Garfield Sobers
Brian Lara
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Brian Lara leads 2 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Garfield Sobers at #3 and Brian Lara at #8.
Head-to-head FAQ
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The case for Garfield Sobers
Garfield Sobers is widely regarded as the greatest all-rounder cricket has produced. He scored 8,032 Test runs at 57.78 with 26 centuries, took 235 wickets bowling three different styles, fast-medium, orthodox spin, and wrist spin, and held more than 100 catches. In 1958, aged 21, he made 365 not out against Pakistan, a Test record that stood for 36 years. In 1968 he struck six sixes in an over for Nottinghamshire, the first man to do so in first-class cricket. Sobers could open the bowling or turn to spin, bat anywhere, and field brilliantly close in or in the deep, making him a complete cricketer in a way few have matched. His blend of elegance and versatility, sustained across two decades for West Indies, places him among the two or three most gifted players ever to hold a bat.
The case for Brian Lara
Brian Lara was cricket's supreme record-breaker and its most thrilling big-innings player. The left-hander holds the highest individual Test score, 400 not out against England in 2004, and the highest first-class score, 501 not out for Warwickshire in 1994, the only man to reclaim the Test record after losing it. He scored 11,953 Test runs with 34 centuries, nine of them over 150, and averaged over 52 while often carrying a weak West Indies batting order. His high backlift and explosive strokeplay made even world-class attacks look ordinary; his 153 not out to beat Australia at Bridgetown in 1999 is regarded as one of the greatest match-winning innings ever played. Lara scored with a speed and audacity that set him apart from his contemporaries, and on his day no batsman was more capable of dominating a Test single-handedly.