Welcome to the Guardian’s 100 best players in the history of the men’s Ashes

This week we will be publishing a run-down of our 51 judges’ greatest Ashes cricketers in the buildup to this year’s series opener on 21 November. Here’s how we did itThe 100 greatest men’s Ashes cricketers of all timeMark Waugh or Steve? Greg or Ian Chappell? Will it be England’s sepia-tinted Sydney F Barnes, the grumpy and moustachioed Jimmy Anderson of his day, or Australia’s Sidney G Barnes, an eccentric batter in the 1948 touring Invincibles?Does Ivo Bligh’s place in Ashes folklore merit inclusion even if his 10.33 batting average wouldn’t get him in a village XI? Where do you place the legend of WG Grace in an all-time reckoning? And how do you weigh up Don Bradman’s astonishing statistics against the era in which he batted? Continue reading...

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