10 best players of all time from Warwickshire

Among the English first-class sides playing in the County Championships, Warwickshire, located in the area known as the Midlands, has been one of the most important as far as the domestic cricketing structure is concerned.

It gained first-class class status back in 1894, and since then, they have enjoyed a lot of success in English first-class cricket. Over the course of its history, the team has produced plenty of outstanding cricketers who have not only gone on to represent the county with distinction but have also been among some of the best players to have represented England in international cricket.

Here is a look at 10 of the best players of all time from Warwickshire.

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#Sydney Santall

Sydney Santall

Right arm medium pace bowler Sydney Santall played for Warwickshire for 22 years between 1892 and 1914 and emerged as one of the most successful bowlers in the history of the county. He was part of the team that helped Warwickshire get promoted back in 1894, and over the next two decades, was the rock of its bowling attack.

Santall topped the bowling charts several times in his career, picking up 1207 wickets during the course of his first-class career with Warwickshire. Santall played 374 first-class games in his career and averaged 23.97. While he did not go on to play for England, he remains one of Warwickshire's all-time greats.

#9 Bob Wyatt

Bob Wyatt

Former Warwickshire captain Bob Wyatt played for the county for 16 years (from 1923 to 1939) and within that period, emerged as one of the best batsmen in the English domestic circuit. He played 40 Tests for England, captaining the national side on a few occasions.

Wyatt was known for being a courageous batsman, who stood up to pace bowling even when there was a danger of bodily harm, an attribute that was particularly on show when he played for the national side. In his first-class career for Warwickshire, he scored a staggering 21,687 over the course of his career, slamming 51 centuries to go down in the county's history as one of its finest.

#8 Ashley Giles

Ashley Giles

The former England left-arm spinner was an integral part of the national team's bowling attack in the early to mid-noughties, and in addition to that, had a superb 13-year career for Warwickshire in English domestic cricket.

Giles made his debut for the county in 1993, and finally nailed down a place in the side three years later. His accurate left arm off-spin helped Warwickshire win plenty of games throughout the course of his career and a tally of 539 wickets, at an average of 29.60 is ample proof of his contributions. He played 178 first-class games for the county and proved to be a useful lower order batsman as well. He averaged 26.33 and scored 3 centuries along with 22 half-centuries in his domestic first-class career.

#7 Frank Foster

Frank Foster

Had it not been for an accident that he suffered at the time of the first World War, former Warwickshire captain Frank Foster would certainly have further forged his reputation as one of the finest all-rounders to have played the game.

He made his first appearance for Warwickshire in 1908 and became one of the team's best players in the following years, before the accident cut his career short. Foster bowled left-arm medium pace and was regarded as an extremely skilful bowler, who could swing the ball into the batsmen and was also known to extract awkward bounce.

He played 159 first-class games and picked up 717 wickets at an outstanding average of 20.75. On the other hand, Foster's attacking batsmanship saw him pile up 6548 runs, at an average of 26.51. Foster's highest score was a brilliant 305 against Worcestershire in 1914.

#6 Mike Smith

Mike Smith bats

Warwickshire poached Mike Smith from Leicestershire in 1957 and made him the captain of the team due to his prolific run-scoring in English domestic cricket. Over the next 18 years, Smith went on to become one of the pillars of the county team and ended up with a remarkable tally of 27,672 first-class runs for Warwickshire, to end up the 3rd highest run scorer in the history of the county.

Smith averaged 41.84 in first-class cricket and scored in excess of 2000 runs plenty of times in his career. He compiled a total of 69 first-class centuries in his career.

He played 50 Test matches for England as well but could not reach the same heights due to an apparent weakness against genuinely quick bowlers.

#5 Jonathan Trott

Jonathan Trott

Although his international career ended in unfortunate circumstances, Jonathan Trott was a top order rock of one of the finest England teams in recent years and he had also been one of Warwickshire's best players since 2002.

He scored 245 in his first game for the second XI and then followed it up with a century on debut for the Warwickshire first team. He scored heavily over the next few years and the run glut eventually got him the call-up to the England team.

In 258 first-class games, Trott scored 43 hundreds, averaging 44.43, and remains one of the greatest batsmen in the modern history of Warwickshire.

#4 Nick Knight

Nick Knight

Former England batsman and now commentator Nick Knight might be known more for being a swashbuckling opening batsman in one-day cricket but was one of Warwickshire's best players for many years.

Knight started off his career at Essex but after four years at the county, he switched to Warwickshire in 1995, and over the next eleven years, became the county's leading batsman. In 240 first-class games in his career, he scored 16,172 runs at an excellent average of 44.18 and compiled 40 centuries.

Knight was also the captain of Warwickshire for two years between 2003 and 2005, and it was during his reign that they won the County Championships (2004).

#3 Ian Bell

Ian Bell

Former England stalwart Ian Bell may have been dismissed for a duck on his debut for Warwickshire back in 1999 but over the course of his first-class career that has stretched over a period of 18 years, he has emerged as one of the county's best ever top-order batsmen.

Bell's excellent technique, coupled with his exquisite stroke-making, made him one of England's batting pillars for more than a decade and the same qualities were on show when he played for Warwickshire. In his first-class career, Bell has, till date, played 292 games and scored in excess of 19000 runs, at an average of 43.37. In addition to it, he also scored 51 centuries.

#2 Dennis Amiss

Dennis Amiss

Dennis Amiss's record for England in Test cricket was one of the best among his contemporaries and for Warwickshire, he was in a different league altogether, ending up as the highest run scorer in the history of the county.

He first played for Warwickshire in 1960 and continued to play for the next 27 years, in a career that produced a remarkable tally of 35,146 runs. Amiss was an attacking batsman, who was at ease against both spin and pace and had the ability to score on both sides of the wicket.

His run-scoring in first-class cricket was quite extraordinary and a total of 102 first-class hundreds is proof of his prowess as a batsman. Amiss averaged 42.86 and remained one of England's leading batsmen for the most part of his career.

#1 Bob Willis

Bob Willis

With a haul of 325 wickets in 90 Test matches, Bob Willis was one of the greatest fast bowlers to have represented England. In the domestic circuit, he was a star for Warwickshire for 12 years (1972 to 1984).

Willis started off his career at Surrey in 1969, but moved to Warwickshire after a couple of years, emerging as a hugely influential member of the team. Willis's pace and the gift of extracting swing and seam movement made him an extremely difficult bowler to face and it is evident from his record in first-class cricket.

In 308 first-class games, Willis picked up a staggering 899 wickets and averaged only 24.99. He was one of Warwickshire's most important players for the majority of his first-class career.