Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
- Runs
- 3,519
- Post of the Week
- 2
These are my 3 best allrounders of all in their peak era in order of merit.I have excluded criteria of captaincy here.
1.Gary Sobers
2.Keith Miller
3.Ian Botham 1977-82
Placed Gary at the top as though Botham had 5 tests where he performed the double of 5 wickets and a century compared to Sobers's 2 ,Gary consistently provided the more all-round threat to the opposition in the moral sense.Botham surpassed any feat of Gary's in the 1980 Jubilee test in Mumbai and the 1981 home Ashes but was not at his best against the best team of his time,West Indies or a full fledged Pakistan team.Ian benefited from playing against weaker Australasian or Pakistan teams during the Packer era.I would back Gary to consistently turn more games against strong opposition like he did in England in 1966 and 1970, versus Australia and against England at home in 1967-68.Gray's batting was a volume ahead of that of Botham,Miller or Imran and morale as a bowler even if he rated below was more versatile.Imran and Kallis were never at their best with both ball and bat while the burden of single-handedly carrying the brunt of the bowling attack took it's toll on Kapil Dev.Keth Miller was arguably the best match-winner as fast bowling all-rounder if you ***** the strike rates of his ear and number of tests played then.As a pure paceman Miller was ahead of Sobers and Botham.In the slips Botham was the best of the 3 as well as the most intelligent bowler.For sheer power Botham drew level with Sobers but was a league below in terms of technical skill.The figures of Sobers and Miller as bowlers have to be adjusted in accordance to their eras.They did not have contemporaries like Botham as allrounders in their era but overall were more head and shoulders ahead of other cricketers of their time than Botham.Significantly in 1982 Botham lost his battle in successive test series against Kapil Dev and Ian Botham.In flashes Botham overpowered everyone but was more prone to lose form than Sobers or Miller.Moralyl asessing era Miller was consistency personified to a greater extent than Botham.He performed outstandingly against more challenging oponents in the Ashes and completely overshadowed Botham in the Carribean.
Just to certify that statistician S.Rajesh has excluded Gary Sobers's outstanding performance playing for the rest of the world team in 1968 in England when he scored 583 runs and captured 21 wickets.As well as his unbeaten 254 at Melbourne for world team in 1972.
KEITH MILER
In the Test match arena too, Miller's batting was his stronger suit in the early days: in the first 20% of his career, his batting average exceeded 54 and his bowling average was less than 21, though he only took 27 wickets in 11 matches. In only his second Test, against England in Brisbane, he had match figures of 9 for 77, but that was an exception in what was largely a batting-dominated period in his career. Thereafter, though, the batting fell away slightly but the bowling remained lethal, as Miller formed a formidable combination with Ray Lindwall.
In his last year-and-a-half in international cricket, Miller's batting stats improved, but his bowling dropped off marginally. However, his highest Test score, 147 against West Indies in Kingston, and his only ten-wicket haul - against England at Lord's - both came during this period. He had also scored a century at Lord's on his earlier visit, thus making him one of only three overseas players - Vinoo Mankad and Garry Sobers are the others - to be on the honours board at Lord's both for batting and bowling.
Keith Miller's Test career Period Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM
First 11 Tests 599 54.45 1/ 3 27 20.85 1/ 0
Next 33 Tests 1685 32.40 3/ 9 100 21.77 3/ 0
Last 11 Tests 674 39.64 3/ 1 43 27.11 3/ 1
Career (55 Tests) 2958 36.97 7/ 13 170 22.97 7/ 1
His all-round skills were so good that Miller remains one of only two Australians (Monty Noble, who played in the 1890s and 1900s, was the other) who scored more than 1500 runs and took over 100 wickets, and had a higher batting average than a bowling one. The difference for Miller was 14, which is easily the best among Australians.
STATISTICS COMPILED FROM S.RAJESH OF CRICINFO
IAN BOTHAM
Those were the sort of unbelievable performances that dominated the first half of Botham's Test career. At the halfway point of his 102-Test span, Botham had outstanding numbers, with a batting average touching 39 and a bowling average of 23. Of the 12 Man-of-the-Match awards he won in Tests, nine came in the first half of his career. From there, though, the skills gradually declined, thanks in part to a dodgy back, which especially hampered his bowling. From about the middle of 1982 to 1986, his bowling average went up significantly while the batting average dropped a bit too. He still put in top-class displays, most notably in the 1985 Ashes, taking 31 wickets in the series, which England won, but the frequency of such performances diminished. In his last six series there was little to write home about.
A career of two distinct halves Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM
First 51 Tests 2833 38.80 11/ 10 231 23.06 19/ 4
Next 37 Tests 1976 31.36 3/ 11 135 33.85 8/ 0
Last 14 Tests 391 20.57 0/ 1 17 57.52 0/ 0
Career (102 Tests) 5200 33.54 14/ 22 383 28.40 27/
During the six years when Botham was at his peak, he was the best of the four allrounders going around during that period. Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee were tremendous too - though Hadlee's best was to come later - but none of them matched Botham's consistency with bat and ball. During this period, the difference between Botham's batting and bowling average was 12.59. Imran and Hadlee had better bowling averages, but neither matched Botham as a batsman (though Imran's best as a batsman was to come later).
