The Wisden 100 is a set of lists created by ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' which attempted to objectively rate the 100 best individual innings performances in

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and One Day International

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

in each of the disciplines of

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

and

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

. The Test list was released in 2001 and the ODI list was released in 2002. The ratings were calculated by scoring each individual batting and bowling performance in various criteria. Apart from the player's actual score or figures, criteria which were taken into account included the strength of the opposition players, the quality of the pitch, the result of the match, and the player's contribution to this result. The maximum possible rating was 300. Overall in both formats, 13 innings of

Vivian Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

were selected by ''

'' more than anyone in the list.

Test cricket

The Wisden 100 list for Test cricket was released on 26 July 2001. The top-rated batting performance was Donald Bradman's 270 for Australia against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in the 1936–37 Ashes series. 5 of Bradman's innings appeared in the top 100, more than any other batsman. The top-rated bowling performance was

Hugh Tayfield Hugh Joseph Tayfield (30 January 1929 – 24 February 1994) was a South African international cricketer. He played 37 Test matches for South Africa between 1949 and 1960 and was one of the best off spinners the game has seen. He was the faste ...

's 9/113 for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

against

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

in the 1956–57 series.

Curtly Ambrose Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN (born 21 September 1963) is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at ...

and

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

each had 4 performances in the top 100, more than any other bowler.

Top 10 Batting performances

For the full list, se
Top 100 Batsmen (Test) at Rediff.com

Top 10 Bowling performances

For the full list, se

Controversy

Despite his highly impressive career record, not one of

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...

's innings appeared in the top 100 batting performances. His omission was strongly criticised by fans and many sections of the media in India. Wisden defended the list stating that performances which made a major contribution to victory received a much larger weighting than those in which the match was drawn or lost. Tendulkar's most important innings had usually come in draws and defeats, and therefore received a lower weighting. The list also received general criticism from a few leading sports editors.

Updating the list

The list has had no official updated release since its inception. However, shortly after the list's release, Wisden stated that

Mark Butcher Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

's match-winning innings of 173* in the 4th Test of the 2001 Ashes series placed him in 48th place on the batting list with a rating of 200.8.

ODI cricket

Following the success of the list for Test cricket, the Wisden 100 list for ODI cricket was released on 1 February 2002. The top-rated batting performance was

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

' 189* for

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

against

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1984. 7 of Richards' innings appeared in the top 100, more than any other batsman. The top-rated bowling performance was

Gary Gilmour Gary John Gilmour (26 June 1951 – 10 June 2014) was an Australian cricketer who played in 15 Tests and 5 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1973 and 1977. At the peak of his career, Gilmour combined "talented hitting" with "penetrative ...

's 6/14 for Australia against

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in 1975.

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI (Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the great ...

appears 9 times in the top 100, more than any other player.

Top 10 Batting performances

For the full list, se
Top 100 Batsmen (ODI) at Rediff.com

Top 10 Bowling performances

For the full list, se

Updating the list

As with the Test cricket list, this list has had no official updated release since its inception. However, Wisden stated that Ricky Ponting's 140* against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the 2003 World Cup final placed him 2nd on the batting list.

All-time lists

Following the launch of the top Test and ODI performances lists, Wisden received many requests asking whether it was possible to create a ranking list of all-time great players by using the same formula and examining the average rating each player received per innings. Including a weighting for players with longer careers, Wisden arrived at the lists below. In Tests, Donald Bradman was the clear leader in the batting category and

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional ...

was ranked as the top bowler. In the ODI section,

and

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several crit ...

are the top-ranked players.

Top 5 Test batsmen

Top 5 Test bowlers

For the full Top 10 list for Test cricket, se
All-time W100 Test Top 10s at Cricinfo.com

Top 5 ODI batsmen

Top 5 ODI bowlers

For the full Top 10 list for ODI cricket, se

Other lists

The same methodology was used to rank each player's overall performance in the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the ...

. In this list, the top batsman was

and the top bowler was Glenn McGrath.

References

{{reflist

External links

Wisden 100 for Test cricket at Rediff.com

Cricket awards and rankings Wisden