curtly Ambrose
10. Shane Warne
11. Glen McGrath

Andrew, Sydney, Australia

waqar behind akhtar and lee? that is absurd. Even lee would tell you that Waqar was light years ahead of him.

kaka, Chicago, IL

Harmison ahead of Kapil DEv and Sanath Jayasuriya!!
Its like Mark Webber ahead of Michael Schumacher. Warnie's probably having a perspective that depends too much on matches in which he's been involved directly or maybe as a spectator. No way Harmy's one good year of test cricket(maybe two) ahead of Jayasuriya's destruction at the top for many MAny years(plus left arm spin as Warnie has pointed out), and Kapil's allround performances and Indian-attack-leading over even more years. Just ridiculous.

Hariharan, Chennai, India

Kapil Dev 40
Stuart MacGill 39
No more proof needed that Warne has a good career in comedy.

Ravindra, Sunnyvale, USA/CA

Shane,

the list is good.....but still it isnt flawless ...

im an indian & still i think sachin shouldnt have been there at 1st....

it could have been brian lara/ glenn mcgrath...

but yes all your conmments on steve waugh are backhanded compliments....any personal grudge? :)

STEVE WAUGH IS THE GREATEST CRICKETER....

alongwith you :), sachin, brian & kallis/glenn of last 10-12 years....

Manu, Mumbai (Bombay), india

I thought Inzi should have been in his list - maybe Warnie just forgot to put Inzi on this list ?

Owais, Doha, Qatar

What other insights has Warney signed up to list? Maybe his "50 greatest texts" or "5 greatest haircuts"? If so, the mullet must be number one, two, three, four and five!

Dougal, Brisbane, Queensland

Thanks Warine for sharing your views on cricketers with us. I always wanted to know your take on lara, Tendul, et al...And I feel sorry for all these guys arguing as to why Kapil is on number 40, why Inzi missing, etc. Its a list based on What Warnie saw in his cricketing career.

Hasib, Sydney, Austalia

Kapil in 40, Shane you should have go and get a beer or something, thats a shame to your countdown...Kapil is one of the greatest alrounder world cricket ever produced...so what next Allan Border is in 70?

yogi, Denver, Colorado

where is full list from 1- 50


and why waqar is on far from tim may bruce reid nad mcgil

syed ather, dubai, uae

I am sure Jonty from South Africa still wishes for apathied days.

Sid De Silva, Melbourne, Australia

kapil dev at no 40.
he was better than steve waugh.

vivek, pune, india

No one can satisfy every one and every time. Shane is one of the greatest cricketer of all time. He has every right to choose his best 50 or 100. It is pretty clear that he has considered only those with/against whom he has played. His criteria for selection is the voice of his heart not brain are statistics. That is why it is looking unlogical but intersting. You can't guess name of balance 20 players, b'coz there is no criteria. may be players like vivs or gregs may miss the list. Don't critisize and enjoy the list only b'coz of its uniqeness....

aditya, Gurgaon, Haryana

NOT a single West Indian player on the list so far! I suppose they will all be in the top 10, but surely some of the top 20 West Indian players should have made the list.

The list by Warne is biased, and more a PR exercise than a serious analysis.

Lara Richards, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Sandeep
It's amazing, isn't it,! Fancy this guy Warne pretending to know anything about cricket!!
He should humbly take note of your opinion, of course, and all the other experts waffling on here.
Lots of anti-Australian remarks, I notice,- isn't that rather racist?

Rusty, Lismore,

To all those criticising Warne's selection; this is a matter of opinion and he is allowed to choose who he wants! If he has Donald Duck at the top of the list then that is fine. You do not have to read the article if you disagree with it!

David Edwards, Hereford, UK

At 40, Kapil is really low down. Is it because Warne saw a waning Kapil Dev? He was one of the most natural cricketer and the match winner for India in the 80's

Satyajit, Hyderabad, India

about that team greg in canada chose:

great team, very good choices.i would just like to recommend a couple of changes

barry richards -> gordon greenidge (just cz greenidge is more proven at test level)
ricky ponting -> steve waugh (captain) with richards at 3 and waugh at 5
glen mcgrath ->michael holding

what d u think?

jasprit, surrey, bc; canada

Jonty, who cares what you think? Not Shane Warne i'm here to tell you. He's ranking the best players HE has played with or against, in HIS opinion. Thats the point of the whole thing. Maybe you will grow a brain at some point, with one of those this concept will be easier to understand!

Andrew, Sydney, Australia

i think that the list has been thought about and in many ways i agree with shanes thinking........however how can you possibly have a top 50 of cricketers and not have IAN BOTHAM in it am i missing something here shane?

dave russell, dungannon, NI

I'm a big fan of Shane Warne's balling.. But this is hillarious

Give him a life. He's gone crazy

Aditya Jayant, Bangalore, India

what an inaccurate list!

im speechless at where kapil dev is ranked....extraordinary!

