But surely now it is time to add Suzie Bates to the mix.
Last week Bates, the New Zealand women's cricket captain, received the ultimate recognition as a cricketer, being named Wisden's Leading Women's Cricketer of the World.
Wisden is referred to as the cricketers' bible and has annually rated its top five male players since 1889.
In 2015 it began rating female cricketers.
Wisden concluded Bates' all-round performances last year warranted its top honour.
Editor Lawrence Booth summed up by saying: "It needed something special to deny both [Australians] Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry this award, and Bates' all-round performances were precisely that.''
McCullum was named among this year's top five male world cricketers and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson received the top award.
Sutcliffe (1950) and Turner (1971) have also previously featured on Wisden's top players list.
It is not the first time Bates (28) has received international recognition.
She was named 2013 player of the Women's World Cup and ICC one-day player of the year.
The latest accolade reinforces her position as one of the world's most dominant female players.
Those who have followed Bates' career since she was a shy teenager at Otago Girls' High School are only too aware of her ability.
A dual international representative, in cricket and basketball, Bates has often been likened to a female version of former All Black and Black Cap Jeff Wilson.
She, like Wilson, is one of those rare people who ooze natural talent, no matter the sport.
It is likely Bates would have been just as easily at home on the international netball, football, hockey or rugby stage, had her sporting career taken those paths.
Bates made her international one-day debut for New Zealand in March 2006, aged 18, and debuted for the Tall Ferns the following year.
She represented New Zealand in basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
As the two sports began to clash, Bates opted to focus on cricket, particularly after being named the national captain in 2012.
Bates has now led the White Ferns in 45 of her 84 ODIs and 46 of her 83 T20s.
Most recently she took her team agonisingly close to the final of the T20 World Cup.
Thankfully, Bates, through contracts with New Zealand Cricket and as a hired gun in the Australian women's Big Bash League, can now make an income from her sport.
But, cruelly, she has never received the financial recognition or endorsements a sportsman with similar talent or commitment would expect.
Let's not forget it is Bates' hard-hitting approach with the bat and astute captaincy which has lifted New Zealand's game to a higher level and inspired a new generation of female cricketers.
There are a growing band of girls playing cricket at Dunedin junior level, including the forward-thinking Taieri club which has fielded an all girls junior team, the Taieri Sparkles, for the past two seasons.
It is not McCullum or Williamson who these young girls look up to.
They want to play like Suzie.
Bates said in a 2013 interview she initially struggled with being considered a role model but has grown to accept and appreciate it.
Her aim, she said, is to inspire other girls to play cricket for Otago and New Zealand.
Surely, that is a true mark of greatness.
