Counting down: 100-91; 90-81; 80-71; 70-61; 60-51; 50-41

80. Simon Katich (Aus)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 56 matches, 4,188 runs at 45.03

Perenially underrated, Simon Katich’s first coming as a Test batsman was highlighted by his key role in Australia’s breakthrough 2004 series win in India. Equally adept against spin and pace, the left-hander made an unorthodox technique that involved an exaggerated shuffle from leg to off work wonders for him, particularly in 2008-09 when he enjoyed back-to-back calendar years of more than 1000 runs and scored six of his 10 centuries. That followed a prolonged period out of the side, while his final axing in 2010 came against the wishes of then captain Ricky Ponting. Also a handy left-arm chinaman bowler, collecting 21 wickets at 30 through his career.

Best Performance: Katich made crucial scores of 81 and 99 on the India tour of 2004 but it was a couple of innings in New Zealand during which he saved Australia from disaster. The first came in 2005, when he made 118 as he and Adam Gilchrist teamed up for a double-century seventh-wicket stand, while the second was a standout 106 at the top of the order in 2010 that set Australia up for the win.

79. Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 66 matches, 4,222 runs at 38.73; 69 wickets at 30.47

Before David Warner there was Brendon McCullum. Before McCullum there was Matthew Hayden. And before them all was Sanath Jayasuriya. The action-packed opening batsmen followed in the footsteps of West Indian legends Gordon Greendidge and Desomnd Haynes, attacking from ball one from the top of the order, applying immense pressure to opposition captains and their frontline bowlers. Armed with a deadly eye, forearms of steel and a cheeky grin, the left-hander scored at rate beyond his years and was a more than useful bowler if his slow-left arms darts were needed.

Best Performance: For such a carefree risk-taker, Jayasuriya’s powers of concentration helped deliver two double-centuries and one triple-ton in his 16-year career. An imperious knock of 253 in 2004 against Pakistan in Faisalabad was the last of his mountainous scores, in which he smashed 33 fours and four sixes to set up a huge win for Sri Lanka.

78. Ross Taylor (NZ)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 64 matches, 4,769 runs at 44.99

Taylor took the modern-day path to the Test team, via his country’s ODI side, and made a century in his third Test to confirm his reputation as one of New Zealand’s brightest young batsman. In the years since, he has only enhanced his standing, leading his side to a rare Test win in Australia in 2010 and reining in his natural attacking instincts to become perhaps the most reliable Black Caps batsman of his generation. Only Martin Crowe (17) has scored more centuries for the Kiwis, and at 31, one senses there’s plenty more to come.

Best Performance: Taylor’s double of 142 and 74 against Sri Lanka on a spinning track in Colombo in 2012 was a masterful display. The first knock steered his side to a big first-innings total, while the second set up a defendable total, allowing New Zealand to square the two-match series.

77. Saeed Ajmal (Pak)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 35 matches, 178 wickets at 28.10

Ajmal debuted as a mature 30-year-old in 2009 and made up for lost time with five wickets in his first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. The best exponent of the doosra since the retirement of Muthiah Muralidaran, Ajmal’s off-spin claimed 11 wickets against the West Indies in Guyana in 2011 before annihilating England in the United Arab Emirates a year later. The right-hander’s ascension to the peak of global Test spinners was almost too good to be true, and when his action was reported and tested to reveal three times the permitted bend in his elbow, it proved out to be just that.

Best Performance: Andrew Strauss’s men traveled to the UAE in 2012 as the world’s top ranked Test nation, but after Ajmal had his way with them, England headed home scorned and embarrassed. Ajmal’s 10-wicket haul in Dubai in which he trapped six batsmen lbw - humbled the visitors.

76: Marcus Trescothick (Eng)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 76 matches, 5,825 runs at 43.29

An aggressive left-hander who took the game to the opposition from the top of the order, Marcus Trescothick broke the mould of the traditional English opener – and did it with considerable success during his six-year tenure in the role. In that time, he plundered 14 hundreds and while none of those came against Australia, it was his belligerence that set the tone for England’s all-out attacking during their successful 2005 Ashes campaign, particularly in Edgbaston where his almost run-a-ball 90 paved the way for an opening day total of 407. He retired from the international game a year later, citing a stress-related illness.