40th?!??!?!

karthik shankar, stroudsburg, PA, USA

Well no one could argue Shane is the best leg spinner in the world.... but his list shows Best Cricketers may not be a better cricket analyst.... his list is pathetic till now... i advice people to ingnore his list and respect this person only for the way he played his cricket. Shane! i love you very much... i still one of your ardent fan but cannot accept your list... very sorry

Ganesh, Chennai, India

Having Kapil so low down the order is but a joke. The Indian swing bowler got wickets in the most unhelpful conditions and against the best batsmen of pace bowling. Warnie, everyone knows how you fared against good players of spin bowling in India!

Rajshekhar, New Delhi, Delhi

mark boucher should have been included for glove work and his batting abilities. no makhaya ntitni in the list makes me wonder. he is biased towards south african.

haidarali, PUNE, INDIA

Lordy! So many of the writers here are not true connoisseurs of cricket history. At this moment, test cricket is as weak as it's ever been - barely a decent quick bowler out there and pitches so lifeless - no wonder all these so-so modern batsmen are averaging in the fifties. They are not fit to wipe the bottoms of batsmen from cricket's 'golden age' like Ranjitsinhi, who truly took batsmanship forward, or Victor Trumper, who cared not a jot for stats, but who was believed by everyone who saw him to be nonpareil. Here is my list of the greatest players of the twentieth century and, as someone of Nigerian background, I'm probably more objective than most. The list is in no particular order - these were all true dons:
Trumper
Ranjitsinhi
SF Barnes
Hammond
Compton
Wasim Akram
Imran Khan
Fazal Mahmood
Tiger O'Reilly
Headley
Barry Richards
Viv Richards
Lara
Murali
Warne
Qadir
Knott
Bradman
R Hadlee
G Pollock
Lillee
M Marshall
M.Tate
Greenidge
Hobbs
Worrell

'Don' Diran, London, UK

Lehman, Robin Smith and Tim May ahead of Sanath Jayasuriya? Boon ahead of Waugh and Waqar way behind Lee??? Gee Warnie, you must have been inhaling something real bad at the time of doing this list.

Nayanta Pandita, Colombo, Sri Lanka

I think Warne made this list just to exagerate the ability of his own friends. Listing Kapil and Waqar much below their deserving place is just an insult to them. I would have better had he abstained from publishing this list. He should have considered the fact that Kapil played most of his cricket either on flat Indian wickets or those tailormade for spinners. He was as effective as any other great fast bowler on fast pitches. Besides, he always rose to big occasions with bat or ball or both. Similarly, Waqar was great incisive bowler.Except for his last injury prone couple of years, he was one of the most devastating bowlers. How could Warne under rate such great players? It seems totally ridiculous when Warne writes that he played against these fast bowlers to have evaluated them. Warne is nowhere near even a average batsmen to make such evaluations? But then it only warne and his kitchen list !!!!

Dhanvir, Osaka, Japan

jayasuriya at 38 ? Oh well , This is warnes ranking and it shouldnt matter much how HE ranks them.

firoz, riyadh,

Warniee's..had too much beer at breakfast!! That's all I gotta say. I was going to follow the list through but after reading some totally nonsensical rankings so far, will not even bother about the rest. Harmison would probably not even fit in an England all time great. Tim May..huh..I heard this name as an adminstrator is all I can say.. Its good to be unpredictable but this seems a bit foolish....sorry mate, im no game.

sam, Sydney, Australia

Andy Flower at 36. This guy is having a laugh. Even if it is his own opinion, it's an opinion not worth much.

Carys Mathews , Chester, uk

it's not all about stats, it's about all round attributes which make a good cricketer.

john, jdjd, jjdfd

I agree this list is a bit of a joke but Shane Warne can, and does have a right to say because he is one of the 5 greatest cricketers of all time in my opinion (and in the opinion of Wisden also). Steve Waugh must surely rank higher than 26 and above the likes of Lehmann and Fleming. I think this list is supoosed to be a bit of wind up.

target, london, england

so mr. warne is saying that stephen harmison and tim may were better than kapil dev. interesting? i wont be surprised if top X consists of warne himself, mcgrath, ponting, hayden, hussy

sameer, Mumbai,

Warney, as much as I love the list, I love everyone who gets overly fired up about it almost as much. As long as you are at number 1 I'll be happy - you are a GOD!

Geoff, Melbourne, Australia

replying to sheryar jahangir, london, uk
im pretty sure fleming was ranked for his great captaincy not his ability with the bat.... thats why hes ranked in front of steve waugh
no idea some people.

Jonty, PN, NZ

this has got to be a joke. ranking kapil below so many also rans!

Max, los angeles, USA

75 wickets @ 34.74 better than Kapil Dev whoz taken 400 odd on flat sub-continent wickets is funny more than offensive.....

Gaurav, Manipal,

Shane, it's pathetic...
You say Tim May is better than Waquar Younis!?!?!?
I thought you had a great knowledge of the game...

Sachintha, Kandy,

Warne did not change at all. i think its another way of making serious controversy which i am sure he made intensionally. But its his own choice. Cumon guys, Tim May is higher than Donald, Kapil and Waqar... no need to comment on this list...

MH, Gwangju, Korea

Christ, some people commenting on this are retards.

It's Warne's list of top cricketer's he's played with or against, not a definitive "bestest 50 cricketers in the world EVA!!!!!!!111111111" list.

Hence why people like Kapil Dev are ranked so low.

