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The Most Famous

CRICKETERS from Australia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Australian Cricketers. The pantheon dataset contains 68 Cricketers, 16 of which were born in Australia. This makes Australia the birth place of the 2nd most number of Cricketers.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Australian Cricketers of all time. This list of famous Australian Cricketers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Australian Cricketers.

Photo of Don Bradman

1. Don Bradman (1908 - 2001)

With an HPI of 48.76, Don Bradman is the most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 53 different languages on wikipedia.

Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, to make Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.Although Bradman reportedly disliked fame, his iconic status made him one of Australia's best-known personalities and arguably the country's "first celebrity".The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. His meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. This hero status grew and continued through the Second World War. During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, "worth three batsmen to Australia". A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specially devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers. He hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on Bradman's individual performances strained relationships with some teammates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary. Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England. A complex and highly driven man, not given to close personal relationships, Bradman retained a pre-eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement. Even after he became reclusive in his declining years, Bradman's opinion was highly sought, and his status as a national icon was still recognised. Almost fifty years after his retirement as a Test player, in 1997, Prime Minister John Howard called him the "greatest living Australian". Bradman's image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living. On the centenary of his birth, 27 August 2008, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $5 commemorative gold coin with Bradman's image. In 2009, he was inducted posthumously as an inaugural member into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Photo of Shane Warne

2. Shane Warne (1969 - 2022)

With an HPI of 30.17, Shane Warne is the 2nd most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022), nicknamed Warnie, was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Widely considered to be one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire, the Melbourne Stars and Australia. Warne also played for and coached the Rajasthan Royals, including captaining the team to victory in the inaugural season of the IPL. Considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he made 145 Test appearances, taking 708 wickets, and set the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, a record he held until 2007. Warne was a useful lower-order batsman who scored more than 3,000 Test runs, with a highest score of 99. Warne was a member of the Australian team that won the 1999 Cricket World Cup. He retired from international cricket at the end of Australia's 2006–07 Ashes series victory over England. Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, then regarded as a dying art. After retirement, he regularly worked as a cricket commentator and for charities and endorsed commercial products. During his career, Warne was involved in off-field scandals including a ban from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance, a colourful personal life and interactions with gambling figures. Warne died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 52, while on holiday in Thailand. After his death, many tributes and memorials were made to Warne, both in his home city of Melbourne and elsewhere in the cricketing world. Warne was posthumously appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his service to cricket.

Photo of Ricky Ponting

3. Ricky Ponting (1974 - )

With an HPI of 25.29, Ricky Ponting is the 3rd most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Ponting was captain of the Australian national team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, with 220 victories in 324 matches with a winning rate of 67.91%. He stands third in the list of cricketers by number of international centuries scored. He holds the record for winning most ICC tournaments as a captain in Men's Cricket. Under his Captaincy Australia won the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophies. He was also a member of the Australian team that won the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Domestically, Ponting played for his home state of Tasmania as well as Tasmania's Hobart Hurricanes in Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. He played as a specialist right-handed batsman, an excellent slip fielder, as well as a very occasional bowler. He led Australia to their second 5–0 Ashes win as well as victory at the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and was also a member of the 1999 World Cup winning team under Steve Waugh. He led Australia to consecutive ICC Champions Trophy victory in 2006 and 2009. Combative and at times a controversial captain, statistically he is one of the most successful Test captains of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests between 2004 and 31 December 2010. As a player, Ponting is the only cricketer in history to be involved in 100 Test victories and was involved in the most ODI victories as a player, with 262 wins, having played in over 160 Tests and 370 ODIs. A prolific batter, Ponting is Australia's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket. He was named "Cricketer of the Decade 2000" was named in the country's best Ashes XI in a Cricket Australia poll in 2017 and in July 2018 he was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He is the current assistant coach of the Australian national men's cricket team, having been appointed to the role in February 2019. Ponting announced his retirement from Test cricket in November 2012, the day before playing in his final Test against South Africa; this was his 168th and last Test appearance, equalling the Australian record held by Steve Waugh. He retired with a Test batting average of 51.85, although he continued to play cricket around the world until 2013.

