Stats: Cricketers with longest international careers

Wilfred Rhodes(C) with his England teammates. Rhodes’s career spanned over 30 years.

When the great Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013, it was an emotional moment not just for the cricketers, but for his millions and billions of fans who had watched him play for over 24 years. He played for so long, and remained on top for so long that it was hard to imagine the sport without him for many of his fans.

Despite its longevity, Sachin’s career is the 5th longest in the history of cricket. Though the man played more than 10 times the matches than any other cricketer in the top 10 of this list.

The great Wilfred Rhodes’s career was the longest, stretching over 30 years, but also featured the break due to the First World War which lasted from 1914 to 1918.

Player	From	To	Matches	Span
Wilfred Rhodes(Eng)	1 Jun 1899	12 Apr 1930	58	30y 315d
Brian Close(Eng)	23 Jul 1949	13 Jul 1976	25	26y 356d
Frank Woolley(Eng)	9 Aug 1909	22 Aug 1934	64	25y 13d
George Headley(WI)	11 Jan 1930	21 Jan 1954	22	24y 10d
Sachin Tendulkar(IND)	15 Nov 1989	16 Nov 2013	664	24y 1d
John Traicos(SA/Zim)	5 Feb 1970	25 Mar 1993	34	23y 48d
Sir Jack Hobbs(Eng)	1 Jan 1908	22 Aug 1930	61	22y 233d
George Gunn(Eng)	13 Dec 1907	12 Apr 1930	15	22y 120d
Sydney Gregory(SA)	21 Jul 1890	22 Aug 1912	58	22y 32d
Freddie Brown(Eng)	29 Jul 1931	30 Jun 1953	22	21y 336d

Note: Stats updated till 20th June, 2014.