Cal, Glasgow, Scotland

Rating of Kapil Dev (India) lower then Stuart MacGill (Australia) or in that case Stephen Harmison (England) really makes this list very fully... i believe warne has forgotten that Kapil was one of the best allrounder, even if you consider his blowing skills he was far better. Macgill has not enough matches even to get compared with our great. See the Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), he is one of the best batsman of this era and very good fielder also. how can one forgot his contribution in 1996 world cup. but any way i don't think these gr8 players need any approval from shane warne.. I think he wants to fit maximum of australian in the list so that he can have a good personal relation with them.

Lalit, Delhi, Delhi

What a stupid list, once again Warne has bow(l)ed himself out...

Chetan A Garude, Livonia, MI

I think Warnie is confused and is struggling to complete the top 50.. with better sense of recongizing the greatness...

Can only say "Its a good attempt..though unconvincing".

Venkatakrishnan KVR, Chennai, India

Harmison and McGill ahead of Waqar Younis?

Jaanasheenster, Toronto, Canada

Chill out guys,
This is 'Shane Warne's' list, he has full right to even name his sons and daughters to be in '50 greatest cricketers'. He has earned that right by taking 708 wickets!!!

Mohit, mINNEAPOLIS, usa

What joke Warne are you still on those drugs that got you banned for one year.? Harmison who can't bowl without bowling 20 wides and that too in a test match, better bowler than Waqar, Donald and Kapil. I think this is a joke and you should stop writing this crap.

Nabeel, Perth, Australia / WA

who cares for shane warnes ranking?????....

titojose, las vegas, usa

well, it is shane warne's greatest 50 cricketers..not yours or the Wisden's.

If you were asked the top 50...you would probably choose something that others may not like.

ravi, toronto,

Warne is looking for a better retired life position in England/Australia. This list is one of his effort in the same line. I have a list of most notorious players in the field because of their behaviour and non-cricketing act-- here it is.
1. Larwood (Bodyline bowler)
2. Jardine (Bodyline captain)
3. Shane warne (famous for many other act other than cricket: Used to instruct his fast bowlers to create spots in the field and use them accurately for bowling: Without those spots he would have been worst than Nicky Boye. a sledging master too)
4. Glenn Mcgrath (Sledging as sharp as his bowling)
4. Dennis Lillee (Australia) Lillee-Miandad episode
6. Steve Waugh (Australia, any non cricketing thing is fine for a win, father of sledging )
7. Adam Gilchrist (Appeared to be good but there are incident as proof)
8. Javed Miandad (Pakistan) L-M episode
9. Andrew flintoff (Tino Best episode)
10. Mark Taylor ( Sledging)

According to Ian Chappell "sledging" originated from Australia

pilan, Kanpur, India

How did Tim May find his place above Sanath Jayasuriya. Of course its Warne's list and there will be more surprises with average Australians find undue places above truly great champions.

Hiruna Wickramasinghe, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Shane, Based on what are you rating this players? I think the rating that you are taking is not working because the list it self mostly rates on top rank are from your own country or England (and the english players are there because you want to work your retire life with english cricket). I think you should take in consideration that there are far more better bowlers and batsmen in ASIA. Try it might give you a news flash... thanks

vikaas Patel, chicago , il USA

i don't know what is shane smoking these days...tm may is better than donald, kapil, waqar....utter rubbish....even tim may would laugh at it...but u know everyone has the right to have an opinion...however stupid it may be....so does shane

ambuj, Minneapolis, US

Was Shane Warne on his weight loss medication when he came up with his list - ranking Bruce Reid, Tim May above Kapil and Waqar is a joke.

hari Kumar, Sugarland, TX

Shane warne is a great great player, but is a pitiable sportsman. He is not great enough to produce his list of 50 great players..none of the palyers like kapil, akram, Imran, or Dravid are lower in stature than him. Its a cheap publicity stunt by a spinner who was thrashed all over the park by indian batsmen. has allan border or for that matter Viv richards ever come out with such list?

Sidharth, Des moines,

i Think Its his own choice but if you will take a survey you will find the other thoughts. so let him make his list. He has not named md. ajharuddin in 50-10? he is one of the most destrective player in test and one day before scahin era?

Neeraj Tyagi, Delhi, India

Best Ever TEST Team
(1) Jack HOBBS (Eng)
(2) Herbert Suttcliffe (Eng)
(3) Donald BRADMAN (Aust)(Capt)
(4) Garfield SOBERS (WI)
(5) Ian BOTHAM (Eng)
(6) Keith MILLER (Aust)
(7) Adam GILCHRIST (Aust)
(8) Kapil DEV (Ind)
(9) Imran KHAN (Pak)
(10) Richard HADLEE (NZ)
(11) Shane WARNE (Aust)

Graeme, Perth, WA

Interesting thing mentioned by Warnie

" For an off spinner, he had the perfect, traditional, legitimate side-on action "

The word to look for is "legitimate" action for an off-spinner. Interesting Mr. Warne. Are you trying to point out who has an "illegitimate" action which (not to mention) has been cleared by the ICC again and again?

