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Successful cricketers come in all shapes and sizes, though certain physical attributes can play a part in their performance. A taller stature is cricket is helpful especially for bowlers and fielders, as there are advantages in generating bounce, pace, and fielding capabilities.

Most Tall Players are Bowlers

The tallest ever to play international cricket is Pakistani pacer Mohammed Irfan at 7'1" (216 cm), with bowling greats Joel Garner 6'8" (203 cm) and Stuart Broad 6'4" also among the tallest. South African Marco Jansen is currently the tallest active player.

The advantage of tall players is that they can generate extra bounce and pace. With a higher release point, tall bowlers can create awkward angles and make it challenging for batsmen to predict the ball's trajectory, leading to increased effectiveness, particularly for fast bowlers.

What About Tall Batsmen?

Successful batters are found at all heights, with some of the greats being short in stature. For example, Sachin Tendulkar stands at 5'5'', while Sunil Gavaskar is 5'2" and Don Bradman was just 5'8". Short stature batsmen have a lower center of gravity, which can contribute to better balance and agility at the crease.

There are still some batsmen and all-rounders on the tall player list. A taller stature might provide a batsman with a longer reach, longer levers for generating bat speed, and potentially enabling them to handle deliveries that shorter players might find challenging. The tallest batsman in this list is West Indian Jason Holder at 6’7” (201cm), just surpassing Australian Tom Moody at 6’6¾” (200cm).

List of the Tallest International Cricket Players Ever

Data Source: the height data for most players was taken from the player's profile on Wikipedia (Oct 2022), with additional information found elsewhere.

* Tom Moody is listed as 198cm tall on Wikipedia, though in an interview on ABC radio in 2023 he stated he was actually 200cm, so that value has been used.

Author: Written by Rob Wood, with extra research and image design by Casper Wood

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• The Tallest Olympic Athletes
• Sport Specific Anthropometry — about body size and composition of many sports.
• Procedure for measuring Height
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