Don Bradman is the greatest cricketer of all time. That is the only thing that is objectively a fact.
Sobers. Kallis. Marshall. Hadlee. Imran. Sachin. Murali. Mcgrath. All of them have a decent argument to be called second greatest cricketer ever.
There may be some names I may have missed because they are less hyped or may have played much in the earlier eras so may have got forgotten
I will say Bradman 1, Sobers 2.
No. 3 is open as far as I'm concerned
Marshall, Hobbs, Hadlee, McGrath, Richards, Tendulkar
being the primary contenders, the next tier of guys being
Imran, Warne, Steyn, Murali, Smith, Lara, Hutton, Kallis, Hutton, Wasim, Ambrose, Gavaskar, O'Reilly, Headley
Before the screaming starts, as Subz says, primary skills takes precedence and the guys who for me are in contention for the no. 3 spot are either in the goat discussion for bowling or in the best bat after Bradman discussion. And I don't add points, otherwise Kallis is no 4, and don't think anyone believes that.
For me Marshall is no. 3. He's the greatest bowler in the history of the game and and don't know why that's generally excluded from the conversation.
Hobbs is my no. 4 as he's the original GOAT of the test game and even still now in contention as the greatest ever opener.
McGrath and Hadlee are basically level and come next. McGrath is a bit ahead for me due to the tougher conditions he played under. Hadlee then has his batting while McGrath was the key to arguably the greatest team ever, and they wouldn't have been without him.
Sachin and Viv are up next and again Sachin has his longevity and Vivian the greatest fielder of his era and a great in the cordon.
I'm not saying Warne, Imran nor Murali doesn't has a claim. Warne made the Widen top 5, Murali has the wickets record and Imran the 2nd greatest all rounder in the history of the game. Just for me personally, to be no. 3, you should at least be in contention for the best in your disciple.
Not all of us would ever agree and none may agree with him at 3, but Maco has a good a claim as anyone.