Shah S: All-rounders in Test cricket : A Statistical survey (Aug93)

A Statistical Survey: All-Rounders in Test Match Cricket

Since this article is mainly based upon statistical details, it is inevitable that the notion of a 'minimum criteria' be formed. Here, the limit is fixed between the players who have scored 1000 runs and 50 wickets. Although some may question this a rather low limit to specify 'an allrounder', let the reader understand that it has been mainly put forth in order to acquire a better comparison and understanding and to appropriate a detailed and comprehensive list. On inspection, the above criteria yields 54 former and current Test cricketers (taking into account stats upto Aug, 1 1993) who will be presented later in detail. However, since there has been intense discussion on r.s.c that stats do not always explain the abilities of a player, I will firstly present stats of some other reasonably good all-rounders who have failed to quality, with regard to the above criteria.

England Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B B.L.D'Oliveira (1966-67) 44 2484 158 40.06 5 15 29 47 39.55 - - 3-46 F.S.Trueman (1949-65) 67 981 39* 13.81 - - 64 307 21.57 17 3 8-31 D.L.Underwood (1966-82) 86 937 45* 11.56 - - 44 297 25.83 17 6 8-51

Australia D.K.Lillee (1970-84) 70 905 73* 13.71 - 1 23 355 23.92 23 7 7-83 G.D.McKenzie (1961-71) 60 945 76 12.27 - 2 34 246 29.78 16 3 8-71 B.Yardley (1978-83) 33 978 74 19.56 - 4 31 126 31.63 6 1 7-98 G.F.Lawson (1980-89) 46 894 74 15.96 - 4 10 180 30.56 11 2 8-112 M.R.Hughes(1985-) 45 916 72* 16.65 - 2 22 177 27.87 6 1 8-87 S.R.Waugh (1985-) 52 2503 177* 36.27 4 15 38 49 45.16 2 - 5-69

South Africa Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B E.J.Barlow (1963-70) 30 2516 201 45.74 6 15 35 40 34.05 1 - 5-85

India L.Amarnath (1933-53) 24 878 118 24.38 1 4 13 45 32.91 2 - 5-96 R.F.Surti (1960-70) 26 1263 99 28.70 - 9 25 42 46.71 1 - 5-74 S.F.Abid Ali (1967-75) 29 1018 81 20.36 - 6 35 47 42.12 1 - 6-55

New Zealand V.Pollard (1964-73) 32 1266 116 24.34 2 7 19 40 46.32 - - 3-3 B.R.Taylor (1964-73) 30 898 124 20.46 2 2 10 111 26.60 - - 5-74 B.L.Cairns (1974-85) 43 928 64 16.28 - 2 30 130 32.91 6 1 7-74

West Indies D.St.E.Atkinson (1948-58) 22 922 219 31.79 1 5 4 47 35.04 3 - 7-53 O.G.Smith (1954-59) 26 1331 168 31.69 4 6 9 48 35.85 1 - 5-90 M.A.Holding (1975-86) 60 910 73 13.78 - 6 21 249 23.68 13 2 8-92

Mohammed Shoaib Ahmed writes in a recent issue of the Pakistani magazine "Cricketer" that over the years, the concept of allrounders has changed from that of a "good cricketer" to that of a "utility cricketer." Statistics, then from the period from 1895 1970 largely delineate "good cricketers" From 1970 onwards, there has been a sudden emergence of the so-called "utility cricketers" who have completely changed the conventional record and furthermore, have gone a step forward by transforming into "match winners." Examples include Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham. However, there are, as always are, exceptions to the stereotypical definitions above. Gary Sobers, Richie Benaud, and Vinoo Mankad, for instance, were truly great all-rounders and match-winners too. The latter too were bowlers first and then batsmen whereas the great Gary Sobers was a 'batsman all-rounder.' The subtle difference between these three great allrounders and those of the post-1970 era, is that of time span. Sobers played for about 20 years, while Benaud and Mankad remained on the Test scene for 15 years each. On the contrary, Imran, Kapil and Botham have taken considerably less time to register themselves as great all-rounders. True, Test cricket is played more frequently now. But this does not belie the phenomenal consistency of these allrounders. Nevertheless, before diving into the stats, there are a few delicate points which are worth pondering over. Before 1970, one should be conscious of the fact that cricket Test matches were less frequent. As a consequence this could have affected the form and performance of the players. Interestingly, many of them were predominantly batsmen who picked up bowling during the course of their long careers. Examples include Wally Hammond, Frank Worrell, Chandu Borde, Bobby Simpson, Ted Dexter, and John Reid. According to Ahmed, these cricketers would not fall under the "utility cricketers" label. If they had any credentials of "allroundership", it was merely a byproduct of their batsmanship and rather long careers. Before 1970, the all-rounders portrayed, besides batting potentials, more diversity with regard to bowling. There were spinners as well as seamers. In modern times, most the good all-rounders have mainly been fast bowlers. After 1970, the all-rounders all started their careers as fast bowlers. Steadily, they developed into good, dependable batsmen. So much so that with the exception of Imran Khan, their bowling abilities are at par with their batting potentials. It is this balanced fusion of batting and bowling that characterizes them as specifically exclusive post-1970 all-rounders. Their over- exposure to test cricket (Botham had played 74 tests in his first 8 years while Kapil Dev had featured in 67 in the same number of years!) could easily have exhausted them. But it didn't. It it this physical stamina, professional skill and competitive spirit which makes them truly great allrounders. Ok, now to the stats!

England Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B I.T.Botham (1977-92) 102 5200 208 33.54 14 22 120 383 28.40 27 4 8-34 A.W.Greig (1972-77) 58 3599 148 40.43 8 20 87 141 32.20 6 2 8-86 W.Rhodes (1899-1930) 58 2325 179 30.19 2 11 60 127 26.96 6 1 8-68 J.E.Emburey (1978-) 62 1613 75 21.79 - 9 33 144 37.59 6 - 7-78 F.E.Woolley (1909-34) 64 3283 154 36.80 5 23 64 83 33.91 4 1 7-76 T.E.Bailey (1949-59) 61 2290 134 29.74 1 10 32 132 29.02 5 1 7-34 M.W.Tate (1924-35) 39 1198 100 25.48 1 5 11 155 26.16 7 1 6-42 R.Illingworth (1958-73) 61 1836 113 23.24 2 5 45 122 31.20 3 - 6-29 F.J.Titmus (1955-73) 53 1449 84 22.29 - 10 35 153 32.22 7 - 7-39 E.R.Dexter (1958-68) 62 4502 285* 47.89 9 27 29 66 34.93 - - 4-10 W.R.Hammond (1927-47) 85 7249 336* 58.45 22 24 110 83 37.80 2 - 5-36 G. Miller (1976-84) 34 1213 98* 25.81 - 7 17 60 30.98 1 - 6-104

Australia Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B I.W.Johnson (1945-57) 45 1000 77 18.51 - 6 30 109 31.02 1 - 5-90 J.M.Gregory (1920-29) 24 1146 119 30.96 2 7 37 85 31.15 4 - 7-69 R. Benaud (1951-64) 63 2201 122 24.45 3 9 65 248 27.03 16 1 7-72 K.R.Miller (1945-57) 55 2958 147 36.97 7 13 38 170 22.97 7 1 7-60 A.K.Davidson (1953-63) 44 1328 80 24.59 - 5 42 186 20.53 14 2 7-93 R.R.Lindwall (1945-60) 61 1502 118 21.15 2 5 26 228 23.03 12 - 7-38 M.A.Noble (1897-1909) 42 1997 133 30.25 1 10 26 121 25.00 9 2 7-17 W.W.Armstrong (1901-21) 50 2863 159 38.68 6 8 44 87 33.59 3 - 6-35 R.B.Simpson (1957-78) 62 4869 311 46.81 10 27 110 71 42.56 2 - 5-57 G.R.J.Matthews (1984-) 33 1849 130 41.08 4 12 17 61 48.22 2 - 5-103 C.Kelleway (1910-29) 26 1422 147 37.42 3 6 24 52 32.36 1 - 5-132 K.D.Mackay (1956-63) 37 1507 89 33.48 - 13 16 50 34.42 2 - 6-42

South Africa Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B T.J.Goddard (1955-70) 41 2516 112 34.46 1 18 48 123 26.22 5 - 6-53 G.A.Faulkner (1905-24) 25 1754 204 40.79 4 8 20 82 26.58 4 - 7-84 J.H.Sinclair (1895-1911) 25 1069 106 23.23 3 3 9 63 31.68 1 - 6-26

