The first name that comes to our mind while thinking about perennial players in world cricket is New Zealand. The team has advanced to seven semi-finals of the World Cup, with six defeats, the most defeats by any team in the World Cup. New Zealand has won ICC Champion Trophy, which was the only ICC program in 2000. The fact remains that New Zealand has not once won the World Cup despite being one of the most powerful cricket nations in the world. Over the years, many excellent cricket players have retired, among which many of them have been recognized as the best players in sports history. So let's see the top 10 New Zealand players of all time.
1. Sir Richard Hadlee
Richard Hadlee is one of the greatest all-rounders and had made an outstanding bowling career at just 17 years old. Hadlee, in 86 test matches took 431 wickets. In Brisbane 1985, the 9/52 memorable spell against Australia was Hadlee's best bowling figure in the Test, which holds 6th place in the Test among the best spells in test cricket history. Hadlee set a record at the Test by taking five wickets in the final battle against England in Edgbaston. Hadlee scored 3124 runs with fifteen 50s and two centuries, an unbeaten 151 against Sri-Lanka in Colombo in 1987. Hadlee had a very impressive batting average of 75.50. For his unbelievable statistics, he is known as the greatest cricket player of all time.
2. Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori, one of the greatest all-rounders of cricket, the sport has ever witnessed. He made his name among the greatest athletes of all time in his 18-year international career from 1997. Known for his slow left-hand rotation, he was a nightmare even for the strongest batsmen. Daniel took 362 test wickets in 112 tests, including 20 hauls of five wickets, the second-largest for a New Zealand bowler and a left spinner. In ODI, Vettori has the most wickets for New Zealand and has more wickets than any left-handed spinner, with 305 wickets in 295 matches. Daniel is New Zealand's eighth top scorer in the cricket test with 4523 runs with an average of 30.15. He is also one of the three players to score over 4,000 runs in 300 tests, the other two being Kapil Dev and Sir Jan Botham. The left-hander led New Zealand to the semi-finals of the 2007 and 2011 ICC World T20 cup. Vettori will forever be remembered as one of the best cricketers in New Zealand.
3. Stephen Fleming
After an outstanding performance in his test debut, Fleming became one of the most critical players of New Zealand. He was the youngest skipper of New Zealand at just 23 years of age and replaced Lee Germ in 1997. Fleming led New Zealand in the ICC champion trophy and led the Kiwis until he retired from ODI Cricket in 2007. He is the most successful captain of New Zealand and is usually considered one of the most prominent captains of all time. The left-hander is the highest run-scorer of New Zealand in Tests and ODIs, with 7172 Test runs with 46 fifties and nine hundreds with an average of 40.06 and 8037 ODI runs along with 49 fifties and eight hundred with a strike rate of 32.40.
4. Martin Crowe
From his elegant batting skills to his captaincy, Martin Crowe is one of the most innovative players Cricket has ever witnessed. Crowe was one of the most dynamic batsmen during matches and was known for his flawless effortless footwork. He was the highest scorer for New Zealand after he retired from International Cricket in 1995 he was the highest scorer for New Zealand in tests and ODIs. In Tests, Crowe stroked 5444 runs (4th highest for the black caps) with an average of 45, 36, accompanied by the remarkable match-saving knock of 299 against Sri Lanka in Wellington. His ODI career contains 18 fifties and 17 hundred for New Zealand. Crowe led New Zealand to the World Championship in 1992, where Kiwis reached the semi-finals but were defeated by the winning team Pakistan. Crowe finished the tournament as the top run-scorer and the best player award. New Zealand Cricket lost the player in march 2016 due to cancer.
