The Guardian's 100 Greatest Men's Ashes Cricketers Ranked by Panel and Fans in 2025
In November 2025, The Guardian published an interactive feature ranking the 100 greatest men's Ashes cricketers of all time, coinciding with the Ashes 2025-26 series involving England and Australia. The Ashes rivalry began in 1877, with 853 players having appeared in Australia–England Test matches since then.
Barney Ronay guided the feature, which included a No. 1 pick and a video reviewing the top 10. The article outlined the voting methodology and included a section inviting readers to vote and share memories via an online form.
A panel of 51 judges selected the top 100 based on their individual top 50 lists. The judging process assigned points from 50 for a No. 1 ranking down to 1 for No. 50, considering only Ashes performances. The rules required at least 15 players from each country and at least five players from five specified eras: pre-World War I, interwar, 1945–1974, 1975–1999, and 2000 onwards.
Shane Warne topped the list with 2,503 voting points, edging ahead of Don Bradman by 121 points. Warne is celebrated not just for his record 195 Ashes wickets but also for his style, humour, and charisma beyond statistics. Bradman amassed 5,028 Ashes runs, and Ian Botham, noted for his sixes and wickets, along with Glenn McGrath, also exceeded 2,000 points.
Other notable mentions included Ricky Ponting for centuries and Andrew Flintoff for sledging and sportsmanship. Although Australia dominates the upper ranks—holding seven of the top 10 and 14 of the top 25 players—the overall top 100 list is evenly split between England and Australia.
The list tends to emphasize longevity and earlier eras, with 58 of the 100 players now deceased and many from the 1946–1975 period rather than the modern era. Fifteen all-rounders feature in the top 100, nine of them English. Notably, no wicketkeeper-batsman appears in the top 20; Adam Gilchrist ranks 21st, and England's highest-ranked keeper is Godfrey Evans at 53. Six players named as active for the 2025-26 Ashes series—Smith, Stokes, Cummins, Root, Lyon, and Starc—are included. In the combined XI, only Steve Smith remains active, while Stuart Broad is retired but included.
No judge placed the final top five exactly as their own, with Douglas Jardine complicating the order. The coverage was first published on 11 November 2025 and updated on 14 November 2025 at 10:31 CET, forming a comprehensive evaluation of Ashes cricketers both past and present.
