Top 100 of the 21st century: 100-91

Since the turn of the 21st century, Test cricket has been graced by some of the game's greatest players from all over the globe.

From searing fast bowlers to artistic batsman to dynamic allrounders to cagey glovemen, the past 15 years has seen amazingly talented athletes perform at a level that continues to shock, surprise and overall entertain billions of cricket fans.

But who is the best of the best? Over the next 10 days, cricket.com.au will count down the 100 greatest Test players of the 21st century.

Counting down: 100-91; 90-81; 80-71; 70-61; 60-51; 50-41

100. Denesh Ramdin (WI)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 68 matches, 201 dismissals (191 c, 10 st), 2,670 runs at 26.33

Trinidad-born Ramdin’s career has blossomed since his 2010 axing proved a wake-up call for the gritty wicketkeeper-batsman. He returned in 2012 and promptly made three centuries in his next 14 Tests and in May 2014 was named captain. A debutant for the Windies as a 20-year-old, he made an unbeaten 56 in Colombo first up before impressing in Australia with some neat work behind the stumps and by putting a high price on his wicket. Ten years on, against Australia in Dominica, he became just the 16th keeper to pass the 200 dismissals milestone.

Best Performance: After three single-figure scores from four outings in his return Test tour to England in 2012, Ramdin top-scored for his side with a stirring 107 in the first innings at Edgbaston. The Windies had been 5-152, went on to make 426 and bowled England out for 221 before the weather had the final say.

99. Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 24 matches, 119 wickets at 30.67; 1007 runs at 35.96

The master of the soduku ball – the delivery that’s flicked with the middle finger to produce a leg-break – Ashwin has the full off-spinner’s repertoire. He rode his success in limited-overs cricket to an outstanding Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies, capturing nine wickets with figures of 6-47 in the second innings. Insurmountable on home soil, Ashwin has taken a dozen wickets twice in a match (against New Zealand and Australia), but has struggled in foreign conditions. His output with the ball has been complemented by useful contributions with the bat, scoring two centuries against the West Indies that could see him finish his career as a genuine allrounder.

Best Performance: In just his seventh Test, Ashwin spun a web around the touring Black Caps in Hyderabad. With 438 first-innings runs behind him, Ashwin claimed 6-31 to help roll New Zealand for 159 before MS Dhoni enforced the follow-on, allowing his ace spinner to take another six poles to finish with match figures of 12-85 in an innings and 115-run victory.

98. Heath Streak (Zim)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 38 matches, 105 wickets at 31.93, 1,454 runs at 27.43

Consistently wholehearted and stoic, Heath Streak raged against a struggling side, a problematic cricket board and a nation in political turmoil to bring pride to a nation in its formative years of international cricket. Regardless of the opponent, Streak steamed in tirelessly, his right-arm fast-mediums regularly a threat (particularly the outswinger) and his performances with the ball generally well above those of his teammates. He was also a quality lower-order batsman, and sneaks into this list given the fact that a little over half his career was played this century.

Best Performance: Streak took all three of his career five-wicket hauls post-2000, including one a superb 6-87 at Lord’s, but his 6-73 against India in Harare was perhaps his finest hour. With the bat his one Test hundred came against West Indies, and he made a fighting unbeaten 71 against Australia in Perth. 

97. Kemar Roach (WI)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 31 matches, 118 wickets at 27.12

Unlike his gigantic ancestors, Roach delivers lightning like a low hanging thunderstorm – close to the ground and immensely dangerous. Capable of clocking speeds over 150kph, the Barbados-born 26-year-old burst onto the Test scene against Bangladesh before roughing up Australia on his first visit Down Under. While the ferocious fast bowling went largely unrewarded in the wickets column during that tour, he bounced back with 10 victims in two against Sri Lanka in November 2010. When Australia visited the Caribbean in 2012, Roach greeted the tourists with 19 wickets in three Tests before a consistent run of form in 2014 saw him become his side’s highest-ranked Test bowler.

Best Performance: Three years after announcing himself with a furious display of fast bowling against Ricky Ponting in Perth, Roach proved a handful on home soil in Trinidad in April 2012. Starting with 5-107 from 27 overs, Roach then returned figures 5-41 including the scalps of Watson, Cowan and Hussey before rain ruined a thrilling finish.

