The transition from first-class cricket to the relentless high pressure of the international level is a tough ask for any player; the battles in the mind are as critical as those on the field. Translating potential into consistent performance demands more than skill; it requires the kind of granite will that no first-class cricket experience can prepare you for. Making the move can be gut-wrenching as even some of the most gifted and celebrated players have found. In 10 of his first 12 innings, Shane Warne went wicketless or had to be content with just one, at a fraction under 50 per wicket. Matthew Hayden, after nearly seven years and 13 Tests, averaged 24.36 with the bat. But Warne rose from the depths of despair to emerge as one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Century, while Hayden has exorcised his demons to the point where he now elicits comparisons with Don Bradman. In a phenomenal last 22 months, Hayden's high-octane batsmanship has seen him amass 10 hundreds, three nineties and an 89 to aggregate 2365 runs at nearly 70.

A look through cricket history will reveal several like these two: undeniably world-class players who started slow and took their time stamping their class and consistency on the game. Presenting an XI of some of the game's more legendary late bloomers

Alan Davidson
Till Wasim Akram arrived, Davidson was the greatest left-arm fast bowler ever. Gliding in from 15 paces, he was classically side-on and bowled with fantastic control to tease and torment batsmen with his late swing. Yet, success was limited at the start. He made his debut against England in 1953 and got just eight wickets after playing all five Tests in the series. He was in and out of the Australian team and his first dozen Tests brought him just 16 wickets at 34.06; he did not even have a three-wicket haul till this point. It was only after his 6 for 34 at Johannesburg in the 1957-58 series that he zoomed toward greatness. Davidson retired with 186 wickets from 44 Tests at 20.53.

Garry Sobers
"The Greatest" in almost everybody's estimation for his multi-dimensional skills. But Sobers, too, had humble beginnings. Just 17 when he made his Test debut, he was more of a bowler when he started out; yet he captured a mere 35 wickets in his first 45 Tests at an unflattering 46.31. Remarkably though, in his next 48 Tests he took 200 wickets. As a batsman, too, Sobers had to struggle: after 13 Tests he had a sub-30 average, and after 16 Tests was still without a hundred. When the first one came, a good four years after his debut, it was a monumental 365 not out. The fact that Sobers achieved success relatively late is quite staggering when you consider his career-ending average (57.78) and tally of hundreds (26) – the most centuries anyone had made till then, bar the peerless Bradman.

Imran Khan
Erratic in his early years, he went wicketless on debut and was promptly out of the side for three years. He returned to play three Tests, but his five wickets at the prohibitive cost of 62.60 saw him forced into another two-year period of oblivion. It was Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket (WSC) that shaped Imran as a fast bowler. Mike Procter worked on his run-up and John Snow corrected his left shoulder action to help his out-swing. Imran became lethal, especially with his in-dipping yorkers. He blossomed both as a batsman and bowler in the second half of his 21-year career. In his last eight Tests he had scores of 136, 82 not out, 73 not out, 58 not out and 93 not out, and though injuries and his participation in WSC limited his bowling opportunities in Tests, he still finished with 362 wickets at 22.81.

Richard Hadlee
Three wickets from as many Tests at over 119 apiece, and 10 from five Tests at over 51 are not figures that indicate potential greatness. It was after three interrupted years in international cricket that the first signs of Hadlee's talent became visible: a paralysing 11-for-58 burst against India at the Basin Reserve in 1975-76, after he was included as fourth seamer. The transformation came after he spent hundreds of hours dissecting and digesting Dennis Lillee on video. Hadlee turned into a fast-medium robot, gnawing at batsmen with swing and cut served up with unerring accuracy. His career took an upswing in the 1977-78 series against England and since then he took an incredible 34 five-fors in 69 Tests before retiring. Hadlee's Comet left a brilliant trail: a then Test-record 431 wickets at 22.30

Graham Gooch
A traumatic pair on debut followed by six and 31 in his next Test forced Gooch into the wilderness for three years. After 18 Tests, his track record remained pedestrian, with an average of a little over 28. For a batsman who ended with 20 Test hundreds and as England's top run-getter, the maiden hundred came after an agonising wait of five years and 22 Tests. It was only as late as his 79th Test that his batting average touched 40 to trigger a bull-run: a 12-innings burst of mayhem in which he raked a triple-century, three hundreds and three 80-plus knocks besides three half-centuries. With an ultra-heavy bat held upright in stance position, Gooch bludgeoned bowlers with drives and cuts. Few had the kind of success he had against the West Indian quicks. In fact, none have the kind of career stats Gooch does: he is cricket's most prolific scorer in one-dayers and first-class cricket combined.

