The Guardian has undertaken an ambitious project to identify the 100 greatest players in the 143-year history of men's Ashes cricket, assembling a distinguished panel of 51 judges to make the difficult selections.
The Selection Process
A prestigious judging panel including former international players Ashley Giles, Steven Finn, Simon Katich, Damien Fleming, and Mark Ramprakash joined historians, commentators, and celebrated cricket writers to evaluate the 853 cricketers who have competed in Ashes Tests since the rivalry began.
The panel represented a comprehensive mix of expertise from both hemispheres, featuring players, coaches, reporters, editors, authors, broadcasters, commentators, columnists, administrators, historians, academics and podcasters. This diverse perspective ensured a balanced view of cricket's most celebrated contest.
Judges received a long list of 150 names but were free to select any players from Ashes history, ranking their top 50 in order from 1 to 50. The voting system awarded 50 points for a first-place vote, 49 for second, down to 1 point for 50th position.
Voting Rules and Methodology
To ensure fairness and historical balance, the Guardian established three key rules for the selection process. Judges had to include at least 15 players from each country and select a minimum of five players from each of five established eras to combat recency bias.
The historical eras were defined as: players debuting before World War I, the interwar years, post-World War II to 1974, 1975 to 1999, and from 2000 onwards. This approach guaranteed representation across the entire span of Ashes history.
When all 2,550 individual votes had been cast, the points were tallied to create the definitive Top 100 list. Tie-breakers were determined by the number of individual votes received, followed by the highest-ranked individual vote if still level.
The Countdown Begins
The results will be revealed throughout this week, building anticipation for this year's Ashes series opener on 21 November. The countdown begins on Tuesday with positions 100-71, followed by 70-41 on Wednesday, and 40-11 on Thursday.
The climax arrives on Friday when the top 10 players will be announced alongside the full voting results and select XIs chosen from the ranked players. The Guardian acknowledges this represents a snapshot based on their panel's expertise, recognizing that countless variations of an Ashes Top 100 could be created.
All judges participated without payment, and individual voting records will remain anonymous to ensure honest assessments. The project represents one of the most comprehensive attempts to rank the greatest contributors to cricket's most storied rivalry.
