Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Tests between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a "rebel" Australian team in a tour of South Africa, who at the time were subject to a sporting boycott.

A right-handed batsman, Hughes was seen to possess an orthodox and attractive batting style. Hughes was identified as a potential Test cricketer from an early age but his impetuous style of batting and personality clashes with influential team mates and opponents such as Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh saw a later introduction to first-class and Test cricket than anticipated. During the split between the establishment Australian Cricket Board and the breakaway World Series Cricket, Hughes was the highest profile player to stay with the establishment.

Hughes' captaincy record with Australia was hindered by a succession of matches away from home (just seven of his 28 Tests while captain were played in Australia) and an inexperienced team rebuilding itself after the frequent absence and later retirement of several of senior players. Placed under extreme pressure by the media and former team mates during a series of losses to then dominant cricket team in the world, West Indies, Hughes made an emotional and tearful speech, resigning from the captaincy. He finished his career playing cricket in South Africa.

Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born into a cricketing family—his grandfather and brother also captained Australia—Chappell made a hesitant start to international cricket playing as a right-hand middle-order batsman and spin bowler. He found his niche when promoted to bat at number three. Known as "Chappelli", he earned a reputation as one of the greatest captains the game has seen. Chappell's blunt verbal manner led to a series of confrontations with opposition players and cricket administrators; the issue of sledging first arose during his tenure as captain and he was a driving force behind the professionalisation of Australian cricket in the 1970s.

John Arlott called him, "a cricketer of effect rather than the graces". An animated presence at the batting crease, he constantly adjusted his equipment and clothing, and restlessly tapped his bat on the ground as the bowler ran in. Basing his game on a sound defence learned during many hours of childhood lessons, Chappell employed the drive and square cut to full effect. He had an idiosyncratic method of playing back and across to a ball of full length and driving wide of mid on, but his trademark shot was the hook, famously saying "three bouncers an over should be worth 12 runs to me". A specialist slip fielder, he was the fourth player to take one hundred Test catches.

Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE (born 24 November 1955) is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy". While a controversial player both on and off the field at times, Botham also held a number of Test cricket records, and still holds the record for the highest number of wickets taken by an England bowler.

He is generally regarded as being England's greatest ever all-rounder, particularly in Test cricket, although having earned celebrity status, his award of a knighthood was ostensibly in recognition of his services to charity.

Just like fellow cricketers Jim Cumbes and Arnold Sidebottom, Botham was also a talented footballer, and made 11 appearances in the Football League.

On 8 August 2009, Botham was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Botham was born in Heswall on the Wirral, to Herbert Leslie Botham (who worked for Westland) and Violet Marie, née Collett (a nurse). Both his parents played cricket. He went to Milford Junior School in Yeovil, Somerset, where his "love affair" with sport began, and played for Somerset Under-15s. He left Bucklers Mead Comprehensive School at the age of 15 without completing his GCSEs, intent on playing cricket for Somerset, although he also had an offer to play football for Crystal Palace F.C. From an early age he was always single-minded. When informed that Botham wanted to be a sportsman, the Careers Mistress at his school said to him, "Fine, everyone wants to play sport, but what are you really going to do?" (interviewed BBC Radio 4's Fiona Glover, 20 November 2010, Saturday Live).

Graham Neil Yallop (born 7 October 1952) is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia briefly during the tumultuous era of World Series Cricket (WSC) in the late 1970s. A technically correct left-handed batsman, Yallop invariably batted near the top of the order for Australia during a stop-start career that began in 1975–76 against the West Indies. In 1978, Yallop made history as the first player to wear a full helmet in a Test match. He also enjoyed a long and successful career with his home state Victoria, leading them to two Sheffield Shield titles. Yallop remains the "forgotten" captain of Australia, as his profile is considerably less than contemporaries such as the Chappell brothers and Allan Border. More than any other Australian player, Yallop suffered from the chaos of the WSC split.

Aged 23, Yallop made his Test debut against the 1975–76 West Indians at Sydney. Several of his teammates were upset that an out of form Rick McCosker had been left out to accommodate Yallop and promptly ignored him. Against the wishes of the selectors, captain Greg Chappell batted Yallop at number three, ahead of both Ian and Greg Chappell, using the rationale that McCosker batted there. Still, Yallop put his head down to make the most of the opportunity, playing the last three Tests of the series and averaging 44. Then, inexplicably, he was dumped for the first time, but by no means the last.

Allan Robert Border AM (born 27 July 1955) is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh. Border still retains the world record for the number of consecutive Test appearances of 153 and the number of Tests as captain. He was primarily a left hand batsman but also achieved sporadic success as a part time left arm orthodox spinner. Border amassed 11,174 Test runs (a world record until it was passed by Brian Lara in 2005). He hit 27 centuries in his Test career. He retired as Australia's most capped player and leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs. His Australian record for Test Match runs stood for 15 years before Ricky Ponting overtook him during the Third Ashes Test against England in July 2009.

Border was one of the 55 inaugural inductees of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Born in Cremorne, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Border grew up with three brothers in the nearby suburb of Mosman. His father John, from Coonamble in rural New South Wales, was a wool classer and his mother Sheila was the proprietor of a corner store. The family had a spacious backyard for playing games, and Mosman Oval, the home of district cricket and baseball clubs, was across the street. Border attended North Sydney Boys High School, and earned his leaving certificate in 1972.