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We’ve looked at the top players in specific categories, but who makes the overall list? Who are the players that can genuinely be considered as the best New Zealand cricketers of all time?
15 Greatest New Zealand Cricketers
Shane Bond
A catalogue of injuries meant that Shane Bond’s career was largely unfulfilled, but he did enough to merit a place on this list. With a ball in hand, he delivered at express pace and is still ranked as the fastest bowler that New Zealand ever had.
Those injury issues restricted Bond to just 18 test matches between 2001 and 2009. He still managed to take 87 wickets with best figures of 6/51. The less physical demands of limited overs cricket allowed him to play in 102 matches with an additional 172 wickets.
Chris Cairns
A man capable of winning games with either bat or ball, there are many who feel that Chris Cairns is second only to Richard Hadlee as New Zealand’s best all rounder. He was a powerful batsman and he had some genuine pace early on in his career.
His power hitting was well suited to one day cricket, but Cairns definitely had an impact in tests. This was where he made his highest score of 158 and, at one point, he held the record for most sixes with 87 maximums from 104 innings.
Cairns was a genuine all-rounder and one of just a few cricketers to have scored over 8,000 international runs while taking more than 400 wickets.
Ross Taylor
Ross Taylor’s standing as the leading test run scorer for New Zealand is likely to be overtaken by Kane Williamson very soon, but his efforts with the bat see him included here. He was a prolific batter in all forms of the game and, when he announced his retirement from international cricket, Taylor had scored no fewer than 40 centuries.
He also holds the record for the most ODI runs by a New Zealand batter and his impressive total of 8,607 isn’t under threat just yet. In short, he’s been the most prolific run getter for the Kiwis in all formats and Ross Taylor is a true cricketing great.
Kane Williamson
One of the most elegant batsmen in the game, Kane Williamson is a player who has served a dual role for his country. He’s set to become New Zealand’s all-time leading run scorer in tests, and he’s also led the side successfully for a number of years.
Williamson has now given up the captaincy and, by losing that responsibility, he can concentrate even more on his batting. That means that he will continue to set new standards for the Kiwis in all formats.
As he prepared for the test series with England in February 2023, Kane Williamson had scored over 14,500 runs across all three international formats and there will be more to come.
Glenn Turner
During his long playing career, Glenn Turner was widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in world cricket. He was a powerful, yet stylish left hander who would eventually join an exclusive club for players who have scored 100 first class centuries.
He only played in 41 tests, plus a further 41 One Day Internationals, but he made sure we knew about his credentials on the international stage. His highest test score of 259, made against the West Indies in Georgetown in 1972, was a record for New Zealand at the time. In total, Turner made more than 4,500 runs in two formats with ten centuries.
Brendon McCullum
A devastating batsman in all forms of the game and a captain who led from the front, Brendon McCullum contributed so much to the revival of New Zealand cricket. He was a skipper who led by example, a batter who made big scores and he wasn’t a bad wicket keeper either.
Whatever happens in the future, McCullum will always have the record as the first New Zealand batsman to make a triple hundred in a test match. His 302 against India at Wellington in 2014 remains a national record and it was one of 19 times that he passed three figures for the Kiwis.
As an all-round cricketer, it may be fair to suggest that Brendon McCullum was the best that New Zealand ever had.
Martin Crowe
Prior to Brendon McCullum’s effort, Martin Crowe had come so close to making a triple hundred in a test match. His innings of 299 against Sri Lanka remained as his country’s best for over 20 years.
That 299 was just a highlight of a brilliant career. Crowe will be remembered both as a fine batsman and also as a captain who led the Kiwis through some difficult years. His best work came with bat in hand as he made over 10,000 international runs with 21 centuries.
Stephen Fleming
History may just remember Stephen Fleming as New Zealand’s greatest ever captain. His international career began in a period where the team were struggling to lift themselves from the bottom of the ICC rankings, and it finished with the country in a much better place.
