it is easy to forget that before T20 Chris Gayle there was Test match Chris Gayle.Before playing in his first T20 match in September 2005, Gayle had played 52 Tests with a batting average of just under 40, and just four months earlier he had amassed a 10-and-a-half hour 317 against South Africa. While in November 2010, Gayle belted Sri Lanka to the tune of 333 in a Test at Galle.Records continued to fall to his broad bat - a 30-ball T20 century for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, and in 2015 he scored the first World Cup double century, making him the first player to achieve the triumvirate of a Test 300, ODI 200 and T20I 100.89) Bill PonsfordPonsford wielded a heavy bat which was fondly-termed Big Bertha because of its 2lb 10oz weight, and playing in just his third first-class game he batted for eight hours to score 429 for Victoria against Tasmania at Melbourne in 1923 and set a new record individual score. Bill Ponsford (L) was Australias run machine before the arrival of Don Bradman In December 1927, he faced Queensland and became the only batsman to better his own world record, scoring 437. He then followed it up with 202 against New South Wales later that month and as 1928 dawned, he hit 336 against South Australia, to total a staggering 1,013 runs in four innings.He scored centuries in each of his first two Tests but he later struggled later in his career against the pace of Harold Larwood. By the time the England tour of 1930 took place, Ponsford had been replaced as the number one run-machine by Don Bradman, but signed off from international cricket in the grandest of styles, striking 266 at The Oval in his final Test in 1934.Ponsford was also a great baseball talent, playing as shortstop and later as a catcher. In 1925, he became the captain of the Victorian team, and was chosen as centre fielder in three matches between Australia and United States Pacific Fleet.88) Alan KnottKent have been fortunate throughout their history to have had some of the most talented keepers in English cricket history. From Frederick Huish to Les Ames to Godfrey Evans, Alan Knott was the natural successor. England wicketkeeper Alan Knott taking a terrific diving catch at The Oval Like so many keepers, he was an eccentric - he was said to have stuffed raw steaks into his wicket keeping gloves to add extra cushioning from the hard cricket ball and he also used to wrap his legs in a duvet while driving so that they kept warm. In the winter he trained regularly with Charlton Athletic football club, and also used to spend hours playing table tennis to maintain his reflexes.When England regained the Ashes in 1970-71, Knott was pivotal in the triumph, with five catches and a stumping in the decisive seventh Test match at Sydney. And as Lillee and Thomson pulverised the English batsmen on their tour of Australia in 1974-5, Knott stood fearlessly against the onslaught, scoring 364 runs, with three fifties and 106 at Adelaide.87) Rahul DravidFor pretty much all his career he was overshadowed by the more famous, showier batsmen around him. Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VS Laxman appeared to have greater natural ability, but over the course of Dravids 164 Tests he ended up facing more deliveries than any other batsman in history - 31,258 of them! Indias Rahul Dravid was given the nickname of The Wall for his great patience shown at the crease He scored Test centuries in 15 successive years from 1997-2011 and only missed by five runs in 1996 when he was dismissed for 95 on his Test debut - again overshadowed by Ganguly who scored 131. Five years later when VVS Laxmans 281 orchestrated the Miracle at Kolkata, Dravid weighed in with 180 of his own.Ironically, his nickname The Wall came from an ad campaign for Reebok in the early 2000s, but despite that reputation, he still scored more than ten thousand ODI runs at a respectable strike rate of 71.24.86) Derek UnderwoodAugust 27, 1968, was the date that sealed Derek Underwoods reputation as one of the greatest cricketers of his era. Rain had flooded the Oval and England captain Colin Cowdrey implored the groundsmen to somehow get the outfield dry. At 2.15pm he used the ground PA system to beg assistance from the crowd and incredibly at 4.45pm play restarted with England having 75 minutes to take the remaining five Australian wickets. Derek Underwood of England appeals for one of his 297 Test wickets Almost as a last throw of the dice, the unlikely Basil DOliveira made the breakthrough and then it was down to Underwood. He took the last four wickets for six runs in 27 deliveries as England sealed a memorable victory with just six minutes to spare.If that was the defining moment of Underwoods career, there were plenty which ran it close. He was the youngest player to take 100 wickets in his first season and reached 1,000 first-class wickets at the age of just 25. In 1974 he took 13-71 in the match against Pakistan at Lords and ended his Test career with 297 wickets - the most by any England spinner.However, the achievement which possibly gave him the most joy was his only first-class century which came against Sussex at Hastings in 1984. He had come in as night-watchman on the Saturday evening, took 6-12 in the Sunday League game the following day, and continued his innings to three figures on the Monday. 