I wonder if this list actually represents only the greatest players based on actual facts/experiences or just prejudices and pride? I agree with a lot of people about Waqar's case earlier on and also the fact that this is a list based on Warnie's experiences only but come on Warnie! at least in your personal favorites list you should not have any prejudices. Of course cannot help that happening in the Australian team.

Omar Alvi, Dubai, UAE

Warne is full of himself at times. However, the fact is that is any of us had to put together a top 50 best cricketers list, not everyone will agree.

raffi, Orlando, Florida

Tim May with a bowling average of 34.74 and 75 is better than Waqar Younis or Kapil Dev ? Come on Shane, you are far too bias towards your Country. Any other Cricketer would not even rate Tim May in the Top 200. Jayasuria a part-time bowler has better bowling average and wickets than Tim May. Enough said.

Naveed Akhtar, Birmingham, UK

Honestly, each and everyone of you people should chill and let Shane make his choices. For all you people who consider yourself cricket buffs and don't have a good understanding of the history of the days before Tendulkar, Lara should honestly go read about it it. Bruce Reid was a very effective, tall left arm seamer who caused a lot of problems to batsmen and Tim May was an underrated offspiner who as Warney said was integral to Australia crushing the Poms in the early 90's. You guys are not true cricket fans if all your going to do is disagree with Shane. He's one of the all time greats of the game and I think its a disgrace of how you guys are criticising him with utter disdain as if he's fundamentally wrong.

Sunny Dutt, Toronto, Canada

Kapil Dev was over rated I would not put him in my top 250. Harmison deserves to be way higher.

DavidR, London, UK

I guess, the list is based on how much Shane Warne has played each of the players. If he is asked to rank the top 50 cricketers based on not just playing alongside/against, but also seeing players play (on TV or ground), he might have a totally different list. Otherwise I don't think many would agree with players like Kapil Dev, Waquar Younis behind MacGill or Tim May.

Kiran, Bangalore, India

Yep! Agree pretty much that people have to remember, it's "Warne's 50" and NOT a generic one;
And Warne probably forgot to remember that by putting his mate Tim May higher than others even in his personal best is not gonna be received well :-) People might loose interest. It will be interesting to see when the top 10 comes out, it gonna be like David letter man's? :-)

x2y2z2, Dallas,

Where is he going to place himself? at number one I presume.

N.Riley, Runcorn, England

Well, Mr. Warne's bias towards the Australian players is clear. How can a bowler such as May (with a test average of 35 in 24 matches) be above Waqar Younis, who was one of the greatest test bowlers in the modern era and who, along with Wasim Akram, developed the extremely skillful art of reverse swing?? Incredible!!!

Youssef Bakar, London,

Kapil Dev coming behind the likes of Stuart McGill, Tim May, Robin Smith, Michael Vaughan, Allan Donald, etc.

Ha ha ha ha - the message is quite clear; a prerequisites to appear higher in Warne's list are the Australian and English nationalities!

Once again, Tim May ahead of some cricket legends. Ha ha ha ha!

Ahmer, Manchester,

wat a shame shane,
u rank bowlers like TIM may and Bruice higher than Waqar Younis and Allan Donald and Harmison............

may be they are not aussies, thats why

Zahid Rao, Islamabad, Pakistan

I don't suppose Muralitharan will be top 5 would he?

Colin Platt, Slough, UK

Mo and Amit,

I like your lists. How many of those guys did you play with or against?

stevo, london, uk

I think warne has gone crazy... he ranked kapil dev behind steve harmison... how in the world can u rank kapil down. he was the one of the great alrounder of all time including bothom. he is the only person with more then 400 wickets & 5000 runs in test cricket

Ivan , New York, NY,USA

tell me one captain in the world who'd rather have stephen fleming in their side instead of steve waugh, or tim may instead of allan donald (even in calcutta!!!!)

sheryar jahangir, london, uk

im afraid that Kapil Dev and Jayasuriya are ranked well below than what they should be. lets not forget Kapil at one point held the most number of wickets in test matches (1994-1999) and ODI matches. 40 is truly not the spot for the man who led india to a famous world cup win in 1983 against the might West Indians whom they defeated twice in that world cup.

Also according to the ICC cricket ratings for all-rounders his 631 points are the highest achieved by any allrounder.

Jayasuriya is also as destructive today as he was in 1996.

Hardik, Rutherford, USA / NJ

I agree with Shane that all off spinners should have a legitimate side on action like Tim May. I am looking forawrd to seeing where Murali appears in the list !

Skycov, Stratford upon Avon,

yeah it does seem strange that macgill and harmisson are higher up the list but i think its all very subjective.....i guz this list is warnes list of his top fifty FAVORITE cric...this list is not the indication of skill or statistics ...jus a list of his top 50 fav cric.....so i dont think we shloud be taking this list very seriuosly........so lets not fret about his list .......we shluld look at the list so as to know who all are his fav cric in acending order

vivek khare, ambala, india

Pay attention. This is a list of the cricketers Warnie has played against. Kapil Dev was a better bowler than Tim May and Bruce Reid. However Warnie played against Kapil at the end of his career whilst he played with Tim May and Bruce Reid during the height of theirs. He is going by what he saw on the field not by history.

