Few players in the history of cricket have carried the fortunes of their team to quite the same extent as Richard Hadlee. By the time he retired from international cricket in 1990, at the age of 39 and with a knighthood newly conferred upon him for his services to the game, Hadlee had cemented his place as one of the great fast bowlers of all time, and lifted New Zealand to unprecedented feats in the Test arena.
As the first player to reach 400 Test wickets, Hadlee was always assured of immortality, but in addition to his matchless skills with the ball, he was also a hard-hitting batsman of unquestioned skill, and he is acknowledged as one of the four great allrounders of the 1980s, along with Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev.
I guess nothing more need to be explained about this absolute legend.
He has batted 53 out of 134 innings at no. 8.(40%)
Yasir Ali at 11. I know absolutely nothing about the guy except that he's Pakistani and played all of a single Test. His FC record isn't too shabby though, so he'll fit in nicely. Perhaps not an opening bowler, but a decent enough first change.
Eligibility: Played 31 innings out of 96 at position 8 = 32.29%
Bio from cricinfo:
In the era before Shane Warne when spin bowling was on its uppers, John Emburey was perhaps the best offspinner in the world, which did not say much. He was tall with a classically looping action, and capable of getting huge amounts of bounce and away-drift. But his qualities were submerged amid the grim battles slow bowlers faced in the 1980s: uncongenial pitches and one-day cricket, which forced him to become primarily negative and defensive. He improvised more in his batting, in which he managed to score runs while infuriating bowlers by ignoring both footwork and backlift. Always a willing talker and theorist, he was an excellent senior pro and a promising coach (though he was fired by Northamptonshire before returning home to Middlesex). Over-promoted to England captain for two Tests amid general chaos in 1988, he was fired as capriciously as he was appointed. Emburey was the only cricketer to go on both (1981-82 and 1989-90) England rebel tours to South Africa, and was instantly forgiven both times, which says much about attitudes at Lord's but something about the general esteem for his qualities.
This was a hard choice but Buster Nupen will bat at 9 for me.
He considerably underperformed on the international stage, you wouldn't think that a bowler averaging 35.76 with the ball in test cricket was any good, but in the early stages of South Africa playing international cricket, he was described as the best bowler in the world in conditions that suited him.
He took 334 wickets in fc cricket at an average of 18.19.
A batsman who has frustrated and thrilled in equal measure. Although his Test career has never really taken off - his two Test centuries have come more than 10 years apart - in ODIs he keeps illustrious company among Sri Lanka's finest.
2. Mudassar Nazar
Format
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100s
50s
6s
Ct
St
Test
76
116
8
4114
231
38.09
10
17
1
48
Quick and understated, as a cricketer and a personality, Mudassar was far more of a "mode" batsman than his more gifted partner Mohsin Khan, but he made the most of what he had. One of Mudassar's predecessors as Pakistan's opening bat was his father, Nazar Mohammad. As a league pro in England he developed his medium-pace, which had its moments.
That's because like most Sri Lankans, the first name for cricket isn't the first name on CricInfo. I almost missed him in my research but he wouldn't have made my 40% quota either way.
EDIT: David Lloyd on Chaminda Vaas. 3.20 if you wanna skip to it.
Maurice Leyland played 41 tests for England and was a treat to watch. He was one of the most consistent English batsman of his time and his batting average shows that. In first class cricket, he represented Yorkshire between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons. A left-handed middle-order batsman and a left-arm spinner, Leyland was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929.
Leyland had a reputation for batting well under pressure. He performed most effectively against the best teams and bowlers, and in difficult situations; his Test batting record is better than his first-class figures, and against Australia his average is even higher. Outside of Tests, he had some success with the ball, and had it not been for the depth of spin bowling in Yorkshire, he might have been a leading bowler. He was one of the first to bowl left-arm wrist spin, and may have invented the name to describe such deliveries—"chinaman".
He has played 23 out of 65 innings at no. 5. (35%)
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