Top 10 Players of all time from Victoria

The Australian domestic circuit has always been hugely competitive. In fact, the strength of the domestic scene has been one of the big reasons why the nation has been able to produce some of the finest cricketers ever to have played the game.

There are six states from which players are selected and among them, some have been more dominant than the others as far as representation in the national team is concerned.

New South Wales is widely regarded as the most dominant state in this regard, but the state of Victoria has also been a great supplier of world-class cricketers to the international stage.

Here is a look at the top 10 players from Victoria, who went on to represent the national team with distinction.

10. Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge averaged 55.88 in the 6 Tests he played and has a double hundred to his name, but the talented cricketer from Victoria could not forge an international career due to the immense riches in the Australian cricket team during the time that he was at his peak.

He debuted for Victoria in 1993-94 season and continued to play for them till 2012. Hodge was one of the most consistent batsmen to have played for the state and despite his heavy scoring, he found it difficult to force his way into the national team.

That said, he has had a remarkable career as a T20 and first-class cricketer, who travelled the world and scored runs everywhere. He is in fact, the highest run-scorer in first-class cricket for Victoria with a tally of 10474 runs.

There is no doubt that he could have been one of Australia's greats if he had been given more opportunities.

9. Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch

The current Australian opener in limited overs internationals is certainly one of the best One Day and T20 batsmen in the world at the moment.

Aaron Finch, who hails from Colac in Victoria, rose through the age-group ranks of the state and made his first-class debut for the state in 2007.

He has played 66 first class games for Victoria and although he has not always been able to make the team even when he was available to play, he did score a remarkable 288 not out against the visiting New Zealand side on a pitch that was deemed unsuitable (the match was abandoned).

That said, he remains one of Victoria's top representatives on the international stage.

8. Bill Woodfull

Bill Woodfull

Former Australian captain Bill Woodfull was one of Victoria's finest batsmen and had also captained the state during much of his career, emerging as one of its most important players.

Woodfull, who was a teacher by profession, was known for his unperturbed nature and the ability to remain calm in the face of extreme provocation. After all, he was the Australian captain during the infamous Bodyline series in 1932 and did not allow the game to descend into ignominy by restraining his bowlers from using similar tactics to those of the English.

He was an opening batsman for both Australia and Victoria and in his domestic career, scored 16 centuries for the state. Woodfull was particularly known for his patience and a solid defensive technique.

7. Bill Lawry

Bill Lawry

Bill Lawry was one of Australia's finest opening batsmen and was known for his dour defensive batting, which made him an incredibly difficult batsman to dismiss.

Lawry broke into the Victorian side in the 1955-56 season and although he had a disappointing start to his domestic career, his performances in the 1959-60 season (an average of 44.40) brought him into the limelight.

However, it was the mammoth 266, scored against bitter rivals New South Wales in the 1960-61 season, that earned him a call-up to the national team.

In a career in which saw him play 249 first-class games, Lawry scored runs at an average of 50.90, including 50 hundreds and 100 half centuries.

6. Peter Siddle

Peter Siddle

Peter Siddle was one of the most vital members of the Australian bowling arsenal for the better part of the last decade and his tireless accurate bowling, coupled with seam movement made him a particularly uncomfortable bowler to face.

He made his debut for the state in a tour game against the West Indies in 2005 and has been one of the state's most consistent performers as well.

The bulk of his 451 first-class wickets were taken in the games that he played for Victoria and as far as a roll call of great Victorian cricketers is concerned, Siddle will always be included.

5. Neil Harvey

Neil Harvey

Graceful stroke-making and superb fielding abilities made the left-handed middle-order batsman Neil Harvey one of Australia's best cricketers in the 1950s.

The Melbourne-born cricketer rose to prominence by scoring heavily for his home state Victoria in first-class cricket and in a career that spanned 306 first-class games, he stamped his class as one of the best servants of Victorian cricket.

Harvey scored 21699 runs and averaged 50.93 in his first-class career for Victoria. In addition to that, he scored 67 centuries and 94 half-centuries for Victoria, which makes him one of the greatest cricketers to have ever emerged from the state.

4. Merv Hughes

Merv Hughes

Merv Hughes was Australia's pace spearhead along with Craig McDermott in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He played 53 Tests for Australia during a period when the team were rising from their mid-1980s slump and the bulky Victorian helped them win a number of Test series' with his hostile fast bowling.

Born in Euroa, Victoria, Hughes first came to prominence with his performances for his home state in first-class cricket and remains the 6th highest wicket-taker in the history of the state's cricket team with 283 scalps to his name.

It is important to remember that despite being a regular for the national team, Hughes continued to play for Victoria whenever possible and hence his status as one of the state's finest is not one that is up for question.

3. Keith Miller

Keith Miller

Despite its brilliant success over the years, the one thing that the Australian cricket team cannot quite boast about is the presence of great all-rounders in their Test teams.

However, back in the 1940s and early to mid-1950s, they had one of the world's finest all-rounders in Victorian Keith Miller.

He was part of Don Bradman's famous Invincibles squad of 1948 that did not lose a single game in England.

Throughout his career, Miller showed the ability to turn the complexion of a game with either the bat or the ball. He remains one of the most famous and gifted cricketers to have emerged from the state but he was quite a maverick and went on to play for Victoria's arch-rivals New South Wales as well.

2. Dean Jones

Dean Jones

Victoria's second highest ever run scorer with a staggering tally of 9622 runs in 245 first class games, Dean Jones, also had an excellent international career for Australia.

Jones was one of the key players during Australia's great rebuilding in the mid-1980s under the captaincy of Allan Border and played a key role in their resurgence.

As a player for Victoria, his record speaks volumes and his highest first-class score of 324 not out for them, remains one of the finest innings ever played in Australian domestic cricket by a player from Victoria.

1. Shane Warne

Shane Warne

In Shane Warne, Victoria produced arguably the greatest spinner to have ever played the game and there is hardly any room for debate as to why Shane Warne is the greatest cricketer to have ever emerged from the state.

On 15th of February in the year 1991, Warne was handed his debut by Victoria and the very next year, he was selected in the Australian national team for the home series against India.

Throughout his career, Warne showed a remarkable ability to reinvent the art of leg spin bowling and bamboozled some of the best batsmen in the game.

He ended up with 708 Test wickets in 145 Tests in an international career spanning 15 years. He also took 293 wickets in 194 One-Day Internationals and will go down in history as not only Australia's greatest ever bowler, but also as Victoria's greatest ever cricketer.