West Indies Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B G.St.A.Sobers (1953-74) 93 8032 365* 57.78 26 30 109 235 34.43 6 - 6-73 G.E.Gomez (1939-54) 29 1243 101 30.31 1 8 18 58 27.41 1 1 7-55 F.M.W.Worrell (1947-63) 51 3860 261 49.98 9 22 43 69 38.73 2 - 7-70 M.D.Marshall (1979-92) 81 1810 92 18.85 - 10 25 376 20.94 22 4 7-22

New Zealand Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B R.J.Hadlee (1972-90) 86 3124 151* 27.16 2 15 37 431 22.29 36 9 9-52 J.R.Reid (1949-65) 58 3428 142 33.28 6 22 43 85 33.35 1 - 6-60 B.E.Congdon (1964-78) 61 3448 176 32.22 7 19 44 59 36.50 1 - 5-65 J.G.Bracewell (1980-92) 41 1001 110 20.42 1 4 31 102 35.81 4 1 6-32

India Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B R.N.Kapil Dev (1978-) 124 5069 163 30.90 8 26 62 420 29.66 23 2 9-83 M.H.Mankad (1946-59) 44 2109 231 31.47 5 5 33 162 32.33 8 2 8-52 S.A.Durrani (1959-73) 29 1202 104 25.04 1 7 14 75 35.42 3 1 6-73 R.J.Shastri (1981-) 80 3830 206 35.79 11 12 36 151 40.96 2 - 5-75 D.G.Phadkar (1947-59) 31 1229 123 32.34 2 8 21 62 36.83 3 - 7-159 R.G.Nadkarni (1956-68) 41 1414 122* 25.70 1 7 22 88 29.06 4 1 6-43 C.G.Borde (1958-70) 55 3061 177* 35.59 5 18 38 52 46.48 1 - 5-88 U.S.Madan Lal (1974-86) 39 1042 74 22.65 - 5 15 71 40.08 4 - 5-23 M.M.Prabhakar (1984-) 27 1135 95 32.42 - 7 13 72 41.15 3 - 6-132

Pakistan Tests Runs HS Avg 100s 50s Ct Wkts Avg 5wI 10wM B/B Imran Khan (1971-1992) 88 3807 136 37.69 6 18 28 362 22.81 23 6 8-58 Abdul Qadir (1977-90) 67 1029 61 15.59 - 3 15 236 32.80 15 5 9-52 Sarfraz Nawaz (1968-84) 55 1045 90 17.71 - 4 26 177 32.75 4 1 9-86 Mushtaq Mohammed (1958-80) 57 3643 201 39.17 10 19 42 79 29.21 3 - 5-28 Intikhab Alam (1959-77) 47 1493 138 22.28 1 8 20 125 35.95 5 2 7-52 Wasim Akram (1985-) [Sadiq :-)] 48 1057 123 19.57 1 4 16 186 24.56 12 2 6-62 Mudassar Nazar (1977-89) 76 4114 231 38.09 10 17 48 66 38.36 1 - 6-32 Wasim Raja (1972-85) 57 2821 125 36.16 4 18 20 51 35.80 - - 4-50 Asif Iqbal (1964-80) 58 3575 175 38.85 11 12 36 53 28.32 2 - 5-48

Phew! Finally done. :-) The stat list above, by no means, lists the all-rounders from the respective countries in terms of their rank or grade as a player. Who then are the 10 best all-rounders of the world of all time? This question has been pondered upon by many and much debate has taken place on r.s.c.:-) An unbiased list of 10 best all-rounders of all time is quite hard to come by, since come what may, subjectivism always plays a factor. However, I am going to make the bold move and present such a list. The criteria I have mainly considered are the all-rounder's stats and his capability to be either a match-winner or a match-saver at times. So here goes.

Tests Runs Wickets 1. G.St.A.Sobers (WI) 93 8032 235 2. I.T.Botham (Eng) 102 5200 383 3. R.N.Kapil Dev (Ind) 124 5069 420 4. Imran Khan (Pak) 88 3807 362 5. R.J.Hadlee (NZ) 86 3124 431 6. A.W.Greig (Eng) 58 3599 141 7. K.R. Miller (Aus) 55 2958 170 8. M.H.Mankad (Ind) 44 2109 162 9. T.L.Goddard (RSA) 41 2516 123 10. W.Rhodes (Eng) 58 2325 127