Best Performance: For a man who struggled mentally with the demands of overseas tours, Trescothick produced some fine knocks on foreign soil, scoring hundreds in Galle, Multan, Johannesburg, Dhaka and Durban. The best of those were during England’s historic series win in South Africa, with the pick coming in the fourth Test – a second-innings 180 that set up victory against a quality Proteas side.

75: Courtney Walsh (WI)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 20 matches, 93 wickets at 19.73

The last of the great towering West Indian fast bowlers, Walsh said farewell to his record-breaking career in fine style at the turn of the century. While he was below his best in five Tests against the world conquering Australians, the hostile Jamaican used all his experience to capture 34 wickets in seamer-friendly English conditions in 2000, and followed it up with another 24 in five Test on home soil against South Africa in his final Test series. Walsh bowed out of the game at age 38 with 519 wickets under his belt.

Best Performance: After taking man-of-the-match honours in the first Test at Edgbaston, Walsh’s 10 wickets at Lord’s almost single-handedly won the West Indies the match from nowhere. Chasing 188 to win, Walsh bagged six wickets as England crept over the line eight down.

74: Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 87 matches, 5,842 runs at 40.01

Ramnaresh Sarwan came into the national side as a teenager and immediately impressed with an assured technique and attitude. A nightmare tour to Australia followed and his first century didn’t arrive until two years later, and by that point Sarwan’s game had developed to such a point that he was seen as the long-term successor to Brian Lara in the West Indies middle order. While Lara’s shoes were too sizeable for anyone to fill, Sarwan walked his own path, emerging as a gifted performer capable of making big runs against the world’s best, as his 15 centuries attest.

Best Performance: Sarwan made 15 centuries including an epic 291 against England, however arguably his finest hour came in 2003 against an Australia attack featuring McGrath, Gillespie, Lee and MacGill. Chasing 418 on a day five pitch in Antigua, Sarwan made 105 from 139 deliveries to steer West Indies to provide the impetus for what was ultimately a world record chase.

73. Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 84 matches, 5,283 runs at 40.32

Loose-wristed and laid back, Dilshan was another product of Sri Lanka’s batting factory that’s produced some of the classiest and most prolific run-scorers of the past 20 years. Unforgiving on anything wayward outside off stump, Dilshan’s trademark slash though backward point sounded like the crack of a Jackaroo’s whip when it pierced the infield. More accomplished at home than abroad, Dilshan expressed himself with attacking stroke play, athletic fielding and interesting facial hair designs.

Best Performance: Another Lord’s effort, but against an England side at the peak of their powers on foreign soil it’s hard to go past Dilshan’s 193 in 2011. After conceding 485 in the first innings, Sri Lanka’s captain led from the front, blasting 20 fours at a strike rate of more than 76 to get within seven of England’s total and escape the match with a draw.

72: Sourav Ganguly (Ind)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 81 Tests, 4,780 runs at 39.18

Part of a middle-order that was chock-full of Indian batting royalty, Ganguly’s princely presence at the crease sometimes belied his uncompromising attitude. That was best on display after he took over the captaincy in 2000 and went on to prove himself as one of his country’s finest leaders. As a batsman, he was at his best piercing the off-side field, and while his dealings in off-field politics occasionally detracted from his on-field feats, many Indian fans remember him as one of their country’s finest batsmen.

Best Performance: Ganguly stood up as skipper and made a hundred on a bouncy Brisbane wicket in the opening Test of the 2003-04 series against Australia, but his career-best 239 against Pakistan in Bangalore in 2007 was an innings to savour, coming as it did with the hosts at 4-61 and not long after a period in which he’d been left out of the side altogether.

71: Steven Smith (Aus)

Key numbers (from Jan 1, 2000): 28 matches, 2,587 runs at 56.23

It's hard to imagine Smith made his debut as a 21-year-old leg-spinner batting at No.8. Now, the blond Sydneysider is arguably the form batsman in the world having just peeled off 199 against the West Indies – his fifth ton in his last six matches. While it took a couple of goes to cement his position in Australia’s middle order, Smith’s last two years have reaped nine centuries, the Test captaincy and an Allan Border Medal. Technically unorthodox, it’s staggering just how good the 26-year-old is and could be.

Best Performance: On a spicy Centurion deck facing Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, Smith played a chanceless, authoritative innings of 100 that will be remembered by all those who witnessed it as a batting masterclass. Relentless on anything overpitched or dropped short, Smith handled the extreme pace and rearing bounce with aplomb in a knock beyond his years.

Counting down: 100-91

Counting down: 90-81