NEWS » s, with no selections finalized.The

Who are the 100 greatest cricketers of all time? And for that matter, who is the greatest? Sky Sports cricket statistician Benedict Bermange tries to answer those questions by picking his top 100 over the coming weeks... Do you agree? Tweet us @SkyCricket. Each week I will release a new 10 names on my list of the 100 greatest cricketers, until ultimately revealing my No 1 cricketer on Christmas week.My countdown continues here with numbers 40-31... 40) Frank Woolley Frank Woolley pictured batting in a Test against Australia at Headingley Woolleys Test career ran from 1909 until The Oval Test of 1934, which included a then-record 52 consecutive appearances. That Oval Test marked the end of an era as his was the last appearance by any pre-First World War Test cricketer.He scored 3,283 runs with five centuries for England, and took 83 wickets with four five-wicket hauls. Amazingly, he played under 14 different captains in his 64 Tests; still a record. But as impressive as his international record was, it was in the county game with Kent that Woolley really flourished. Only Jack Hobbs scored more runs than his 58,959 in first-class cricket and he took more than 2,000 wickets too for good measure.But it wasnt just about the records, Woolley was elegance personified in everything he did. His strokeplay had an almost ethereal quality, immortalised in Neville Cardus words: His cricket is compounded of soft airs and fresh flavours. The bloom of the year is on it, making for sweetness. He was a remarkably quick scorer in his day too - scoring 300 in just 205 minutes against Tasmania on the 1911/12 tour, which remains the second-fastest triple-hundred of all time in terms of minutes.39) Javed Miandad Javed Miandad of Pakistan hits out during an innings of 153 against England at Edgbaston For years the enfant terrible of Pakistani cricket - people just loved to hate him the world over - but there was no denying the quality of Miandads batsmanship. His Test batting average never dropped below fifty from his first innings until he finally retired at the end of 1993.Miandad slammed 163 on his Test debut against New Zealand at Lahore in 1976, and followed up three weeks later with an innings of 206 at Karachi, becoming the youngest player to score a Test double-century - a record which still stands. He was also prolific in ODI cricket, becoming the only player to participate in six World Cups, and his feat of scoring nine successive ODI fifties is unlikely to ever be broken. And it was in this format that perhaps his defining feat occurred. Just say Miandads six to any cricket fan and they will instantly recall the final of the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup. Pakistan needed four off the last ball of the match from Chetan Sharma, with a wicket in hand. Sharmas full toss sailed out of the ground and it took India a long time to recover from the psychological upset.Miandad was not shy of making different headlines either - his spat with Dennis Lillee at Perth brought about one of the most famous cricket photos of all time and his clashes with Imran Khan occasionally brought out the best in both of them - such as the memorable 1992 World Cup triumph.38) Alec Bedser Alec Bedser had a storied playing career before then becoming an England selector Bedsers Test career started in a blaze of glory, with 11 wickets in each of his first two matches against India in 1946, and in his early days he frequently ploughed a lone furrow for England in terms of seam bowling, with 11 sharing the new ball with him.He did not possess great pace, but he could surprise the batsman and was a master of late in-swing and the leg-cutter, which he used to great effect in his early years against Donald Bradman. Wicket-keepers often stood up to him, and he was helped by having Godfrey Evans keep to him for the majority of his England career.Bedser took 30 wickets in each of the 1950/51 Ashes and 1951 home series against South Africa and when Trueman, Bailey and Statham came on the scene to take some pressure from his shoulders - helped England to their memorable 1953 Ashes victory with 39 wickets.He started with 14 wickets at Nottingham and eight more at Lords. Seven followed in each of the Manchester and Leeds matches which helped him pass the world record of 216 wickets held by Clarrie Grimmett. Bedsers dominance over Arthur Morris became the stuff of legend, dismissing him 18 times in 21 Tests.Later in life, he was an England selector for 24 years - chairman for 13 of those years - and was knighted for services to cricket. 37) Fred Trueman Fred Trueman took 307 wickets in 67 Tests for England In his own words: tFinest Bloody Fast Bowler that Ever Drew Breath and who are we to disagree? He quickly became a hero - he was a genuine box office draw combining searing pace with humour and often flying foul of the authorities. It all added up to a magical mix which transcended English cricket for a decade or more.Even though Trueman played 67 Tests in his career, he missed a further 53 due to injury or varying disputes with selectors. He claimed that four-letter words cost him another hundred Test wickets. Nevertheless, some of his feats became the stuff of legend. At Leeds in 1961 he conjured up a spell of six wickets for one run, having slept the previous night in his car in a Leeds car park.But Trueman was more than just an exceptional fast bowler. He was a superb fielder and hard-hitting lower-order batsman of some talent. Later in life, he was a forthright commentator, regaling listeners