Andrew, Brisbane, Australia

This is all rubbish Kapil Dev at no.40 strange .he is among the top 20 cricketers in the world. He has ruled the game .He was allrounder at par.Who can forget his contribution to the game .Above all he was a true sportsman.

Ravi Kumar, New Delhi, India/Delhi

Great team Greg, the obvious error being that you replace Ponting with Tendulkar... now that team would be unbeatable.

JJ, London, UK

24 Barry Richards (South Africa)
23 Steve Waugh (Australia)
22 Kapil Dev (India)
21 Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
20 Sir Leonard Hutton (England)
19 Sir Frank Worrell (West Indies)
18 George Headley (West Indies)
17 Greg Chappell (Australia)
16 Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)
15 Graeme Pollock (South Africa)
14 WG Grace (England)
13 Keith Miller (Australia)
12 Sir Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)
11 Ian Botham (England)
10 Sunil Gavaskar (India)
09 Wally Hammond (England)
08 Imran Khan (Pakistan)
07 Sachin Tendulkar (India)
06 Dennis Lillee (Australia)
05 Sir Jack Hobbs (England)
04 Shane Warne (Australia)
03 Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies),
02 Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies),
01 Sir Donald Bradman (Australia)

MO, STL, USA

jonty from cape town you dont know any thing about crecket man ! muralitharan is the great bowler in history of cricket1

sanjeewa peiris, abu dhabi, united arab emirates

FAIRDINKUM !!! As far as i can see its Warneys greatest, NOT the public's or anybody else's. And from my humble opinion HE actually played and communicated with these people, so he is intitled to pick it. NOT all the people commenting, or am i mistaken all you people disagreeing with warneys opinion ACTUALLY played with or against the top 50? He actually matched wits and competed with and against all theses champions, it's a totally different perpective doing that, rather than watching on the TV!

DFC, Melbourne, Australia

Guys, just cool down. We’ve got to accept Warne’s opinion. As we all know, he is an Australian. Sorry, half Australian. And we all know how the Aus. attitude is. And what about the other half………..? Unfortunately Kapil, Waqar and Sanath don’t own blue eyes and blond hair. Have they had, surely this guy would have rated them much higher.

DAV, munich, germany

Lighten up chaps!. Warne is naming his favourites not the greatest. Its all subjective. Yes I am a Australian. So here is my GREATEST batting order test team of the last 30 years of watching and playing at a high level.
1. Barry Richards
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Ricky Ponting.
4. Viv Richards
5. Brian Lara
6. Gary Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Wasim Akram
10. Shane Warne
11. Glen McGrath

Try to find abetter balanced team than that!

Greg , Vancouver, Canada

Interesting list and it's good to see Warne's getting people stirred up about cricket!!! (nothings changed)

Only criticism is that the title's not very clear. Is the list for his favourite players, best he played against, best to have ever played the game, players with the most potential or players he found most difficult to play???
"Shane Warne's 50 greatest cricketers" can mean many different things...

David, Melbourne, Vic

Stuart Macgill ahead of Mike Atherton?? Or Robin Smith for that matter...

David Ward, London, UK

Yes James You are right .
This guy needs another Drug Test !
We all know that how good is Mr.Shane Warne with the ball ...no doubt about that ! But this list of his !!!!! not worth commenting when he lists a person like Santh Jayasuriya ( Only crickter to have scored 12,000 ODI runs and 300 wickets , among many other records ) below McGill . Just not correct .
anyone who follows cricket will agree , i guess .

Vajira Ekanayake, Colombo, Sri Lanka

I hope Warne puts himselt at Number One because he deserves it. And what's all the nonsense about Waqar being better? You could throw Warne the new ball and he'd get wickets for you (the 2005 Ashes), and he won more games for Australia than Waqar did for Pakistan.

Steve McAlpine, Sheffield,

Its pitty that Mr. Murali was not playing for South Africa (I guess thats where you from Jonty?)
I guess then you would have called him "a great"

Rob, London,

Mr. Warne
I strongly doubt your ability to rank crickters. Ahead of waqar are Tim May, Bruce Reid, Harmison, Donald, McGill. Other than Alan Donald i do not think any one of those guys which i mentioned above was a match winner. And Waqar crafted countless cricket wins for his team. His record speaks for itself. So open your heart and mind and be generous when ranking south asian cricketers.

FA, miami, USA

Jeez just enjoy the list for what it is, which is Warney's view of the best players he played with and against during his phenomenal career.

David, London,

According to Warnie Bruce Reid, Tim May and Stuart McGill are/were all better cricketers than Kapil Dev!!! Think it might be time for another drug test Shane.... and whoever said Australians were one eyed!

James Beare, Surrey,

Its top cricketers, not top batsmen or bowlers. In that case, I think Kapil should be No. 50

Raj, Nottingham, UK

The numbers show that Warne is not any better then Waqar. Take a look.

Tests ODIs
WY SW WY SW
Wkts/Mat 4.29 4.88 1.59 1.51
SR 43.49 57.49 30.52 36.32
Ave 23.56 25.41 23.84 25.73
Econ 3.25 2.65 4.68 4.25
BBI 7/76 8/71 7/36 5/33
BBM 13/135 12/128
10Wkt Freq17.40 14.50
5Wkt Freq 3.95 3.92 20.15 194.00
4Wkt Freq 3.11 3.02 18.71 16.17

"X" Wkt Freq = # of matches / # of times "X" Wkts are taken

Any comments Warne?

