GOAT Rank · 26

Greatest Cricket athletes of the 1970s

This ranking uses verified career records and GOAT Rank's published model. Every listed athlete clears the data eligibility threshold.

#AthleteGOAT Score

20

90.5

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1976–1996
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Allan Border

28

90.2

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1971–1993
Country: 🏴 West Indies

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Viv Richards

32

90.0

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1979–2000
Country: 🇳🇿 New Zealand

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Debbie Hockley

41

Malcolm Marshall

89.5

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1977–1996
Country: 🇧🇧 Barbados

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 92.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Malcolm Marshall

52

88.8

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1977–1992
Country: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Ian Botham

56

88.7

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1973–1997
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Graham Gooch

60

88.5

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1970–1984
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Greg Chappell

85

87.9

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1971–1992
Country: 🇵🇰 Pakistan

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Imran Khan

90

87.9

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1974–1993
Country: 🇯🇲 West Indies

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Jeff Dujon

94

Michael Holding

87.5

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1972–1989
Country: 🇯🇲 Jamaica

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Michael Holding

98

87.4

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1975–1993
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: David Gower

100

87.3

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1971–1987
Country: 🇮🇳 India

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Sunil Gavaskar

112

87.0

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1972–1990
Country: 🇳🇿 New Zealand

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Richard Hadlee

119

87.0

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1972–1994
Country: 🇿🇦 South Africa

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Jimmy Cook

121

86.8

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1975–1993
Country: 🇵🇰 Pakistan

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Abdul Qadir

126

86.6

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1975–1994
Country: 🇮🇳 India

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Kapil Dev

130

86.5

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1975–1996
Country: 🇵🇰 Pakistan

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Javed Miandad

149

85.7

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1974–1993
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Terry Alderman

236

82.2

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1971–1987
Country: 🇳🇿 New Zealand

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Jeremy Coney

237

82.1

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1971–1985
Country: 🇵🇰 Pakistan

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Wasim Raja

239

82.1

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1971–1995
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Nigel Briers

240

82.1

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1972–1990
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Alan Butcher

249

Phil Bainbridge

81.7

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1977–1993
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Phil Bainbridge

260

80.6

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1979–2005
Country: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 United Kingdom

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 66.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Kim Barnett

277

77.8

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1975–1996
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 66.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 66.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: John Childs

279

76.5

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1978–1992
Country: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

Peak: 82.0
Dominance: 70.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 70.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Jonathan Agnew

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
20	Allan Border	Cricket	🇦🇺 Australia	1976–1996	90.5
28	Viv Richards	Cricket	🏴 West Indies	1971–1993	90.2
32	Debbie Hockley	Cricket	🇳🇿 New Zealand	1979–2000	90
41	Malcolm Marshall	Cricket	🇧🇧 Barbados	1977–1996	89.5
52	Ian Botham	Cricket	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England	1977–1992	88.8
56	Graham Gooch	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1973–1997	88.7
60	Greg Chappell	Cricket	🇦🇺 Australia	1970–1984	88.5
85	Imran Khan	Cricket	🇵🇰 Pakistan	1971–1992	87.9
90	Jeff Dujon	Cricket	🇯🇲 West Indies	1974–1993	87.9
94	Michael Holding	Cricket	🇯🇲 Jamaica	1972–1989	87.5
98	David Gower	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1975–1993	87.4
100	Sunil Gavaskar	Cricket	🇮🇳 India	1971–1987	87.3
112	Richard Hadlee	Cricket	🇳🇿 New Zealand	1972–1990	87
119	Jimmy Cook	Cricket	🇿🇦 South Africa	1972–1994	87
121	Abdul Qadir	Cricket	🇵🇰 Pakistan	1975–1993	86.8
126	Kapil Dev	Cricket	🇮🇳 India	1975–1994	86.6
130	Javed Miandad	Cricket	🇵🇰 Pakistan	1975–1996	86.5
149	Terry Alderman	Cricket	🇦🇺 Australia	1974–1993	85.7
236	Jeremy Coney	Cricket	🇳🇿 New Zealand	1971–1987	82.2
237	Wasim Raja	Cricket	🇵🇰 Pakistan	1971–1985	82.1
239	Nigel Briers	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1971–1995	82.1
240	Alan Butcher	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1972–1990	82.1
249	Phil Bainbridge	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1977–1993	81.7
260	Kim Barnett	Cricket	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 United Kingdom	1979–2005	80.6
277	John Childs	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1975–1996	77.8
279	Jonathan Agnew	Cricket	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England	1978–1992	76.5

Compare the leaders

Allan Border vs Viv Richards

Read the full methodology

Sport lists use the raw In-Sport GOAT Score. Cross-sport lists use the official competition-depth adjustment. No scores are recalculated for this page.

Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is this ranking calculated?

Five verified components are weighted consistently: dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Who is included?

Only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible.

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