To mark the 50th anniversary of overseas players coming to county cricket in large numbers, we’ve asked an expert on each county to pick their top three for that club. Yorkshire CCC chairman Steve Denison chooses them for his side.
1. DARREN LEHMANN
Australia (1997-2006)
It wasn’t just the runs that Boof accumulated; it was the attacking way he scored them. I’ll never forget the excitement of watching him bat. He played for Yorkshire for seven seasons between 1997 and 2006 and was our most influential player. He scored over 14,000 runs, including 8,871 at 68.76 in first-class cricket.
When Yorkshire won their first Championship title for 33 years in 2001, he scored 1,416 runs at an average of 83.29. Lehmann’s innings of 339 during his final game for the club helped Yorkshire avoid relegation by a single point and is the highest individual first-class score Headingley. His highest one-day score of 191 is also a Yorkshire record.
2. JACQUES RUDOLPH
South Africa (2007-2011)
Rudolph spent five seasons with Yorkshire, scoring over 9,000 runs, including 861 one-day runs at 95.66 in 2010.
3. SACHIN TENDULKAR
India (1992)
Tendulkar ended 129 years of selecting only from those born in the county when he became Yorkshire’s first overseas player at the age of 19 in 1992.