Fleming led from the front too. He became the first New Zealand batsman to pass 7,000 test runs, and he made 17 international centuries with a highest score of 274 not out.
Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori was picked for the New Zealand test side as a teenage left arm spinner, after playing just a handful of first class games. He would eventually finish as the second highest test wicket taker for his country with 362 victims.
Vettori claimed 705 international wickets across the three formats and he also made important runs with the bat. He made six test hundreds, with a top score of 140, while averaging a respectable 30.00 in the longer form.
Sir Richard Hadlee
As a genuine all-rounder, it’s hard to argue with the theory that Sir Richard Hadlee was the greatest New Zealand cricketer of them all. Very few players are knighted and this is an obvious testament to his quality with both bat and ball.
More than 30 years after his retirement, Hadlee remains as the leading New Zealand wicket taker in test cricket. He claimed 431 victims overall and his best figures of 9/52 currently put him in seventh place in the list of outstanding test bowling returns.
Richard Hadlee was also effective in ODIs, but let’s not forget his batting. In 86 test matches between 1973 and 1990, he made 3124 runs with two centuries and a highest score of 151.
Trent Boult
A left armer who could bowl with prodigious swing, Trent Boult could be almost unplayable when the conditions suited him. He could generate that swing in all forms of the game and that’s especially hard to do with the limited overs white ball.
While he decided to make himself available for more franchise cricket from the start of 2023, Boult should still have a future for the national side. Ahead of New Zealand’s home test series with England in February of that year, he had taken 578 wickets across the three international formats, with best figures of 7/34.
John Wright
John Wright was one of New Zealand’s best ever batsmen across much of a 15-year international career that lasted from 1978 to 1993. He became the first Kiwi batter to pass 5,000 runs in test cricket.
He played important roles in both tests and ODIs and was adept at changing the pace of an innings when the situation demanded. Wright played in 82 tests and 149 ODIs, making over 9,000 runs with 13 centuries and a top score of 185.
Tim Southee
Along with Trent Boult, Tim Southee has been a spearhead of New Zealand’s bowling attack in all formats for many years. He started 2023 with 353 wickets in test matches and is likely to end the year ahead of Daniel Vettori in the country’s all time list.
Southee can also swing the ball but he has a great seam position and will usually generate exaggerated movement off the pitch.
As he moves towards the later stages of his international career, he’ll look to go past Vettori into second place while adding to his impressive haul of 697 international wickets at the time of writing.
Tim Southee can also be a useful batsman on occasions and he’s made five half centuries in tests, plus another in ODIs.
Nathan Astle
In 2002 against England in Christchurch, Nathan Astle blasted a test match double hundred from just 153 balls. It was the fastest double ton in this format and that record has now stood for more than 20 years.
Even if he hadn’t played that knock, Nathan Astle would have surely made it onto our list. Ironically, he wasn’t the most powerful of batsmen, but he was still effective in ODIs where he became the first Kiwi to pass 7,000 runs in the format.
Astle would eventually make 11,866 runs in three international formats with 27 centuries and that best of 222. He also took 154 wickets for New Zealand with his gentle medium pace.
Chris Martin
He was widely known as a ‘walking wicket’ because of his poor record with the bat. Because of that unfortunate nickname, it may be easy to forget just what an exceptional bowler Chris Martin was for New Zealand.
When he finished his career in 2013, Martin was third on the list of New Zealand test wicket takers with 233 victims in 71 games. He’s since dropped down to number six, but those returns deserve some respect.
Chris Martin wasn’t used a great deal in limited overs internationals, but he added 25 wickets in 27 games across ODIs and T20is.
Final Thoughts
Having looked at specific categories such as fast bowlers, batters and all-rounders, I think this is a good, definitive list of the best overall cricketers that New Zealand has ever produced. Of course, there will always be other suggestions and there were others that just missed out on making the final cut.
But what about the future? Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult are coming towards the ends of their international careers and they will be tough to replace. So, who are the younger players in with a chance of adding to this list in the future?