So, is Sobers really the greatest all-rounder? It is quite apparent that statistically speaking, it is impossible to decide the best all-rounder that cricket has produced so far. However, we can reduce the list to a mere two top contenders: Sir Garfield Sobers and Ian Botham. Before making any judgement as to who is better, let's compare the two first! Botham's 383 wickets in 102 Tests are just as good as Sobers' 8032 runs in 93 Tests. It is interesting to note that Sobers began as a batsman but later developed into a bowler of the class who took no less than 235 wickets. Botham, on the other hand, started as a fast-medium bowler, who later developed a batsman and scored over 5,000 runs in Test cricket. Are Sobers' exploits in bowling bigger than Botham's in batting? Again, Sobers can boast about his 86.36 runs per Test, while Botham can of his 28.40 runs per Test wicket. Who surpasses who? Let's not decide that. Straying away from the Botham-Sobers saga, many will question my placing of Kapil Dev over Imran Khan in the above listing. Kapil has achieved something no cricketer has ever: 5000 runs and 400 wickets in Test cricket. People will argue that Imran has better averages and that he may have gone to do the same if he had played the same amount of Tests as Kapil. But the fact is: Imran has not and Kapil has and as a consequence I give the edge to the latter. Coming back to Sobers-Botham, Botham as a batsman was not totally outclassed by Sobers' records. Botham averaged nearly 50 runs per Test compared to Sobers' 86. In return, Botham can brag of a better average of wickets per Test (3.75) in contrast to Sobers' 2.52. Botham took five wickets in a Test innings 27 times while Sobers did it only six times. Sobers never took ten wickets in a match whereas Botham has achieved this feat no less than 4 times. Botham's 120 catches from 102 matches is very similar to Sobers' 109 in 93 in terms of average. Sobers has a much better captaincy record than Botham. Sobers captained West Indies in 39 Tests. Out of 34 of those Tests for which I obtained stats for West Indies won 10, lost 10 and drew 14. Botham on the other hand, captained England in 12 Tests of which none were won, 4 were lost and 8 were drawn. In essence, Sobers beats Botham in this category. While I was in the process of writing this article, I discussed the Botham-Sobers saga with various people who showed up on IRC. Most claim to no doubt that Botham at his peak years between 1977-85 was truly a fantastic cricketer to watch. However, others have gone as far as describing him as more of a "showman." :-) The post-1985 years of Botham's career were highly lacklustre and failed to live up to his earlier years in Test cricket. However, one cannot fail to note that Botham still portrayed some consistency in terms of his bowling after 1985. Sobers on the other hand was quite consistent in most aspects. No one would dream of questioning his consistency with regard to batting, captaincy etc. The only one aspect worth associating with some degree of inconsistency is his bowling which is reflected in his relatively poor rate of wickets per match. With reference to all the points mentioned above, I think that Sobers definitely deserves to be number one in any list of Test-all-rounders. He holds the world record for having achieved the highest Test innings--365 not out against Pakistan 1957-58. To conclude, I would like to focus on one other relevant issue. Many people, in the midst of discussion on allrounders with me mentioned players such as Proctor (RSA) and WGrace (Eng) who have excellent first class statistics in both the bowling and batting compartments, but who did not get a chance to prove themselves in the Test arena because of the rather small frequency of Tests being played at their respective contemporary times. WGrace for one has some remarkable stats in first class cricket. Grace's batting stats: 1493 Innings; 105 times not out; Highest - 344; Runs - 54896; Avg: 39.55; 100s - 126. Grace's Bowling stats: Balls: 51545; Wkts: 2876; Avg: 17.92. As you can see, no comprehensive list of allrounders can ignore stats of such high standard. The list of such players as WGrace and Proctor, I am sure, does not end with them. Hence, I would be quite interested in getting stats of other players who excelled on the first-class scene as all-rounders. Since I am also posting this article on CI, I hope to edit it in the future with additions of players such as WGrace and Proctor. This article was largely inspired by an article in a recent issue of the Pakistani "Cricketer" and the rather heated and perennial debate on all-rounders on r.s.c. It was my initial hope that this article would calm down the debate to some extent but on further thought, I suspect the consequences are going to be quite the contrary. :-) Sources: BBM's factfile Wisden Pakistani "Cricketer" Article by Ahmed Various other misc. stat books] Thanks to the following for help in obtaining stats and for valuable insights during discussions: {I am going to use the nicks on IRC since that is where the discussions mainly took place. :-)} Cric8wala, Aztec, Uday, Murari, Cr1eb, Srinivas, Mogambo, and Catman (sorry if I left anyone out)