100 Greatest: 100-91 See the cricketers who were picked from 100-91 in Benedicts 100 Greatest list. 85) Monty NobleAustralian Monty Noble is most often mentioned as the answer to the trivia question regarding the first - and so far, only - player to hit the ball over the current Lords Pavilion. That batsman was Albert Trott, but the bowler in question was Noble.That isolated feat somewhat detracts from the fact that Noble was one of the greatest all-rounders ever produced by Australia. The 27 matches it took him to reach the 1,000 run and 100 wicket double in Test cricket is fewer than the likes of Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan and Keith Miller, among others. Monty Noble reached 1,000 runs and 100 Test wickets in fewer games than Pakistans Imran Khan (pictured) On his Test debut at Melbourne in 1898, Noble was so disappointed after shouldering arms to be bowled by Tom Richardson that he promptly made amends with the ball, taking 6-49 in Englands second innings to bowl the hosts to an innings victory. However, his greatest Test achievement was taking 7-17 and 6-60 against a strong England side at Melbourne in January 1902 to seal a 229-run victory.Starting off his working life as a banker, Noble subsequently qualified as a dentist, so he could work flexible hours around his cricket.84) Hanif MohammadFor a great deal of his life Hanif Mohammad held the records for both the highest and longest individual innings. At the time of his death, earlier this year, he had to be content with second place in both lists. On January 11, 1959, playing for Karachi against Bahawalpur in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy semi-final Hanif passed Don Bradmans unbeaten 452 to register the highest first-class score in cricket history. Hanif Mohammad bats for Pakistan against England at Trent Bridge in 1967 With two balls left of the third day he was on 498, but the ground scoreboard had not updated, and showed his score as 496 instead. He played the ball past point, and after completing the first run, decided to go for the second, intending to keep the strike, and was run out by more than a yard.Almost exactly a year earlier he had batted for more than 16 hours to save the six-day Bridgetown Test against the West Indies with an epic innings of 337 - made when Pakistan were asked to follow-on. At the end of day three Hanif was unbeaten on 61, moved onto 161 at the end of the fourth day and 270 at the end of the fifth, before falling 27 runs short of Len Huttons then Test record of 364.83) Learie ConstantineIn the case of Learie - later, Baron - Constantine, it was about far more than the cricket. He was born the grandson of one slave brought to South America from West Africa and the great-grandson of another. Yet he ascended to become the first black Peer of the United Kingdom. Learie Constantine, the famous West Indian cricketer, pictured bowling His first tour of England was in 1923, before the West Indies achieved Test status, but it was on their first full tour in 1928 that he made his name, scoring 1,381 runs, taking 107 wickets and snaring 33 catches in the field - a towering presence on a tour which saw the tourists lose all three Tests by an innings. He was subsequently instrumental in the West Indies first Test victory over England, which came at Georgetown in 1930 when he took nine wickets.Constantine also spent 12 years playing for Nelson in the Lancashire League, helping them to the championship in seven of those years. At the same time he studied Law and was called to the Bar in 1954. He was elected an MP in his Trinidad homeland and subsequently acted as the High Commissioner for Trinidad & Tobago in London.82) Allan DonaldAllan Donald reached his peak at the right time - just as South Africa were welcomed back into the international fraternity. However, his Test debut proved a chastening one. In South Africas first Test back at Bridgetown in April 1992 he took 4-77 in the West Indies second innings to ensure South Africas target was an achievable 201.At 122-2 at the end of day four they were cruising, but Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh had other ideas. The final eight wickets clattered for just 25 runs the following morning with Donald the last man out - bowled first ball by Ambrose. Allan Donald (R) pictured during his famous battle with Michael