with anecdotes which were toned down for a family audience. Some listeners hoped that rain would stop play so they could listen to more of Fred.36) Victor Trumper Victor Trumper (pictured) was hailed by Jack Hobbs as the finest batsman hed seen Jack Hobbs described Trumper as the most perfect batsman in his scoring methods I have ever seen. And that is coming from the man who scored more first-class runs than anyone.Trumpers Test debut came at Trent Bridge in 1899 - by coincidence WG Graces final Test, and after Trumper had scored a century in the next match at Lords, Grace appeared demanding a bat from the champion of tomorrow in exchange for one from himself.It was three years later at Manchester that he really came of age. Trumper reached his century before lunch on the first morning of the Test - the first of only four batsmen to ever achieve that feat. In all he scored 2,570 runs on that tour of England, including 11 centuries. He was without doubt the finest batsman in the world at that time.Trumpers overall Test average of 39.04 does not look particularly impressive when compared to those of modern players, but the overall average in Test cricket over that period of time was 26, making him 50% higher than the average. No-one scored more runs than him over the course of his Test career, despite the fact that he had been weakened by scarlet fever and was never in the best of health later in his life.35) Dennis Lillee Englands Norman Cowans loses his helmet as he tries to dodge a bouncer bowled by Dennis Lillee Growing up, one of the magical numbers in cricket was 355. That marked the record of the most wickets in Test cricket, and the owner of that record was Lillee. Currently that number is good enough only for joint 21st place, but there is little doubt that Lillee was one of the finest bowlers of all time.He began as a raw talent who thrived on trying to bowl as quickly as he could. Australia had been waiting for a fast bowling successor to Alan Davidson, and whereas they had Graham McKenzie and Neil Hawke, no-one really struck fear into opposition batsmens hearts. Lillee snared 31 wickets in the 1972 Ashes series, but was somewhat overshadowed by Bob Massies 16 wickets at Lords.After fracturing his lower vertebrae in three places in 1973, against all the odds, Lillee came back after 18 months with a remodelled action, but managed to retain his hostility, as England discovered in the 1974/75 series when he and Jeff Thomson laid waste to the tourists batting. The following summer his 27 wickets in Australias 5-1 trouncing of the West Indies in 1975/76 led Clive Lloyd to pursue the same fast-bowling formula for the next two decades.34) Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Marshall of the West Indies steams in during a Test against England The all-conquering West Indian teams of the 1970s and 1980s boasted a host of fast bowlers. Most fitted a certain mould - tall and menacing. But the one among them who was acknowledged to be the greatest was of average height and build. What Marshall lacked in build though, he made up for in speed of run-up and release, and he was a master of the swinging ball.After touring India in 1978/79 with the West Indies short of fast-bowling talent due to World Series cricket, Marshall was recruited by Hampshire and honed his skills on English pitches. It is no surprise then that his record against England was so spectacular - he took 127 wickets in 26 Tests against them at just 19.18 apiece. Having graduated to a West Indian side alongside Roberts, Holding and Garner, he soon became the acknowledged leader of the pack in the early years of Ambrose, Patterson and Walsh. The Leeds Test of 1984 provided a glimpse of his genius, as having broken his left thumb in the field, he batted one-handed and successfully shepherded Larry Gomes to a century before taking seven wickets for 53 with the lower part of his left arm in plaster.He was back at his best in the summer of 1988 with 35 wickets, including a career-best 7-22 at Manchester, and had a farewell tour of England three years later - a tour which also saw the end of Viv Richardss Test career. Marshalls 376 Test wickets were a West Indian record until Courtney Walsh went past it years later.33) Ricky Ponting Rickey Ponting has 71 centuries in all international cricket, second only to Sachin Tendulkar Ponting 96 on his Test debut - the victim of a debatable lbw decision by umpire Khizar Hayat. Youd have to say Ponting was a little bit unlucky was the view at the time of commentator Tony Greig. And from that moment on it was almost as if Ponting decided he had to make up for it.There were early setbacks and well-documented clashes with authority, but by the time he retired he was Australias leading run-scorer in both Test and ODI cricket, and only Sachin Tendulkar has bettered his 71 centuries in all international cricket.Ponting became a key member of the Australian side who usurped the West Indies to become the undisputed number one Test team in the mid 1990s, and like many of the greatest players he eventually graduated to captaincy - taking over the ODI side in 2002 and leading it to victories in both the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, scoring an undefeated 140 in the first final against India in 03 at Johannesburg.No-one has come close to Pontings 108 Test match victories, but his copybook is blotted slightly by leading Australia to three Ashes series defeats, including one at home in 2010/11. Whereas some may criticise his captaincy, no-one denies his place in the very highest echelons