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
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