10 Current International Cricketers Who Will Go Down as Legends of the Game

What turns an international cricketer into a legend of the game? Runs and wickets are an obvious place to start. There's more to it than statistics, though.

Take Andrew Flintoff for example. A Test career that included just five centuries and three five-wicket hauls does not suggest legendary status. Ask any England fan and they will disagree.

Likewise Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding. Many bowlers have taken more Test wickets than this duo but few have had such a memorable impact.

This list will combine statistical leaders as well as players whose numbers may not be world-beating but who possess a certain "wow factor."

Test performance was the main influence in selecting the final 10. Impressing in the limited-overs formats was a second, if less important factor.

Honourable Mentions

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It's proved tricky whittling down the potential candidates down to just 10. Those unlucky to not make the cut included Hashim Amla, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and especially Mahela Jayawardene.

Some younger players also warranted consideration. Extremely talented they may be, but it's too early to tell whether David Warner, Joe Root, Virat Kohli and Steve Smith will go on to become all-time greats.

There is a dearth of genuine, world-class bowling at present and that is evident in the final 10. Saeed Ajmal would definitely have made the line-up if it wasn't for his recent difficulties.

Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Stuart Broad and Vernon Philander are all fine Test players but just missed out, too.

So just who does feature on the list? Read on to find out.

10. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)

Tests 158; runs 11,684; average 53.10; wickets 9 @ 98.11
ODIs 268; runs 8,778; average 41.60; wickets 14 @ 45.42
T20Is 22; runs 343; average 20.17

From the end of the Caribbean glory years, through the depths of decline and on to the recent semi-renaissance, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been a constant in the West Indian middle-order.

With his crab-like stance and scratchy style, the 40-year-old is never going to win any beauty contests. All Chanderpaul does is score runs. Tons of them. His total of 11,684 puts him in sight of Brian Lara's West Indies Test record of 11,912.

Age shows no sign of slowing Chanderpaul down, either. In the past two years the left-hander has scored 1,157 runs at an average of 82.64.

If that wasn't enough, Chanderpaul also holds the record for the fastest Test century against Australia. It took him just 69 balls to reach three figures at Georgetown in 2003.

9. James Anderson (England)

Tests 99; runs 949; average 10.90; wickets 380 @ 29.72
ODIs 184; runs 259; average 7.61; wickets 257 @ 29.10
T20Is 19; runs 1; average 1; wickets 18 @ 30.66

To use an old footballing cliche, James Anderson's international career has been a game of two halves. Between his debut in 2003 and 2009 the Lancastrian picked up 148 wickets at an average of 34.85. Okay, but nothing earth shattering.

In the four-and-a-half years that followed, Anderson has taken a highly impressive 232 wickets at 26.44. Alongside Dale Steyn, Anderson is the premier purveyor of swing bowling in the modern game. Nobody dismissed Sachin Tendulkar more times in Test cricket than Anderson.

Capable of bowling at decent pace and able to move the ball both ways, the feisty fast-bowler is almost unplayable when conditions suit.

It seems only a matter of time until Anderson surpasses Sir Ian Botham as England's leading Test wicket-taker.

With his constant chirping, Anderson may not be popular with opposition players and supporters. He'll still go down as one of England's finest bowlers.

8. Younis Khan (Pakistan)

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Tests 91; runs 7,610; average 51.41; wickets 9 @ 54.55
ODIs 254; runs 7,017; average 31.75; wickets 3 @ 90.33
T20Is 25; runs 442; average 22.10; wickets 3 @ 6.00

The only Pakistani to make the cut is batsman Younis Khan. The veteran right-hander has been a fixture in the Pakistan middle-order since his debut in 2000.

Younis has an impressive Test record, with a triple-century against Sri Lanka and a double-hundred against India to his name.

He's probably best known to international viewers for captaining Pakistan to victory in the 2009 World T20 final against Sri Lanka.

7. Chris Gayle (West Indies)

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Tests 103; runs 7,214; average 42.18; wickets 73 @ 42.73
ODIs 258; runs 8,810; average 37.33; wickets 158 @ 35.65
T20Is 43; runs 1,239; average 32.60; wickets 12@ 24.00

Averages alone wouldn't suggest that Chris Gayle is a world-class performer, let alone a legend of the game. There's more to cricketing immortality than mere numbers, though.

When it comes to choosing the most entertaining batsmen of the modern-age, Chris Gayle would be somewhere near the top of the list.

His simple, clean-hitting style is a joy to watch when it comes off. When on-song the Jamaican is capable of making the best attacks look extremely silly. Who else but Chris Gayle would be the first man to hit the first ball of a Test match for six.

The left-hander is also one of only four batsmen to have scored two Test match triple-hundreds, though. When you consider that the other three are Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag, he's in impressive company.

6. Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

Tests 59; runs 1,637; average 22.12; wickets 264 @ 27.42
ODIs 140; runs 880; average 16.29; wickets 212 @ 26.11
T20Is 20; 109 runs; average 10.90; wickets 38 @ 20.97

Mitchell Johnson reintroduced something that had been missing from cricket for a number of years. Fear. After a diet of medium-fast bowling England's batsmen got a dose of the real thing in the 2013/14 Ashes and paid the penalty.

Others have bowled at similar pace but few have managed to completely destroy the confidence of a side as Johnson managed to do.

With his handlebar moustache, hyper-aggressive manner and plenty of chirp for the batsmen, Johnson is the latest in a long line of fast and nasty Aussies.

Even if he never again achieves the heights of his Ashes demolition, his place in Aussie folklore is assured. Johnson made fast bowling sexy again, and for that the whole cricketing world should be grateful.

5. MS Dhoni (India)

Tests 88; runs 4,808; average 38.46
ODIs 247; runs 8,127; average 53.11; wickets 1 @ 31.00
T20Is 50; runs 849; average 33.96

There have been more accomplished modern-day wicketkeepers than M.S. Dhoni. More consistent run-scorers, too. And certainly more innovative captains.

If you needed a batsman to score quick runs when the pressure was really on in a limited-overs game, though, then Dhoni is your man.

If ever a man's career was defined by a single innings it was Dhoni's effort in the 2011 World Cup final. With the hosts tottering on 122 for 3, Dhoni took control and promoted himself up the order to No. 5.

Seventy-eight balls and a match-winning 91 runs later, the captain had steered India to World Cup victory and secured his place in India's cricketing Hall of Fame.

4. Michael Clarke (Australia)

Tests 105; runs 8,240; average 51.50; wickets 31 @ 37.16
ODIs 237; runs 7,751; average 45.06; wickets 56 @ 38.07
T20Is 34; runs 488; average 21.21; wickets 6 @ 37.50

Graceful, prolific, tough. What's not to like about Michael Clarke? It took him a while to win over an Australian public that didn't immediately warm to his “metrosexual” personality. Oodles of runs and a five-nil Ashes whitewash eventually got them onside, though.

An innovative and daring captain, Clarke reinstituted the toughness into an Australian side that had gone into decline. The skipper has got the best out of a quality pace attack led by Mitchell Johnson and ably accompanied by the likes of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle.

Runs in all formats of the game would probably afford him legendary status. Another convincing Ashes series win in 2015 would pretty much guarantee it.

3. AB De Villiers (South Africa)

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Tests 95; runs 7,296; average 51.02; wickets 2 @ 52
ODIs 168, runs 6,780; average 50.22
T20Is 57; runs 1,007; average 22.37

Since their return to the international fold in the early 1990s, South Africa's batsmen have had a reputation for being crushingly efficient without being supreme stylists.

Graeme Smith, Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis all scored bucket loads of runs but didn't necessary set pulses racing with their flamboyance.

One South African who has broken the shackles is A.B. de Villiers. A great striker of the ball with all the shots, de Villiers has been a mainstay in South Africa's successful middle-order.

The 30-year-old is currently third on the list of South Africa's leading Test run-scorers. If he stays fit, he has a chance of overhauling both Smith and Kallis.

De Villiers is currently the top ranked ODI batsman in the world and lies behind only Kumar Sangakkara in the Test ratings.

2. Dale Steyn (South Africa)

Tests 75; runs 1,056; average 14.27; wickets 383 @ 22.56
ODIs 87; runs 214; average 7.92; wickets 123 @ 25.62
T20Is 30; runs 15; average 3.00; wickets 55 @ 15.98

In an era where the bat has dominated the ball, one seam-bowler has stood out. Able to swing the ball at pace, Dale Steyn is the finest fast-bowler of this generation.

The South African's Test record is up there with the greatest of all-time. Since the war only New Zealand's Shane Bond has a better strike rate than Steyn's wicket every 41.7 balls. And all this in an age when pitches have got flatter, bats have got thicker and boundaries have got shorter.

Somewhat surprisingly, the only country Steyn has struggled against is England. Against the Poms he averages 32.63. Against the rest of the world, he has been devastating.

1. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

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Tests 128; runs 11,988; average 58.76
ODIs 380; runs 12,844; average 40.13
T20Is 56; runs 1,382; average 31.40

In an international career that has spanned 14 years, Kumar Sangakkara has been one of the most consistent performers at the highest level. No modern-day batsman has a Test batting average as good as his 58.76.

Not all of his runs have come on Sri Lankan featherbeds, either. The stylish left-hander averages over 54 in overseas Test matches.

Sangakkara has impressed in the limited-over formats, too, culminating in a man of the match performance in the 2014 World T20 final.

A dependable wicketkeeper, a prolific batsman and one of the most eloquent commentators on the game, Sangakkara is an all-time great.