10 best Worcestershire cricketers of all time

English cricket's domestic scene has been thriving for more than a century and one of the better-known counties is Worcestershire, which has produced plenty of excellent cricketers over the years. Some of the well-known players in English cricket have represented Worcestershire during their careers.

The count has won 5 County Championships in its history that dates back to 1865 (joined the county championship in 1899) and has been a vital part of the English domestic game ever since. Here is a look at 10 of their best cricketers.

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#10 Ted Arnold

Back row (left-right): Colin Blythe, Ted Arnold, Gilbert Jessop, Jack Crawford, Len Braund

He might have played only 10 test matches for England but Devon-born all-rounder Ted Arnold is one of the most influential figures in Worcestershire's cricketing history. He played for his adopted country from 1899 to 1913 and for most of his career, Arnold was the most influential player in the team.

In fact, his performances with both the bat and the ball largely helped Worcestershire with their promotion to the county championship in 1899. In 343 first-class games, he took more than a thousand wickets and scored almost 16 thousand runs. In international cricket, Arnold was an important member of the team that won the Ashes in 1903-04.

#9 Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi

Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi

The Nawab of Pataudi wasn't even born in England but his stellar performances for Oxford University saw him play for England and then for India. However, in the annals of Worcestershire's cricketing history, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi remains a shining light and scored heavily for the county throughout his career that spanned the years between 1932 and 1938.

Pataudi was a fine stroke maker and managed to score a hundred in the six Test matches he was selected in, however, he was far more prolific for Worcestershire. In 127 first-class games, Pataudi scored 8750 runs at an excellent average of 48.61 and hammered 29 centuries. In fact, it was after his superb show for Worcestershire in the 1933 season that helped him in winning back his place in the England side.

#8 Richard Illingworth

Richard Illingworth

He might be better known these days as an ICC elite panel umpire, but back in the day, Richard Illingworth was an excellent restrictive slow left-arm orthodox bowler for Worcestershire and also played for England on a handful of occasions. Illingworth wasn't the craftiest of spinners but he was doggedly accurate and induced risks from batsmen.

This trait made him a vital member of the English one day team that made it to the final of the 1992 World Cup. He played 25 one dayers and 9 Tests for England. His Worcestershire spanned 18 years and in a fruitful first-class career, he captured 831 wickets at an average of 31.54.

#7 Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali

England all-rounder Moeen Ali had started off at Warwickshire as a teenager but in 2006 (aged 19) he made the switch to Worcestershire and gradually, he has emerged as one of the best players to have ever represented the county. Ali has been with Worcestershire ever since and was instrumental in helping the club win promotion to the country championship back in 2010.

His elegant batting style, coupled with steady off-spin has seen him become an excellent all-rounder for England in all forms of the game and Ali is currently considered one of the world's top all-rounders. In 172 first-class games, he averages 38.46 and has notched up 19 hundreds. However, one can be sure that many more centuries are yet to come.

#6 Basil D'Oliveira

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He might be known for the 'Basil D'Oliveira affair' controversy but beyond that, there is far more to the man than that episode and during his distinguished career for Worcestershire, D'Oliveira emerged as one of the best all-rounders in England. He came to England at the age of 29 and by 33 he started playing for Worcestershire.

He was an attacking batsman, who could take the game to the bowlers and his accurate outswing bowling was very hard to score off on most occasions. He scored 5 centuries in 40 Tests for England between 1966 and 1972. In first-class cricket, he had an excellent record as well as he scored 45 centuries and picked up 551 wickets in a career spanning 16 years. He was, without a doubt, one of Worcestershire's finest.

#5 Ian Botham

Ian Botham at Worcestershire

If he had played for a long time for Worcestershire, then one of the England's greatest ever cricketers would certainly have been considered the greatest cricketer to play for the county. However, his stint with Worcestershire was restricted to a five-year spell towards the end of his career between 1987 and 1991.

However, Botham thrived during his time at Worcestershire and averaged almost 41 with the bat. On the bowling front, he averaged 42.04. The county did not taste any notable success during the period but did emerge triumphant in the Sunday league. He went on to join Durham after playing at Worcestershire for five seasons.

#4 Don Kenyon

Don Kenyon

Don Kenyon is Worcestershire's highest ever run scorer with a tally of 34,490 runs and is rightly regarded as one of the best players to have represented the county. Kenyon played for the side for 21 years between 1946 and 1967 and went on to captain Worcestershire as well.

Under his captaincy, the country won the county championships in 1964 and the following year, Worcestershire retained the title. He scored 74 first-class hundreds in all but his heroics did not translate into any great success when he played for England and Kenyon could only play in 8 Test matches, with a highest score of 87.

#3 Reg Perks

Reg Perks

Medium pacer Reg Perks is the most successful bowler in Worcestershire's history with a total of 2143 scalps in 595 games between 1930 and 1955. In first-class cricket, Perks averaged 24.07 as a bowler and was the leading bowler for Worcestershire for most of his career.

He was selected to play for England in 1939 but could only play two Test matches for his nation. The Second World War intervened just when he had been handed his debut and when international cricket resumed, he was 35 years old and no longer under consideration for selection to the team. Perks, however, continued to play for Worcestershire till 1955 and his record will probably stand for a long time.

#2 Norman Gifford

Norman Gifford

Left arm off spinner Norman Gifford may have been from Lancashire but it was with Worcestershire that he became one of the best spin bowlers in England in the 1960s and picked up 1615 wickets during his two-decade-long association with the country. Gifford's tally of 1615 wickets is the second highest in Worcestershire history.

He was also instrumental in Worcestershire's back to back triumphs in the county championships in the 1960s. Gifford also played 15 Test matches for England and claimed 33 wickets at a respectable average of 31.09. However, the emergence of Derek Underwood meant that he could no longer be the specialist spinner in the national team. He continued to excel for Worcestershire till 1982.

#1 Graeme Hick

Graeme Hick

Worcestershire's greatest ever player is Graeme Hick, who played for the county for 24 years from 1984 to 2008 and amassed 31149 runs. Hick was a run making machine in the English domestic circuit and if his first-class runs, List A runs and international runs are combined, then he is the most prolific run scorer in cricket history with a tally of 64,000.

He played 65 Tests for England as well but his career never really took off and he could never really nail down a spot in the side. Hick used to be dropped and then recalled to the side after having made heaps of runs for Worcestershire in first-class cricket. He scored 136 centuries in his first-class career and that stupendous tally places him at number 8 in the ranking of players with the most number of first-class centuries.