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How did great all-rounders compare with great specialists in cricket history?

Harsh Thakor

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In this note I wish to compare how the best all-rounders of their era compared with the best batting or bowling specialists.To me the only all-rounder who towered above other cricketers in his generation was Gary Sobers with his superlative skill in all departments of the game.He literally put every other great into oblivion.



Earlier the majestic Keith Miller was overshadowed by Bradman and may have ranked neck to neck with Len Hutton.Miller could champion the causes equally with bat and ball in important phases



In the 1970-2-80's we had 4 great all-rounders like never before in the history of Cricket.They were Ian Botham,Imran Khan,Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee.All were true greats who did more to shape the fortunes of their nation's destiny than anyone.Botham and Kapil could do it with bat and ball simultaneously more often in games and series but Imran and Hadlee as fast-bowlers could me more consistent fast bowing all-rounders.At his peak arguably from 1977-81 Botham compared most favourably to Viv Richards but fell out because he failed against the best team of his day,West Indies Botham ,till then was closest to Sobers Still it was Viv who could turn the complexion of game more with supreme domination which argubaly nonoe ever exuded before,who could sit with the Gods of Olympus.Viv's achivements with the bat were consitenly more impactful than Botham's as a cricketer overall.Overall with his oustanding bolwing aginst West Indies and performances as a skiper Imran came within a whisker of equalling Viv .However he wa snot at his best with both bat and bal at the same time or as impactful as an all-rounder as Viv was with the bat.Viv was a more likely candidate for an al-time XI.As a pure cricketer Richard Hadlee would be by a very small margin be edged by Dennis Lillee and Malcolm Marshall while Kapil Dev may rank just below greats like Wasim Akram and Alan Border.If he had a proper career I may have backed Mike Procter to be better than all 4 of these greats.



In later years when comparison with Lara and Tendulkar or Warne was a yardstick the name of Jacques Kallis stood out who was statistically the best of all al-rounders.However he lacked the match-winning flair or charisma ,not turning games with the impetuosity of a Lara ,Warne or Sachin.He was also hardly contributing with the ball for a great part of his career.Neverthless at junctures almost as lethal to Gary Sobers as a bowler.Inspite of staggering figures Kalis as an all-rounder was not as head and shoulders above others as Sachin and Lara were with the bat or even Ricky Ponting.Still I would class Kallis above Ricky Ponting,Adam Gilchrist,Inzamam Ul Haq,Curtly Ambrose ,Glen Mcgrath ,Steve Waugh or Wasim Akram.



I would not class the likes of Chris Cairns,Shaun Pollock,Abdur Razak,Azhar Mehmood or Ben Stokes of today with the greatest of batsmen and bowlers of their generation.



I would have to make an apology for Mike Procter who only played 7 tests and thus even if morally supreme,not enough criteria at International level.



This is my brief comparison of great all-rounders with specialists. over different decades.



1940's

Keith Miller <Bradman ,Hammond,



Keith Miller >Dennis Compton,Len Hutton,Ray Lindwall,George Headley.



1950's

Vinoo Mankad>Vijay Hazare,,Vijay Merchant,Neil Harvey



Vinoo Mankad<Braman,Weekes,Hutton,Worrell.



1960-s to 70's



Gary Sobers daylight >Kanhai,Trueman,Barrington,Dexter,May Pollock.



1970-80's -

Imran and Botham <Viv Richards .



Hadlee <Marshal and Lillee



Kapil<Gavaskar ,Greg Chappell ,



Imran and Botham >Lillee and Greg Chappell



Kapil Dev >Graham Gooch,Alan Border,Javed Miandad ,David Gower,Martin Crowe,



Milke Procter hardly played at International level but adjusting stats including WSC would still rank above the likes of



From 1995

Kallis <Tendulkar,Lara,Warne



Kallis >Wasim Akram,Alan Donald,Curtly Ambrose.Ricky Ponting,Adam Gilchrist ,Steve Waugh



Recent



Ben Stokes or Shakib <Virat Kohli,Steve Smith,Dale Steyn,Chris Gayle,A B Devillers
 
The thing about allrounders is that they have to focus on both facets. This decreases their performances in both facets. If Imran was just a bowler his bowling would have probably been better. If Kallis was just a batter his batting would have probably been better. It's just like a keeper. When a keeper gives up keeping his batting usually improves. We have seen this with De Villiers and currently Matthew Wade.

This is why Imran and Hadlel were more valuable then other great bowlers. Their bowling was basically as good and their batting was much ahead.

Kallis is a more valuable player as his batting was almost as good or as good as Lara, Ponting, Tendulkar, but his bowling added extra value and his batting would have taken a hit due to bowling.
 
The thing about allrounders is that they have to focus on both facets. This decreases their performances in both facets. If Imran was just a bowler his bowling would have probably been better. If Kallis was just a batter his batting would have probably been better. It's just like a keeper. When a keeper gives up keeping his batting usually improves. We have seen this with De Villiers and currently Matthew Wade.

This is why Imran and Hadlel were more valuable then other great bowlers. Their bowling was basically as good and their batting was much ahead.

Kallis is a more valuable player as his batting was almost as good or as good as Lara, Ponting, Tendulkar, but his bowling added extra value and his batting would have taken a hit due to bowling.

Was Kallis as impactful or as good as Tendulkar,Lara and Warne?
 
Sorry viewers .This is the complete list .Do se this evaluation.

This is my brief comparison of great all-rounders with specialists. over different decades.



1940's

Keith Miller <Bradman ,Hammond,



Keith Miller >Dennis Compton,Len Hutton,Ray Lindwall,George Headley.



1950's

Vinoo Mankad>Vijay Hazare,,Vijay Merchant,Neil Harvey



Vinoo Mankad<Braman,Weekes,Hutton,Worrell.



1960-s to 70's



Gary Sobers daylight >Kanhai,Trueman,Barrington,Dexter,May Pollock.



1970-80's -

Imran and Botham <Viv Richards .



Hadlee <Marshal and Lillee



Kapil<Gavaskar ,Greg Chappell ,



Imran and Botham >Lillee and Greg Chappell



Kapil Dev >Graham Gooch,Alan Border,Javed Miandad ,David Gower,Martin Crowe,



Milke Procter hardly played at International level but adjusting stats including WSC would still rank above the likes of



From 1995

Kallis <Tendulkar,Lara,Warne



Kallis >Wasim Akram,Alan Donald,Curtly Ambrose.Ricky Ponting,Adam Gilchrist ,Steve Waugh



Recent



Ben Stokes or Shakib <Virat Kohli,Steve Smith,Dale Steyn,Chris Gayle,A B Devillers
 
No absolute answer can be given,its different for different cases.

For ex:

Ravi ashwin averages 25 with the bowl and 30 with the bat but does that make him better than someone like james anderson or andy roberts or anil kumble or even younis khan.
I don't think so.

For an allrounder to be rated higher than other specialists he should have impactful performances in his weaker department.
I haven't seen many impact performances either by ashwin with the bat and another fact that should be taken into account is whether they performed simultaneously with bat and bowl in matches.

For me Ian botham is what we call a perfect allrounder.
 
There were very few top line fast bowlers who averaged around 21 who were also proper test batsmen.

I can only think of Miller and Imran.

Similarly there were only a very few champion bats who could also hold their own as part of a test bowling quartet.

I can only think of Hammond, Sobers and Kallis.
 
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