I'm basing mine on players who I have seen played; not the dinosaurs from yesteryear.
So, I may have to categorize the players based on their respective disciplines...
Batsmen:
1. Carl Hooper- I have had the privilege to watch him play when I was a kid. Regional first-class games were always held at my home ground- which was also a regular home ground for our national team. The man made batting look easy, every time he enters the middle to bat. One of his favorite shots to play was the late-cut; he does have a very late cut.
2. Ramnaresh Sarwan- immense talent. Great hand-eye coordination. A cover drive to fall in love with.
3. Shivnarine Chanderpaul- speaking of hand-eye coordinate, Shiv is a beast when it comes to that. This guy can literally bat for days.
As a school kid, I would often hang around the player's pavilion area just to get a glimpse of these guys, and I did manage to get all of their autographs; that was way back in the early 2000s.
4. Brian Charles Lara- genius.
5. Kumar Sangakarra- with bat in hand, Sanga was a poet. Talent personified. A perfectionist.
Bowlers:
1. Wasim Akram- he can make the ball talk. Sweat on one side of the old ball resulted in a craft that became synonymous with his name: reverse swing.
2. Chaminda Vaas- line em up and deceive the right-handed batsmen with the one that straightens...a LBW bowler he is. Equally effective against the tough lefties.
3. Curtly Ambrose- tall, fast, accurate. Sir Curtly was always a joy to watch. He performed at both home and away. A bowler for every condition. Not to mention those cartwheeling stumps, and the obligatory send-off.
4. Glenn McGrath- once again, good line and length bowling is a skill that is simple in theory, but a tad difficult to execute.
5. Shaun Pollock- economical, beating the outside edge of lefties. He was insane against them. Dibbly-dobbly.
Wicket-keepers:
Obviously, there were some super-talented keepers in the past 25-30 years...So here goes:
1. MS Dhoni- leaving out all his batting heroics, he is a top level keeper. Fast with stumpings; a keen eye out for batsman's feet straying out of the crease.
2. Mark Boucher- SA's perennial gloveman.
3. Prasanna Jayawardene- underrated, but a stoic behind the stumps.
4. Adam Gilchrist- because he's Gilly
5. Andy Flower
Sanga makes this list easily.