A Ali, Allentown, USA

the list is surprising..one things for sure warne has not considered stats as the only measure of a player....

king, mumbai, india

I dont agree the kapil rankings. He was one of the best all rounders for the world along with (Imran,botham and Hadlee). I dont understand how does kapil rank is 40 according to warne.

Ravi, Little Rock, USA

Probably except Allan Donald none can be greater than Kapil Dev.Usual Aussie obsession for rating England and Aussie players great

Karthik Seshadri, Chennai, India

Kapil is one of the greatest four allrounders along with(Imran, Botham and hadlee). How come Shane gives 40th rank. Below May. This must be funny to read.

Ravi, Little Rock, USA

Hilarious. This list. Some good players there, but Kapil below Stuart McGill? STUART McGILL?? How can you prove this dude?

Mr P Mulay, London,

Guys don't worry about warne's rankings...Everybody knows that Kapil Dev is one of the best allrounders along with Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee the world has ever produced...But I am not surprised coz the blond head warne is know for his spin bowling and not his intelligence...:)

MD, Chicago, USA

This is going to be a very exciting list....... Can anyone guess where he is going to place Arjuna Ranatunga?????

Ananda, Canberra, Australia

I consider myself one of the biggest admirers of Shane. But this list is a shame.

Even if its Shane's perspective according to some Aussie defenders, its a wrong perspective. Get your perspective right Shane. And if its wrong perspective expect people to say ur perspective is wrong!!!

Having domestic cricketers rated above international cricketing legends is preposterous.

If these are the ones Shane has played against, then Don, Gary, WG Grace, Barry Richards would'nt feature would they?

Tim May, Robin smith, Michel Waughan, Harmison, Mcgill, Justin langer, Artherton, Brian Mcmillan, Darren Berry and Jamie Siddons will not even be in most peoples list.

Personally I would love to have Imran, Hadlee, Botham and Kapil in the top 25. May be he does'nt know his fellow cricketers abilities and achievements as well as he knows the game. I remain his admirer.

Dakshin, Santa Monica (LA), California

WHAT A JOKER WAQAR PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING FAST BOWLERS EVER AND ARGUABLY THE BEST BOWLER AT THE DEATH, BRUCE REID AND HARMISON ABOVE HIM SAYS IT ALL JUST LIKE HIS DECISION TO BOWL 1ST AT LORDS ON A BATTING PARADISE IN THE C&G FINAL

Mohammed riaz, lancashire, uk

stuart macgill deserves to be the top fifty of the most impressive layers of the shane warns list. macgill never cement his place in us test team because of shanewarne, but whenever he got the chance he work on that with very special manner. without filling insecurity it is to good for him to perform like that

nirav, ahmedabad, india

warney!
Make this list a list of your FAVOURITE 50 players
and not a list of the "greatest" 50 players
Then I am sure no body will complain.

Muhammad Usman, Lahore, Pakistan

Kapil Dev should be at least higher than Harmison. Harmison hasnt really been to outstanding let alone his injuries. Kapil Dev was consistent and dominant, and it is sad to see Harmison is rated higher than him.
Another one is Michael Vaughan. In general, I didnt even expect him to even be on the list (or he wouldnt have ever been on my list).
But in the end, its your list Mr. Warne, and if you think they are worthy of those numbers, then let them be.

Eric Persaud, Toronto, Canada

tim may how can he feature ahead of waqar,kapil,donald
acc to warney bruce reid wud have been gr8ter if not for injuries well waqar suffered a stress fracture in his back in 92 he came back took 370 test n 400 odi wkts at the best strike rate ever now injuries dont get serious than this.
Donald made his international debut at 26 prbably missing 3-4 years of his peak yet he achieved this 330 test wkts.
how can warney miss these n say bruce reid suffered injuries.
I agree with him on Robin Smith he was avery gud cricketer always underrated though

vineet, bangalore, india/karnataka

May be all those cricket gurus over the forums should know that he is expressing his opinion on who he thinks is better .. and not top 50 of all times .. so people just chill out

Subrato, New Haven,

Why don't you all just chill out? He's not saying it's the definitive list of the best 50 cricketers ever, he's just saying it's his personal selection. Note, they're in there for personality as much as performance (Robin Smith, for example). He's also trying to be fair by spreading it out, not just having all Australians in there. So come on, calm down and take it with a pinch of salt.

JJ, Oxford, United Kingdom

i think jayasuriya deserves a better place though i am not a srilankan i feel it is a bit disappointment

ja , glasgow,

This is a better list !!!!