Photo of Adam Gilchrist

4. Adam Gilchrist (1971 - )

With an HPI of 25.03, Adam Gilchrist is the 4th most famous Australian Cricketer.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Adam Craig Gilchrist (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australia national team through his aggressive batting. Widely regarded as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman in the history of the game, Gilchrist held the world record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in One Day International (ODI) cricket until it was surpassed by Kumar Sangakkara in 2015 and the most by an Australian in Test cricket. Gilchrist was a member of the Australian team that won three consecutive world titles in a row: the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and the 2007 Cricket World Cup, along with winning the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both ODI and Test cricket; his 57 ball century against England at Perth in December 2006 is the fourth-fastest century in all Test cricket. He was the first player to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. His 17 Test centuries and 16 in ODIs are both second only to Sangakkara by a wicket-keeper. He holds the unique record of scoring at least 50 runs in successive World Cup finals (in 1999, 2003 and 2007). His 149 off 101 balls against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup final is rated one of the greatest World Cup innings of all time. He is one of only three players to have won three World Cup titles.Gilchrist was renowned for walking when he considered himself to be out, sometimes contrary to the decision of the umpire. He made his first-class debut in 1992, his first One-Day International appearance in 1996 in India and his Test debut in 1999. During his career, he played for Australia in 96 Test matches and over 270 One-day internationals. He was Australia's regular vice-captain in both forms of the game, captaining the team when regular captains Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting were unavailable. He retired from international cricket in March 2008, though he continued to play domestic tournaments until 2013.

Photo of Steve Waugh

5. Steve Waugh (1965 - )

With an HPI of 24.76, Steve Waugh is the 5th most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman and a medium-pace bowler, Waugh is considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Waugh was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Australia to fifteen of their record sixteen consecutive Test wins, and to victory in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Waugh is considered the most successful Test captain in history with 41 victories and a winning ratio of 72%.Born in New South Wales, with whom he began his first-class cricket career in 1984, he captained the Australian Test cricket team from 1999 to 2004, and was the most capped Test cricket player in history, with 168 appearances, until Sachin Tendulkar of India broke this record in 2010. Waugh was the world number 1 all-rounder in both Test and One Day International (ODI) cricket until back issues forced him to give up bowling. He concentrated only on batting and went on to become one of the leading batsmen of his time. He is one of only thirteen players to have scored more than 10,000 Test runs. He was named Australian of the Year in 2004 for his philanthropic work, and inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in front of his home fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2010.Waugh has been included in a list of one hundred Australian Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia, awarded the Order of Australia and the Australian Sports Medal. Known as an attacking and sometimes ruthlessly efficient captain, Described in 2003 as a "cold-blooded, scientific" leader, cricket columnist of The Times Simon Barnes noted that "Waugh wants to defeat you personally." At the end of his final Test match, Waugh was carried by his teammates in a lap of honour around the Sydney Cricket Ground. In a fan poll conducted by the CA in 2017, he was named in the country's best Ashes XI in the last 40 years.

Photo of Matthew Hayden

6. Matthew Hayden (1971 - )

With an HPI of 23.27, Matthew Hayden is the 6th most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman who, along with opening partners Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist, contributed heavily to Australia's success during its "golden era" (2000-2008) in Test and ODI (One Day International) cricket respectively. He holds the record of highest individual score by an Australian batsman in Tests, having scored 380 against Zimbabwe during Zimbabwe's 2003 tour of Australia. This stands as the second-highest individual score in test cricket (behind Brian Lara‘s 400*). It is the highest score by an opening batsman in Tests, though infamously he never faced the opening ball in Tests with Langer, always batting at No2. Hayden was a member of the Australian team that won both the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Domestically, Hayden played for the state he was born in, Queensland, and also played for the state's Twenty20 (T20) competition team, the Brisbane Heat. Hayden retired from all forms of cricket in September 2012. In 2017, Hayden was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. In September 2021, Hayden was appointed as the Batting Coach of Pakistan for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Photo of Brett Lee

7. Brett Lee (1976 - )

With an HPI of 21.21, Brett Lee is the 7th most famous Australian Cricketer.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. With his time representing Australia, Lee won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. Lee was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the T20 format of the game which he did in 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in the inaugural tournament against Bangladesh, subsequently being the first bowler to do so at an ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Lee was also the first Australian bowler to take a hat-trick at a Cricket World Cup which he did in the 2003 Cricket World Cup Super Match game against Kenya. In each of his first two years, Lee conceded fewer than 20 runs for every wicket taken, but later recorded figures in the low 30s. He was an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batter, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket. Lee finished his Test career with 310 wickets, and his One Day International career with 380 wickets. Considered one of the best bowlers of his generation, only Muttiah Muralitharan took more ODI wickets than Lee from 2000 to 2009.He played his first Test in 1999 and retired from international cricket on 12 July 2012. He subsequently declined to renew his contract with his home state side New South Wales, but continued to play Twenty20 matches for several seasons after, notably in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League.In January 2015, Lee announced his retirement from all forms of the game, effective at the end of the 2014–15 Big Bash League season. He has since found work as a film actor and a Fox Sports commentator.

