Category: Top 7

The rivalry between Australia and England known as Ashes Series has grown increasingly heated over the years. When these two countries clashed on the field, the cricketing world has experienced some of the proudest achievements in the history of cricket. We Cricreads have done our best to include as many incredible performances as possible because it was tough to reduce them down to just five while still doing credit to the subject matter. The following are the top seven all-time Ashes series players of all time.

Top 7 Ashes Cricketers of All-Time

Here is the list of 7 best cricketers in England vs Australia Series (known as Ashes) History:

1) Ian Botham

The 1981 Ashes series went entirely to England’s youthful all-rounder Ian Botham, who scored 399 runs and took 34 wickets. With the series 0-1 down in the third Test Match that occurred at Headingley, Botham was relieved of leadership duties, and veteran Mike Brearley took over captainship.

With the responsibility of captaincy taken off his shoulders, Botham produced a masterful exhibition of swing bowling, picking up 6/95 in Australia’s first batting total of 401/9.

With his team reeling at 135/7, he was forced to follow on. Botham followed it up with a spectacular 5/11 in the next Test match to give his team a 29-run won, and he also produced a match-winning 118 runs at Old Trafford, allowing England to maintain the Ashes.

2) Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff, largely recognized as England’s best all-rounder following Ian Botham, shone with both batting and bowling in the 2005 Ashes series.

Flintoff’s effect on the England team was demonstrated by 402 runs and 24 wickets in a five-match series. His first Ashes match bowling over was a wicket-maiden, when he dismissed the rooted Justin Langer for 0 runs.

The blonde-haired all-rounder put in a stunning performance at Edgbaston, scoring half-centuries in both sessions and taking seven wickets. The most devastating picture of the game, though, was his comforting of the dejected Australian bowler Brett Lee after England barely edged out a close 2-run victory. Flintoff also hit a century in the series, etching his mark on history.

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3) Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor (Ashes of 1989). Taylor came to England for the 1989 series having only completed two Tests at a strike rate of 16.75. England would have identified him as a weak point to attack in an otherwise powerful Australian lineup. However, in his first proper Test season, Taylor soon got to work, hitting 136 in his Ashes start at Headingley.

He finished the trip on a high note, scoring 219 in the fifth Test at Trent Bridge as Australia won the championship 4-0. Taylor completed with a hundred, a double century, and five half-centuries, totaling 839 runs, the second greatest record by an Australian in a full Ashes series, trailing only the great Don Bradman’s 974.

4) Terry Alderman

Alderman made his Ashes series breakthrough in the summer of 1981, collecting 9 wickets at Trent Bridge as Australia won the first match by 4 wickets. Although Botham would subsequently establish his influence on the series by leading England to a remarkable comeback victory.

Alderman maintained his devastating form. Despite having a 1-0 lead going into the third Test, Australia lost, although Alderman excelled, ending with 42 wickets at 21.26. His total remains the second-best in a single Ashes series, trailing only the great Jim Laker by four wickets, and the most by a maiden Test cricketer in a single series.

5) Don Bradman

Australia’s greatest Test batsman made the whole Ashes series his own with outstanding performances in each. Bradman scored 974 runs in the 1930 ashes series as a 22-year-old, including two double hundreds and one triple hundred, with his record of 334 coming in the third Match.

In the notorious Bodyline match of 1932-33, he scored 396 runs with only one century, plagued by the leg-stump technique bowled at a breakneck pace by Harold Larwood and Bill Voce.

Bradman answered with 758 runs in the following 1934 series. His proudest accomplishment, however, was executing a 4-0 wipe off the English side in 1948, earning his team the nickname Bradman’s Invincible.  The Don is at the top of the list of the all-time finest Ashes players simply because of his bat skill.

6) Jim Laker

During the 1956 Ashes series, Jim Laker emerged into his own, taking 46 wickets in five matches a record that has still to be broken. After being thrashed for scores by Bradman’s Invincibles in the 1948 Ashes series, he regained some balance in the 1953 series, being one of the very few English bowlers to play well enough on surfaces that were inappropriate for his style of delivering.

Laker teamed up with left-arm spin Tony Lock to destroy the Australian batsmen in the final match of the 1953 Ashes series, taking 9 second-innings wickets among them.

The highlight of his Ashes top career in the fourth match of the 1956 series, when he took 19 of the 20 wickets that fell his 10/53 was the first time a bowler took all ten wickets in a Test game. Jim is one of the best Ashes players of all time based only on one effort.

7) Shane Warne

The 2005 Ashes will be recalled for ‘that ball which Warne delivered down to Andrew Strauss and landed way beyond off before cutting in quickly and hitting the midwicket.

England returned from losing the first Test of that season to win the Ashes 2-1, thanks largely to some brilliant cricket from Andrew Flintoff. Warne, on the other hand, finished the ashes series with 40 wickets at 19.92, placing him fifth on the list among most wickets gained in a single series.