96. Stuart Clark (Aus)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000):  24 matches, 94 wickets at 23.86

Having bided his time for a crack at international cricket, Clark debuted as a 30-year-old in March 2006 as a replacement for Glenn McGrath (the man he was constantly compared to due to his similarly metronomic ways) and immediately made an impact with his nagging length and seam movement. With match figures of 9-89, he was man of the match in his first Test against South Africa and carried on that form to win Player of the Series. Only a glut of fast-bowling talent – and later his own fitness – prevented him from a lengthier international career, and his average is the 10th-lowest among all bowlers this century (min 50 wickets).

Best Performance: Tough to go past his 20 wickets in three Tests in South Africa first up – a stunning introduction to Test cricket – but an honourable mention for a series-topping 26 scalps in Australia’s 5-0 humbling of England in 2006-07.

95. Kamran Akmal (Pak)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 53 matches, 206 dismissals (184 c, 22 st), 2,648 runs at 30.79

One of the first batch of aggressive wicketkeeper-batsmen after Adam Gilchrist redefined the role, Akmal provided Pakistan a match-winning option throughout his 53-Test career. A brilliant century against neighbouring rivals India in Karachi in 2006 dragged Pakistan from the depths of despair at 6-39 in the first innings to record a remarkable 341-run comeback victory. While his batting prowess was never questioned, Akmal’s glovework slowly diminished over his career, highlighted by his four missed chances in the 2010 Sydney Test. He played his final match eight months later, and stands second on the list of Pakistan wicketkeepers in terms of dismissals and 14th overall.

Best Performance: So often wicketkeepers are judged by their exploits with the bat, but Akmal’s nine dismissals against the West Indies in June 2005 helped level the series in the Caribbean. Akmal snared five catches in the first innings and four in the second, including the prize scalp of Brian Lara off leg-spinner Danish Kaneria. He added a quick-fire 49 to boot. 

94. Trent Boult (NZ)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 123 wickets at 27.12

A Test debutant in New Zealand’s win over Australia in Hobart in December 2011, Trent Boult has didn’t take long to establish himself as one of the world’s premier left-arm quicks. Given his ability to swing the ball both ways, the 25-year-old tends to maintain a fuller line, and it’s the inswinger to the right-hander that has proven particularly destructive. The Rotorua product has 77 of his wickets in New Zealand or England (from 16 matches) and boasts the 18th best average among bowlers this century (min 50 wickets).

Best Performance: Boult has three five-wicket hauls in his brief career to date – all against England – with the best coming in Auckland as he skittled the tourists for 204 with figures of 6-68, though they hung on to claim a tense draw and keep the series level.

93. Shane Bond (NZ)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 18 matches, 87 wickets at 22.09

Blessed with express pace and an unbridled aggression to match, New Zealand had their next Richard Hadlee when a 26-year-old Bond debuted against the mighty Australians in 2001. While Bond was electric on the park, it was actually staying on there that became the biggest battle during his injury-riddled career. When he did lace up the boots, the Christchurch-born speedster was one of the most feared and destructive fast bowlers in the world. Bond’s strike rate of 38.7 is the third-most potent ever in Test cricket (min. 2000 balls), making him a lethal weapon with red ball in hand.

Best Performance: Against one of the most intimidating batting line-ups in history, Bond ripped the heart out of India in Wellington in 2002, accounting for Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar to set up an easy 10-wicket win. 

92. Shakib Al Hasan (Ban)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 39 matches, 2,732 runs at 40.17, 142 wickets at 33.29

Confident, classy and occasionally controversial, Shaib Al Hasan has become his nation’s most revered cricketer, and is idolised by millions. A high-quality left-arm orthodox spinner and gifted middle-order batsman, Shakib is ranked the world’s No.1 allrounder, and boasts five-wicket hauls against the eight nations he has played against, as well as centuries against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and New Zealand. The 28-year-old is yet to play against Australia but will have his chance later in the year in the two-Test series scheduled for October.

Best Performance: Shakib followed in the legendary footsteps of Imran Khan and Sir Ian Botham last November against Zimbabwe when he became just the third player to 10 wickets and score a century in the same Test.

91. Mohammad Asif (Pak)

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Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 23 matches, 106 wickets at 24.36

Like so many great Pakistan players before him, talent and controversy strode side by side with Asif. A lanky, lissom right-arm fast bowler, Asif’s loose wrist generated venomous movement through the air and off the pitch to great effect in a truncated career. His dominance traversed the globe from England to South Africa, from Australia to Sri Lanka, but after testing positive for steroids twice and caught for spot-fixing in 2010, one of the world’s finest young fast men was lost to the game forever.

Best Performance: After taking six wickets in the first innings in Kandy in April 2006, Asif shredded Sri Lanka’s formidable batting line-up in the second dig to humble the hosts for just 73 and finish with another five scalps and 11 for the match.