29 May 1999

Colin Croft's Picks - Best Performers

Colin Croft

Best bowler

For me, there are probably four bowlers, all incidentally faster bowlers, who have captured the imagination so far in the World Cup. Three are left-handed and one right-handed. They are:

1. Courtney Walsh, the venerable West Indian opening bowler, who already has 11 wickets before the final preliminary game, against Australia. He averages an incredible 7.55 runs per wicket and an economy rate of 2.24;

2. Wasim Akram, the Pakistani captain and opening bowler whose economy rate is 3.46. No-one has been more clinical, especially to the tail-enders, nor uses the swinging white ball better.

3. Alan Mullally, the English fast bowler, whom I consider the best bowler in England's team. He goes about his business diligently and effectively, despite the English press's preoccupation with Darren Gough. To date, Mullally has one wicket less than Gough who has 9, but a slightly better economy rate, 3.05.

4. Geoff Allott, New Zealand's fast bowler, is the surprise so far. Despite having his figures somewhat spoiled by the West Indian and Pakistani games, he still already has 12 wickets at the time of writing, while having a run per over average, economy rate, of 4.39.

After taking everything into consideration, and allowing for the only requirement being that of bowler, Courtney Walsh has been the best so far in the competition, winning by a short head from Wasim Akram.

Best batsman

In my mind, India has the two contestants for this position.

1. After four games, Rahul Dravid is averaging 105.33 runs per innings, has a strike rate of 96.63 and an aggregate of 316 runs, easily the highest aggregate so far.

2. Saurav Ganguly averages 75.50 in his four games so far with an aggregate of 302 and a strike rate of 90.41. Both have been very consistent and tremendously efficient.

I like left-handed batsmen because they always look so very elegant, so my vote goes to Saurav Ganguly.

Best wicket-keeper

West Indies wicket-keeper, Ridley Jacobs easily takes this position. Already he has 13 dismissals and even features highly in the batting stakes, averaging 78 with his aggregate of 156 runs from four games. The nearest competitor is probably England's Alec Stewart, who has seven dismissals so far and 123 runs aggregate. Stewart's captaincy has not been bad, but from a purely wicket-keeping perspective, Jacobs is tops.

Best all-rounder

Pakistan's Wasim Akram again comes to mind here. He has a batting strike rate of 155, averaging around 45 runs per innings. His bowling is dynamic, with a strike rate of around 23 balls per wicket and an economy rate of 3.46 runs per over and an average of 15.25 runs per wicket for his 8 wickets in three games.

South Africa' Lance Klusener has also had a great impact on the competition. Already, in four games, he has 12 wickets at an average of 10.33 runs per wicket. He also has an aggregate of healthy lower order hitting of 112 runs. He has not yet been dismissed. What a plus he has been for South Africa.

So, my best all-rounder is Lance Klusener.

Special note: Wasim Akram MUST be the very best overall cricketer at the 1999 Cricket World Cup. While he is not the exact best in any specific category, he features in the very top echelons in the bowling, batting and all-rounder stakes. Therefore, Wasim Akram is obviously the best overall player at the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Source :: Colin Croft