5. Brendon McCullum
Brendon McCullum is one of the most skilful and productive batsmen in the history of cricket McCullum made his debut in 2002 before setting himself as the regular team member and one of the best openers of his generation. McCullum has been playing for the Kiwis for 14 years and led the team to the maiden World Cup final, in which he played several crucial innings. McCullum scored the fastest test century in just 54 balls breaking the previous record of 55 balls by Viv Richards and Adam Gilchrist. McCullum finished his test career with 6453 runs consisting of 31 fifties and 12 hundreds with an average of 38.64 and the highest score of 302 against India in Wellington. McCullum has 6083 ODIs runs with an average of 30.41. McCullum was the highest run-scorer in T20 holding an average of 35.66 runs with 214 runs and a strike rate of 136.21 holding 13 fifties and two hundred. The knock of 123 against Bangladesh in the ICC World T20 2012 is the highest T20 score.
6. Glenn Turner
One of New Zealand's most productive batsmen, Glenn Turner was among the best and most reliable batsmen during his playing days. The former Kiwi skipper had a first-class career, completing 34,346 runs with 148 fifties and 103 centuries. Turner also had an impressive international career with 2,991 runs in 41 tests with an average of 44.64 containing 14 fifties and seven hundred being 259 beings is his highest individual score. Turner only played 41 ODIs, averaging 1,598 runs with an impressive average of 47 in the nineteen fifties. The opportunity came in a match against East Africa at the 1975 World Cup, where he scored 333 runs and reached the semi-finals.
7. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson is today's one of the best batsmen and is more than enough to justify himself as one of the best cricketers of New Zealand. Two years after leading New Zealand in the semi-finals of the 2008 U19 World Cup in Malaysia, Kane Williamson was called to the senior team. He scored zero against Sri Lanka and India. However, he scored in his fourth ODI innings against Bangladesh for a century, making him the youngest to score a century for New Zealand. He made his sport in the national team after he scored 131 in his test debut against India. Currently, he is the New Zealand skipper with 5116 Test runs and an average of 51.16 with 25 half-centuries and 17 centuries scoring 242 against Sri Lanka in Wellington, the highest test score. In ODIs, Williamson has an average of 46.98 with 4605 runs holding 31 fifties and nine hundred. In the T20s, Williamson has an average of 36.29, with 1125 runs holding seven fifties. If Williamson continues his current form, he might be the highest run-scorer from New Zealand in all formats.
8. Ross Taylor
Over the span of 11 years in his career, Ross Taylor has become one of New Zealand's top players and best batsmen in the world. Since his debut in 2006, Taylor has been one of New Zealand's mascots for the team. Taylor is a highly versatile batsman who can hit big shots and takes calculated risks that help him play long innings. Taylor's tests and ODI runs are 6030 for tests with an average of 47.10 and 6144 ODI runs with 43.57 as the average. Taylor holds the second position for most centuries in tests for New Zealand, with 16 centuries against his name. His outstanding knock of 290 against Australia last year is the highest result in this format. The former Kiwi skipper also played 73 T20Is, with 1,256 runs.
9. Chris Cairns
The son of the former New Zealand Cricketer Lance Cairns, Chris Cairns, showed us rare exhibits where he excelled his father in cricket. Cairns retired from Test in 2004 scoring 3,322 runs, including 22 fifties and five hundreds. In ODI, Cairns retired in 2006 with 4,950 runs, including 26 fifties and four hundreds, three of which were against India. He took 201 wickets in ODIs and in 1998 he had one five-wicket record against his name of 5/42 against Australia.
10. Shane Bond
If it wasn,t for the injury we would have seen this player much higher on this list. After impressive results in his first ODI, Shane Bond became one of the most ardent speed bowlers in the early 2000s, where he took 21 runs in 9 matches. Bond missed over two years of international cricket matches due to a back injury but returned with the best record of his career in June against India at Bulawayo in 2005 achieving 6/19. Despite fears of damage, he managed to compete for the Kiwi until World Twenty-20 in 2010, after which he announced his retirement from cricket. Shane Bond ended his test career with 87 wickets spaning across 18 matches. However, at ODI, Shane showed the best results; in 82 games, he took 147 wickets with an average of 20.88. He also played 20 T20, in which he took 25 wickets with an average of 21.72. Bond is undoubtedly the biggest and fastest bowler from New Zealand.