on batsmanship.32) Waqar Younis Waqar Younis (C) celebrates with wicket of Michael Atherton against England Not many cricketers can claim that a new word was invented for them, but in the early 1990s a new verb was invented. To be Waqared was to be cleaned up - either lbw or bowled by a fast in-swinging yorker from the Pakistani speedster.Spotted by Imran Khan in domestic cricket, after just 12 first-class matches he made his Test debut against India at Karachi in November 1989 - the same match in which Sachin Tendulkar debuted. Waqar took four wickets in the first innings - including that of Tendulkar, bowled.He signed for Surrey and had a memorable 1991 season, taking 113 wickets at just 14.65 each and England found him and his team-mate Wasim Akram too hot to handle the following year as Pakistan won the Test series 2-1. A common theme was the reverse swing the bowlers managed to find which frequently saw wickets tumbling after England had made solid starts.Waqar was unfortunate when it came to World Cups. He missed the victorious 1992 campaign with a back injury and didnt set the world alight in 1996 or 1999. Finally as captain in 2003, the team failed to progress beyond the group stage. Nevertheless he boasted 13 five-wicket hauls in all ODI cricket, a record which stand to this day.31) Allan Border Allan Border holds the Cricket World Cup trophy aloft after success in 1987 The man who lifted Australian cricket out of its mid-1980s doldrums and turned it into the worlds best team, was a colossus of the modern game.After carrying the team on the shoulders of his run-making after the combined retirements of Chappell, Lillee and Marsh, Border turned a team of young players into a world-class team by the time the 1989 Ashes series in England rolled around. All this after inheriting the national captaincy in the wake of Kim Hughess tearful resignation at Brisbane in November 1984.There had been some success beforehand, winning the World Cup in 1987, but there had been humiliating Ashes defeats in 1985 and then at home in 1986/87 too. In both those series, Borders was the wicket that the English prized the most but it didnt help the final result.In 1989 it was one-way traffic as the urn was regained by Australia 4-0, and it could so easily have been 6-0. A new breed of Australian cricketer was born with a tough, no-nonsense attitude. David Boon, Mark Taylor and the Waugh twins took responsibility for the run-scoring and Terry Alderman, Merv Hughes, Craig McDermott and Bruce Reid took the wickets. And then in 1992 came Shane Warne...50-41: Everton Weekes (50), George Lohmann (49), Dale Steyn (48), Graham Gooch (47), Fred Spofforth (46), Peter May (45), Virender Sehwag (44), Clarrie Grimmett (43), Hedley Verity (42), Graeme Pollock (41)60-51: Alfred Mynn (60), Greg Chappell (59), Clyde Walcott (58), Brian Statham (57), Tich Freeman (56), CB Fry (55), Alfred Shaw (54), Zaheer Abbas (53), Richie Benaud (52), George Hirst (51).70-61: Steve Waugh (70), Ken Barrington (69), Gilbert Jessop (68), Neil Harvey (67), Barry Richards (66), Clive Lloyd (65), Colin Blythe (64), Mike Procter (63), Aubrey Faulkner (62), Les Ames (61).80-71: Curtly Ambrose (80), Alan Davidson (79), Michael Holding (78), Bill OReilly (77), Shaun Pollock (76), Johnny Briggs (75), Vinoo Mankad (74), Jim Laker (73), Ray Lindwall (72), Tom Richardson (71).90-81: Chris Gayle (90), Bill Ponsford (89), Alan Knott (88), Rahul Dravid (87), Derek Underwood (86), Monty Noble (85), Hanif Mohammad (84), Learie Constantine (83), Allan Donald (82), Anil Kumble (81).100-91: Tom Goddard (100), Jack Hearne (99), Phil Mead (98), AB de Villiers (97), Charlie Parker (96), Vijay Merchant (95), Patsy Hendren (94), Charlie The Terror Turner (93), Maurice Tate (92), Warwick Armstrong (91).50 who missed the cut: From Alastair Cook to Courtney Walsh; the 50 cricketers who just missed out on the top 100. 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Update: Since the time of publication, Immortals have confirmed the acquisition of Cody Massacre Sun and Lee Flame Ho-jong.North American League of Legends team Immortals have come to terms and intend to sign agreements with former Longzhu Gaming top laner Lee Flame Ho-jong and former Dream Team AD carry Cody Massacre Sun, sources close to the players and the team tell ESPN.Both players will play with Immortals at Intel Extreme Masters Gyeonggi on Dec. 16-18 in Gyeonggi, South Korea.Flame and Massacre join the team after it re-signed mid laner Eugene Pobelter Park to a two-year agreement and signed former Team Liquid jungler Joshua Dardoch Hartnett. The teams support position, which was left vacant following the departure of Adrian Adrian Ma, is currently still up in the air, according to sources, with no selections finalized.The deal with Flame comes after Immortals released ttop laner Heo Huni Seung-hoon from his contract, per his request, as he received and later accepted an offer from SK Telecom T1.dddddddddddd Meanwhile, Massacre will replace AD carry Jason WildTurtle Tran, who left the team on Monday.The team is currently bootcamping in South Korea as it prepares for Gyeonggi and the 2017 League Championship Series season, which begins in January. At Gyeonggi, the team will face 2016 World Championship runner-up Samsung Galaxy, as well as Royal Never Give Up, Giants Gaming, J Team, Kongdoo Monster, Dark Passage and Vega Squadron.Immortals did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.Keep tabs on the League of Legends offseason roster shuffle with updated insider information on our landing page. ' ' '