The fans of today must look at Zimbabwe cricket and think that this is not a good cricket team and all the issues that have plagued the nation and that they have never been a good side with no great players ever but that is the farthest thing from the truth. Those fans who have followed Cricket since the early 1980s till the 2000s know that the Zimbabwe team was one of the best in the world and they have had some world class players play for them and 5 out of those we will talk about below.
Without wasting any more time let’s get into the list of the Top 5 Greatest Zimbabwe Cricketers in my opinion and I hope these are the ones that all of our readers agree with. There are some incredible names on this list
Andy Flower
Without any doubt Andy Flower is one of the best players to come out of Zimbabwe and the impact and legacy he has left behind in Zimbabwe cricket will always be remembered by all fans of world cricket. He had a 11 year international career and only in 11 years he left an everlasting impact. He played 63 Test Matches for Zimbabwe and in those matches he got 4794 Test runs at a very good average of 51.55 with 27 Half centuries and 12 Test hundreds. In the ODI format he was also one of their very best as in the 213 ODI Matches he played for Zimbabwe he scored 6786 runs which means a total of more than 11000+ international runs and he got 55 Half centuries and 4 ODI hundreds.
Heath Streak
If Andy Flower was one of the best batters in Zimbabwe cricket then Heath Streak was the best all rounder that Zimbabwe cricket ever saw and his records in both Tests and ODIs is very impressive. He played for 12 years from 1993-2005 and he played 65 Test Matches for Zimbabwe and in those he scored 1993 Test runs with 11 Half centuries and 1 Test hundred and in the bowling department he picked up 216 test wickets at a good average of 28.14 with 7 Five wicket hauls. In ODIs he played 189 ODI Matches and he got 2943 ODI runs which means a total of close to 5000 international runs and also he picked 239 ODI Wickets which takes it to a total of 455 international wickets. A true all time great.
Grant Flower
The Flower brothers were the best sibling pair in the history of Zimbabwe cricket and Grant Flower was no less than his brother Andy. He had a 18 year international career and in that he played 67 Test matches and in those matches he got 3457 runs at an average of 29.55 with 15 Half centuries and 6 Test hundreds. In the ODI format he played 221 ODIs and he scored 6571 ODI runs at an average of 33.53 with 40 Half centuries and 6 ODI hundreds. He scored a total of 10000+ international runs for Zimbabwe and he also took a total of 129 wickets in his career.
Alastair Campbell
The next player on my list is a true Zimbabwe cricket great and it is Alastair Campbell. He had a 11 year international career and he left a legacy in that time. He played 60 Test Matches and in those Matches he scored a total of 2858 Test runs at an average of 27.22 with 18 Half centuries and 2 Test hundreds. In the ODI format he played 188 ODI Matches with a total of 5185 ODI runs to his name and he scored 30 Half centuries and 7 ODI hundreds and a total of 8000 international runs in his stellar career.
Brendan Taylor
The last player on our list is Brendan Taylor and he was one of the greatest of Zimbabwe cricket, and I am keeping his issues with fixing at bay for this article because when he played for Zimbabwe he gave his heart and soul. He played for 17 years and in those years he played 34 Test matches and he got 2320 Test runs at an average of 36.25 with 12 Half centuries and 6 Test hundreds. In the ODI format he played 205 ODI matches and scored 6684 runs and got 39 Half centuries and 11 Odi Hundreds and a total of 9000+ runs for Zimbabwe.
