Zimbabwe is a country with a proud cricketing history, but who is the best of the best?

Some of the game’s great batsmen and bowlers hail from the country, with some truly world class talent calling Zimbabwe their home.

Picking the best five players from any nation is tough, and choosing the best to have played for Zimbabwe is no different. There is no shortage of world class talent to have made their mark on the game, but there are a few that really stand out.

Below, Promotioncodes.co.za brought together our top five Zimbabwean cricketers with each fully deserving of their place on our list.

Andy Flower

While each of the players on this list deserve a spot in the top five, Andy Flower is the racing certainty for the top of the list when it comes to the great Zimbabwean players.

Outrageous stats adorn his career across the formats of the game. In Tests, Flower played in 63 matches and scored 4794 runs, over 1000 more than the next name on the list.

With an average of 51.54, Flower ticks the box of averaging above 50, with this generally seen as a top entry point for the greats of the game.

Alongside this, he scored 12 centuries and boasts a top-score of 232 not out. In the One Day game, Flower also tops the charts with 6786 runs at 35.34. With Test and 50 over runs combined, Flower boasts over 10,000 runs for Zimbabwe.

Flower was one of the most technically gifted batsmen to ever play the game. Often, players can struggle against pace or spin, whereas Flower was able to get on top of any bowler and attack them.

This made him the ultimate run scorer for his country, and he must go down as one of the greatest players to ever play the game of cricket.

Heath Streak

While Andy Flower is the greatest batsman to ever come from Zimbabwe, Heath Streak is undoubtedly the best all-rounder to represent his nation.

Whether with bat or ball, Heath Streak would strike fear into the opposition. Throughout all three formats of the game, Streak could find the smallest amount of movement in the pitch, while he saw the cricket ball like a beach ball at times as he found the boundary rope with ease.

One century came alongside 24 fifties, with Streak notching 4891 runs in all three formats at 25.60. With the ball, Streak has no equal in Zimbabwean cricket. He secured 453 wickets across the formats, with 216 of these wickets coming into the longest format.

His wicket-taking ability is best displayed by the gap between himself and Ray Price in second. Price boasts a respectable 80 wickets for Zimbabwe in Tests, with Streak snaring almost three times that amount with 216 wickets.

It is possible that Streak’s wicket-taking record in the longest format for Zimbabwe will never be broken.

Grant Flower

Grant Flower is still seen as one of the best opening batsmen to play the Test game. Coming in to face the new ball is a task that few are cut out for.

While many of the greats of the game come in further down the order, they would not likely have been as prolific if they were not given some protection by a world class opener.

Flower provided runs and stability at the top of the order, boasting an impressive average of 29.54 in 67 Tests. While the 50.00 mark is often seen as the entry point for many of the great run scorers, opening is a brutal job that does not always result in runs.

After all, having to be good enough to face a fresh swinging ball on day one or a spinning ball that comes flying out of the foot holes on day four is the stuff of nightmares for many.

With 3457 runs in Tests across a 12-year spell, Grant Flower is a player few opening bowlers would want to see walking out to the middle. He is also one of only two players to have scored 10,000 combined runs across all three formats for Zimbabwe.

David Houghton

Despite only playing in 22 matches for his country, David Houghton has cemented his place on our list as one of the most technically gifted batsman Zimbabwe has ever produced.

A total of 1464 runs came in just 36 innings, with Houghton averaging 43.05. His top scorer of 266 is higher than that of even Andy Flower, with Houghton boasting Zimbabwe’s highest ever Test score.

Houghton’s numbers are impressive enough without even factoring in his century on debut against India.

Not content with taking the opposition bowlers to task with his own bat, he even looked to hand his expertise down to the next generation as he coached his nation following his own retirement.

Brendan Taylor

Wicket-keeper batsmen are a strange breed of player, with it often very difficult for a player to juggle keeping wicket and scoring runs, especially in the longest format of the game. Of course, there are many that have done it in style, with Brendan Taylor one such example.

Taylor began his Test career in 2004 and only retired in 2021, with 2320 runs coming in this time. With an average of 36.25 coming alongside six centuries, Taylor was able to do the hard part and score runs for a Zimbabwe side trying to tangle with the best in the modern game.

The one major milestone Talor just missed out on was becoming only the third Zimbabwe player to break through the 10,000-run mark across all three formats.

The Flowers remain the only two batsmen to have done this, with Taylor ultimately left stranded on 9938 runs. Despite this, Taylor has more than earned his place on our list.