50 Bishan Bedi (India)
49 Alan Davidson (Australia)
48 Allan Donald (South Africa)
47 Allan Knott (England)
46 Victor Trumper (Australia)
45 Ray Lindwall (Australia)
44 Javed Miandad (Pakistan)
43 Clarrie Grimmett (Australia)
42 Jim Laker (England)
41 Glenn McGrath (Australia)
40 Michael Holding (West Indies)
39 Curtly Ambrose (West Indies)
38 Andy Roberts (West Indies)
37 Joel Garner (West Indies)
36 Richie Benaud (Australia)
35 Clyde Walcott (West Indies)
34 Brian Lara (West Indies)
33 Fred Trueman (England)
32 Mike Procter (South Africa)
31 Courtney Walsh (West Indies)
30 Bill O'Rielly (Australia)
29 Herbert Sutcliffe (England)
28 Wilfred Rhodes (England)
27 Everton Weekes (West Indies)
26 SF Barnes (England)
25 Allan Border (Australia)

MO, STL, USA

I think praneet should look at McGill's statistics. He's been the second best leggie in the world for the last 15 years. Stuart MacGill has an amazing strike-rate and nearly 200 wickets in 40 matches. Would have walked into any team with no warne.

Dave Lyon, london,

How don't we rate the best players 1990 onwards? Here's my 22. They actually split nicely into first and second teams.

My list:
1. McGrath
2. Ponting
3. Tendulkar
4. Warne
5. Lara
6. Waugh
7. Dravid
8. Akram
9. Gilchrist
10. Pietersen
11. Murali
12. Donald
13. Waqar
14. Kallis
15. de Silva
16. Kumble
17. Boucher
18. Chanderpaul
19. Flintoff
20. M. Asif
21. Atherton
22. Hayden

Think I missed anyone?

Amit, NC,

i want to no where i can see the other names making up the top 50..But so far very interesting

victor, basseterre, st kitts. west indies

Well the exactly on the grounds I expected form Warne .... why dint he name it 50 greatest autralians and english men. I mean why bother including a pinch of players form other countries and then humiliate them by putting them around men whho never even played test cricket What else could be expected off Warney the Australian

Umer , Singapore, Singapore

I would give this article more credit and respect if Warne had named 50 Top Spinners. I may not agree with his ratings on Batsmen and Fast Bowlers. Also, I am waiting to see how many Aussies are in top ten players. Without a doubt, Warne was a very good spinner.

Tim, Washington, DC, USA

McGill will be happy now that he can have a proper place in the AUS test eleven. Kapil should deserve a better place than forty.
England wasted Robin Smith's talent, it was great to see Warne recognising him. I am waiting to see three players's rankings Mcmillan, Murali and Arjuna. Bruce Reid is a surprise addition.

Sulthan Maideen, Chennai, India

WOW! I don't believe this, he's talking about the 50 greatest cricketers and he gets these guys!!!! Warne might be one of the greatest spinners ever but he has no understanding of the game!!!

Firstly i'm Indian but how the heck did vengsarkar who WAS probably the best test player in the world but only for an year or two and ravi shastri-good but not great make it to this list. NO NAME HERE except W.younis , k. dev and donald should be in the top 50.

I will explain all my points patiently so bear with me:
WAQAR YOUNIS- BEST STRIKE RATE in history of test cricket, best old ball bowler in the history of the game, more odi 4 and five fors than anyone else, larger % of wickets bowled and lbw than any other bowler, best yorker in cricket history. This guy's at 45, lol! Allan donald- NOONE, NOT EVEN MCGRATH, has taken a higher % of top and middle order batsmen as his wickets, tendulkar rated akram and donald as the 2 best bowlers he's ever faced, no one has got lara out more often

sandeep, hyderabad, india

I find it incredulous thar Waqar is considered to be a lesser bowler than Harmison. I realise that there is more to a player than mere statistics but under any reasonabe conditions of comparison, Waqar should always come on top of Harmison, and by a country mile. Wasim's presence should not diminish the prowess of Waqar, who was a phenomenally consistent bowler.

Shahib M Ali, London,

warne should not even have bothered. this is a joke... its annoyong me to see waqar lower than harmison. i cant honestly belive harmison is even in the top 100 with all due respect he has done nothing yet to deserve the word great written anywhere next to his name.

usman, glasvegas, tunisia

kapil below macgill interesting, waqar below as well, i dont know this Tim May is he a cricketer ? Kapil is one of the best in the history of cricket. I am from Pakistan not India mind it.

Waseem Ahmad, Islamabad, Pakistan

the problem is australians can't stomach the fact there can be a LOT OF CRICKETERS better than their own. Don't get me wrong, yes they have produced an amazing bunch of cricketers and overall the best quality of cricketers, far better than any other country. BUT think about this, the best three bowlers in the last ten years have been wasim akram, waqar younis and allan donald, AND YES THEY DO HAVE FAR BETTER STATISTICS THAN MCGRATH

Sharne warne is good but not a patch on murali and while ricky ponting is amongst the best of his generation, he will never be a lara or even a tendulkar. Gilchrist was supposed to be amazing, but sangakarra has already eclipsed his record and looks like he will easily outdo him. Hayden failed to make runs in his first few years when the quality of bowlers was far better and we saw what happened during the ashes of 2005 when he was up against a quality bowling attack. In any case sehwag and graeme smith will have better records by the end of their career

sandeep, hyderabad, india

Who's Tim May? And what about the Bruce Reid guy, is he Tara Reid's brother or something? I thought this was a list of famous cricketers.

Andy, Auburn, MA

We should consider that these rating are from Warne's perspective.