Dilip Vengsarkar
Raising visions of a reincarnation of CK Nayudu for the way he toyed with Bishan Bedi and EAS Prasanna in their pomp in an Irani Trophy game, Vengsarkar arrived on the international arena as a 19-year-old collegian. But he plodded through 18 Test innings for 350 runs at an average of under 21 that only invited derision. Time and again he fell caught behind. It was only in his fourth series that he scored his first half-century, and in his 30th innings that he got the first of his 17 Test hundreds. But even in his failures there was no doubting his talent, which later earned him the tag of the world's No. 1 batsman for a while. Between 1986 and 1988, Vengsarkar scored eight hundreds in 16 Tests and finished his career as India's most prolific scorer after Sunil Gavaskar.

Malcolm Marshall
Picked as West Indies' fourth-choice fast bowler following the WSC exodus, Marshall seemed as short of confidence and class in his early days as he was of physical stature. He took 13 wickets at 49.00 in his first six Tests and in 22 of his first 28 innings his figures ranged between zero and two wickets. But when he matured, he turned into one of the most threatening pacemen in history. After just one five-for in 21 Tests, he got 11 in the next 14 Tests. Marshall intimidated batsmen right from the start of his explosive run-up. He swung the ball either way at great pace, and had a lethal bouncer that smashed noses, teeth and reputations – and once even partially blinded a batsman. His 376 wickets came at a strike-rate of under 47 and a sub-21 average – ranking him second among bowlers who have taken 200 wickets.

Martin Crowe
Crowe made his Test debut aged 19 in Australia but was then far from the batsman who later drew comparisons to Greg Chappell. Crowe averaged under 10 in his first four Tests and his first 13 innings had seven single-digit dismissals and not a single half-century, for an average of 15.08. He was classical and correct, but though he always had time to play his wide range of strokes, he took time finding his feet in the international arena. Once he did, however, he established himself as one of the finest batsmen of his time, scoring big hundreds and exhibiting a fair degree of consistency against all teams. But for a litany of health-related problems – troublesome knee and back, torn hamstring and fractured shin – he would have ended with far better than an average of 45-plus and 17 hundreds.

Steve Waugh
Waugh was impetuous, over-aggressive and unrefined as a callow 20-year old debutant. He averaged 7.40 with the bat in his first five innings and had just one half-century and an average of 16.67 from nine Tests. His bowling had its limitations, but it helped him survive when he struggled with his batting. His technique needed correcting: stiff knees cramped his movements, leading to mistimed shots. Bob Simpson helped with Waugh's rehab, but it took four long years all the same. The first of his 28 Test hundreds came in his 27th match, on the 1989 Ashes tour – 177 not out. He followed up with 152 not out in the next Test. By then he had developed the patience of a sage and the ruthlessness of an executioner and was well on his way to becoming a legend in his own lifetime.

Sanath Jayasuriya
It was only in his 40th one-day innings that Jayasuriya, among the most devastating one-day batsmen ever, scored his first half-century. At this stage, his ODI batting average was an embarrassing 12.55. After 70 innings and close to 1000 runs he still hadn't scored a hundred. 1996 was his annus mirabilis – the year in which he was crowned Player of the World Cup. Ever since, he has wielded the willow like a bazooka, getting to the fastest hundred – a record since broken – and fifty in ODIs. One of the architects of the Sri Lankan cricket renaissance, he then also blossomed as a Test batsman. Jayasuriya took six years and 17 Tests to score his first Test hundred – staggering, considering that he now boasts of a triple-hundred, a double-hundred, eight other centuries, nine scores between 80 and 90, and till not long ago, an average that was almost 50.

Glenn McGrath
McGrath's first five series were very ordinary: 25 wickets from nine Tests. They came at a cost of nearly 42 per wicket with just one four-for. It was only after two years and over 14 Tests that he managed to bring his bowling average under 30. He arrived as a strike bowler with a haul of 17 from four Tests against West Indies in the Caribbean in the 1994-95 season, serving notice that he was ready to take over as Australia's spearhead. He became more intense, more focused and, like Hadlee, very mathematical in his approach. Bowling from a slightly front-on action that puts minimal strain on his body, he moves the ball off the seam either way at a lively pace. But his tried and tested success formula is his centimetre-perfect accuracy that ambushes batsmen in the "corridor". He is masterfully economical and his strike-rate, since his ninth Test, has been over five per Test.

H Natarajan is a senior editor with Wisden Asia Cricket and Wisden.com in India

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