Photo of Phillip Hughes

8. Phillip Hughes (1988 - 2014)

With an HPI of 20.98, Phillip Hughes is the 8th most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Phillip Joel Hughes (30 November 1988 – 27 November 2014) was an Australian Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Worcestershire. He was a left-handed opening batsman who played for two seasons with New South Wales before making his Test debut in 2009 at the age of 20. He made his One Day International Debut in 2013.Hughes scored his first Test century in March 2009, aged 20, in his second Test match for Australia, opening the batting and hitting 115 in the first innings against South Africa in Durban. This made Hughes Australia's youngest Test centurion since Doug Walters in 1965. In the second innings of the same match, Hughes scored 160, becoming the youngest cricketer in history to score centuries in both innings of a Test match (Australia won the match by 175 runs). On 11 January 2013, he became the first Australian batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a century on debut, a feat which he achieved against Sri Lanka in Melbourne.On 25 November 2014, Hughes was hit in the neck by a bouncer from Sean Abbott, during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, causing a vertebral artery dissection that led to a subarachnoid hemorrhage. The Australian team doctor, Peter Brukner, noted that only 100 such cases had ever been reported, with "only one [prior] case reported as a result of a cricket ball". Hughes was taken to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, where he underwent surgery, was placed into an induced coma, and was in intensive care in a critical condition. He never regained consciousness, and he died on 27 November 2014, at age 25.

Photo of Shane Watson

9. Shane Watson (1981 - )

With an HPI of 20.17, Shane Watson is the 9th most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who played for and occasionally captained the Australian national cricket team between 2002 and 2016. He was an all-rounder who played as a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He was ranked as the world's No. 1 all-rounder in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) for 150 weeks, including an all-time record of 120 consecutive weeks from 13 October 2011 to 30 January 2014. He began playing during the Australian team's golden era in the early 2000s, and was the last player from this era to retire. In his time playing for Australia, Watson was part of their winning squad in the Cricket World Cup two times in 2007, and 2015 along with the ICC Champions Trophy twice in 2006 and 2009, with Watson named as the player of the match in the final on both occasions, as he scored the winning run in the 2006 tournament, with the winning six in the 2009 tournament. Watson also played Twenty20 cricket for a number of leagues around the world, including the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was named the player of the tournament in the IPL twice (in 2008 and 2013) and won the tournament twice (in 2008 and 2018). He continued to play in Twenty20 leagues after his retirement from international cricket in 2016, and retired from all forms of cricket in 2020.

Photo of Steve Smith

10. Steve Smith (1989 - )

With an HPI of 19.21, Steve Smith is the 10th most famous Australian Cricketer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Steven Peter Devereux Smith (born 2 June 1989) is an Australian international cricketer and former captain of the Australian national team in all three formats of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the best Test batsmen of all time since Don Bradman. Smith was a member of the Australian teams that won the 2015 and 2023 Cricket World Cup, the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final. Although he was initially selected for Australia as a leg-spinning all-rounder in 2010, Smith was always earmarked as a batting prospect following successful batting campaigns in domestic cricket early in his career. Smith now plays primarily as a batter who bowls rarely. After playing five Test matches from 2010 to 2011 as a bowling all-rounder, he was recalled to the Australian Test team in 2013 as a batter and took over the captaincy from Michael Clarke in late 2015, after which he predominantly batted at number 3 or 4 across formats. Awards he has won include the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year) in 2015; ICC Test Player of the Year in 2015 and 2017; ICC Men's Test Player of the Decade for 2011–2020; the Allan Border Medal for the best player in Australian Cricket in 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023; Australian Test Player of the Year in 2015 and 2018, and Australian One Day International Player of the Year in 2015 and 2021. He was named by Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in the 2016 Wisden Almanack. In 2014, New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe described Smith as one of the young Fab Four of Test cricket along with Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. On 30 December 2017, he reached a Test batting rating of 947, the second-highest of all time, only behind Don Bradman's 961. In March 2018, Smith as captain was widely criticised for the ball tampering in the third Test against South Africa that Cameron Bancroft performed and David Warner planned, during which he stood down from the team captaincy and was replaced by Tim Paine. Following an investigation by Cricket Australia, Smith was banned from all international and domestic cricket in Australia for one year starting from 29 March 2018, and from consideration for any leadership role for an additional year. In November 2021, he made his Australian captaincy return in the 2021–22 Ashes series when Pat Cummins was unavailable. He has captained in 4 Tests (including Australia's only Test victory in India since 2017 when he was captain) and 7 ODIs, winning the 2022-23 ODI series vs India and the 2023-24 series vs West Indies as captain since his return. Since 2021, he has been Australia's vice-captain in Tests. He was ODI official vice-captain from 2021 to 2023 while also standing in as ODI captain in 2024, despite no longer being official ODI vice-captain. In January 2024, Smith moved from No.4 to opening the batting for the first time in Test Cricket, having had success previously opening the batting in the IPL, BBL and for Australia in T20Is and ODI warm up matches.

Pantheon has 16 people classified as cricketers born between 1908 and 1990. Of these 16, 13 (81.25%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living cricketers include Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Steve Waugh. The most famous deceased cricketers include Don Bradman, Shane Warne, and Phillip Hughes.

Living Cricketers

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Deceased Cricketers

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Which Cricketers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Cricketers since 1700.