He is not ranking the best players of all time.

He is probably ranking the players that he played against, and found them to be tough to deal with. Also, he might be considering the players he played WITH and found them to be causing serious problems to the opposition. Also, the teams/players which made Australia lose (there are very few examples of that), will obviously feature high up the list.

South Africa could never beat Aussies in test series, so we probably won't see many of them high up. Whereas, India beat Aussies in 1998,2001, with Warne in it, and England beat them in 2005 Ashes. So, it is likely that players like Kumble, Tendulkar, Flintoff, KP, Dravid and VVS Laxman willl feature very high in the list.

Subhash, USA,

warne must be joking about waqar,player like waqar at no 45?likes of harmison & donald are greater than him?warne might be right about waqar with the new ball but with the old ball.he was greater then glen or from ambrose.

syed atif hussain, lahore, pakistan

When are some of you going to learn that this is not an objective list of the 50 greatest ever, but a SUBJECTIVE one of warne's favourites - the clue is in the title!! relax!

Dan James, London,

Stuart Macgill in top 50....!!!He wouldn't even get into top 100. I think these are Warne's personal favourites rather than 50 greatest cricketers. Get your prespective right Mr Warne.

Praneet Bhatnagar, Sheffield, UK

I thought Warne was going to give a serious list of contenders. This is a flawed list from my point of view. Don't know how Warne made his mind up. It would be one thing to say Sachin is better than Lara or vice versa and its totally another thing to see Waqar and Kapil Dev lower than Harmison and Tim May. What were you thinking mate!!!

Prasad, UK,

I think everyone needs to realise that this list is the opinion of Shane Warne and is not a definative ranking of the worlds best cricketers.
This is a list of players that Warne has played with and against, that he rated highly. Some of these players were at the heights of their careers and others were approaching the end. Also remember that although someone like Allan Donald was a great bowler, maybe he never played his best against the Australians, same goes for Waqar. This would mean that Warne himself may not rate them at the same level as other players whom consistantly played excellent cricket against him.

Mazz, Brisbane,

jayasuriya is lucky it wasn't a list of the 50 greatest test cricketers
he's good in the one day stuff but doesn't know what day four looks like.
the worst thing is that warner is going to put that chucker murali higher than a lot of blokes who actually bothered to bowl

jonty, cape town,

Now i got why the list is so wrong... Because it totally based on how much help shane warne has received form that player.. because for Tim May (Australia) he has written " he gave me a lot of help in my first series against England" thats why u have given him 31st position ahead of great.. kapli, waqar, donald, sanath.

lalit, Delhi, Delhi

Harmison a better bowler than Waqar Younis? You shouldn't have bothered Mr Warne.

david, london,

Kapil should be in mid 20s. He looks like he doesnt assess peoples strengths who he did not play against them. Then it is not fair bringing in stars like kapil, Vengsarkar and rating them in high 30s and up and rating mediocre players like shastri and may in this list.

Warney just start rating players who played after 1992 when u started playing

Raghu, Edison, NJ, USA

Warney

We now have an idea how your full list will look like!
You promised a few shocks and there cannot be bigger shockers than Tim May and Bruce Reid in any list of top 50 cricketers!? Who next- Greg Mathews, Stuart Law and Bichel?!!

Alex, Wolverhampton, U.K

Sanath Jayasuriya can't be 38th in any one's list...Who has scored 13,000 runs and 300 Wickets in world cricket. At lease he should be in first 20

Rukshan, Colombo, Sri Lanka

warney! tsk! tsk tsk!

kapil coming below harmison and may in a list of great cricketers is not on. even simply as a bowler he was better than both of them. add his batting to the mix and these two are mere mortals in front of him!

Siva, Chenni, India

Kapil dev was a great allrounder & started a new era for Indian cricket. He deserve much higher ranking than tha Warn's ranking. According to indian polls also he is greatest player of India.

Manoj Sharma, Delhi, India

Tim May and Bruce Reid better bowlers then Waqar, Donald and Kapil ..... I must say Mr. Warne you must be joking !!

Chris Asim, Nottingham,

The likes of Stuart MacGill and Bruce Reid ranked above Waqar. Npt to mention Tim May ranked above Alan Donald!! That's a joke!

Is this a list of all time great world crickters or some Australian test players and a couple first class chaps??

farhan, New York, USA

Warne must be joking. The minute I have seen Kapil dev at 40 and Tim May at 31,I realised he is talking nonsense. I followed enough cricket and confidently say Tim May not suppposed to be in Top50. Looks like is Warne want to put every Austrialian in the Top 50.

Harry, London , UK

Tim May 9 positions above Kapil Dev? And greater than Allan Donald? And then you have Harmison nearly 10 positions above Waqar! A bloke who is only world-class when everything is perfect on a helpful pitch..... above one of the most dangerous fast bowlers ever known who frightened batsmen on lifeless pitches. This is becoming laughable.

Shoaib, London,

OMG... among bowlers...Bruce Reid, Harmison and Macgill are placed higher than Waqar !!!
Wow, what next.... I guess we will also see Brad Hogg and Brendon Julian in the top 30 :D

Suhaib Jalis Ahmed, Manama, Bahrain