In the beginning, there was W.G. Grace. Perhaps not quite, as test cricket was already 4 years old when the English all-rounder strode on to its stage in 1880. But W.G. was the first superstar of the sport and enjoyed a phenomenal 43-year career in the game. On one occasion he was bowled out but refused to leave the pitch, telling the irate bowler that the crowd was there to see him bat and not his opponent bowl.
An even greater icon is Australian batsman Don Bradman. Acclaimed as the best batsman ever, early in his test career the English visited Australia for the 1932-33 Ashes series and were obsessed with stopping him. England captain Douglas Jardine contrived the infamous "bodyline" tactic of having his fast bowlers aim for the Australian batsmen's bodies. It worked and England won the series, but the tide of ill feeling the tactic generated in the world of cricket earned infamy and shortened careers for Jardine and his bowlers.
Bradman continued on to greater glories, but ended his career in ironic style when, against England in 1948, he was out for a duck in his last test inning when a mere four runs would have won him an unprecedented career average of 100 runs per inning.