The four leading allrounders between Jan 1977 and Dec 1982 Player Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM Diff in ave
Ian Botham 58 3229 37.11 11/ 13 262 24.52 20/ 4 12.59
Imran Khan 37 1429 29.16 1/ 4 186 21.79 13/ 3 7.37
Kapil Dev 44 1904 32.82 2/ 11 172 29.68 13/ 1 3.14
Richard Hadlee 23 767 21.91 1/ 4 114 23.22 11/ 2 -1.31
GARY SOBERS
In fact, his bowling career can be divided into three distinct parts: till 1960, he bowled quite sparingly, taking only 43 wickets in 34 matches, without a single five-for. Then came the best passage for him as a bowler, during which period he delivered two of his most incisive performances: at Headingley in 1966 he returned figures of 5 for 41 and 3 for 39 to help West Indies win by an innings; at the Gabba a couple of years later, his orthodox left-arm spin was good enough to give him a second-innings haul of 6 for 73 and bundle Australia out for 240 as they chased 366 for victory.
Sobers' Test career as a bowler Period Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Till Dec 1960 34 43 47.25 118.7 0/ 0
Jan 1961 to Dec 1968 33 125 27.93 76.3 5/ 0
Jan 1969 onwards 26 67 36.94 103.6 1/ 0
Career 93 235 34.03 91.9 6/ 0
Sobers' Test career as a batsman Period Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Till Dec 1957 14 672 30.54 0/ 3
Jan 1958 onwards 79 7360 62.90 26/ 27
Career 93 8032 57.78 26/ 30
1.Gary Sobers
2.Keith Miller
3.Ian Botham 1977-82
Placed Gary at the top as though Botham had 5 tests where he performed the double of 5 wickets and a century compared to Sobers's 2 ,Gary consistently provided the more all-round threat to the opposition in the moral sense.Botham surpassed any feat of Gary's in the 1980 Jubilee test in Mumbai and the 1981 home Ashes but was not at his best against the best team of his time,West Indies or a full fledged Pakistan team.Ian benefited from playing against weaker Australasian or Pakistan teams during the Packer era.I would back Gary to consistently turn more games against strong opposition like he did in England in 1966 and 1970, versus Australia and against England at home in 1967-68.Gray's batting was a volume ahead of that of Botham,Miller or Imran and morale as a bowler even if he rated below was more versatile.Imran and Kallis were never at their best with both ball and bat while the burden of single-handedly carrying the brunt of the bowling attack took it's toll on Kapil Dev.Keth Miller was arguably the best match-winner as fast bowling all-rounder if you ***** the strike rates of his ear and number of tests played then.As a pure paceman Miller was ahead of Sobers and Botham.In the slips Botham was the best of the 3 as well as the most intelligent bowler.For sheer power Botham drew level with Sobers but was a league below in terms of technical skill.The figures of Sobers and Miller as bowlers have to be adjusted in accordance to their eras.They did not have contemporaries like Botham as allrounders in their era but overall were more head and shoulders ahead of other cricketers of their time than Botham.Significantly in 1982 Botham lost his battle in successive test series against Kapil Dev and Ian Botham.In flashes Botham overpowered everyone but was more prone to lose form than Sobers or Miller.Moralyl asessing era Miller was consistency personified to a greater extent than Botham.He performed outstandingly against more challenging oponents in the Ashes and completely overshadowed Botham in the Carribean.
Just to certify that statistician S.Rajesh has excluded Gary Sobers's outstanding performance playing for the rest of the world team in 1968 in England when he scored 583 runs and captured 21 wickets.As well as his unbeaten 254 at Melbourne for world team in 1972.
KEITH MILER
In the Test match arena too, Miller's batting was his stronger suit in the early days: in the first 20% of his career, his batting average exceeded 54 and his bowling average was less than 21, though he only took 27 wickets in 11 matches. In only his second Test, against England in Brisbane, he had match figures of 9 for 77, but that was an exception in what was largely a batting-dominated period in his career. Thereafter, though, the batting fell away slightly but the bowling remained lethal, as Miller formed a formidable combination with Ray Lindwall.
In his last year-and-a-half in international cricket, Miller's batting stats improved, but his bowling dropped off marginally. However, his highest Test score, 147 against West Indies in Kingston, and his only ten-wicket haul - against England at Lord's - both came during this period. He had also scored a century at Lord's on his earlier visit, thus making him one of only three overseas players - Vinoo Mankad and Garry Sobers are the others - to be on the honours board at Lord's both for batting and bowling.
Keith Miller's Test career Period Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM
First 11 Tests 599 54.45 1/ 3 27 20.85 1/ 0
Next 33 Tests 1685 32.40 3/ 9 100 21.77 3/ 0
Last 11 Tests 674 39.64 3/ 1 43 27.11 3/ 1
Career (55 Tests) 2958 36.97 7/ 13 170 22.97 7/ 1
His all-round skills were so good that Miller remains one of only two Australians (Monty Noble, who played in the 1890s and 1900s, was the other) who scored more than 1500 runs and took over 100 wickets, and had a higher batting average than a bowling one. The difference for Miller was 14, which is easily the best among Australians.
STATISTICS COMPILED FROM S.RAJESH OF CRICINFO
IAN BOTHAM
Those were the sort of unbelievable performances that dominated the first half of Botham's Test career. At the halfway point of his 102-Test span, Botham had outstanding numbers, with a batting average touching 39 and a bowling average of 23. Of the 12 Man-of-the-Match awards he won in Tests, nine came in the first half of his career. From there, though, the skills gradually declined, thanks in part to a dodgy back, which especially hampered his bowling. From about the middle of 1982 to 1986, his bowling average went up significantly while the batting average dropped a bit too. He still put in top-class displays, most notably in the 1985 Ashes, taking 31 wickets in the series, which England won, but the frequency of such performances diminished. In his last six series there was little to write home about.
A career of two distinct halves Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM
First 51 Tests 2833 38.80 11/ 10 231 23.06 19/ 4
Next 37 Tests 1976 31.36 3/ 11 135 33.85 8/ 0
Last 14 Tests 391 20.57 0/ 1 17 57.52 0/ 0
Career (102 Tests) 5200 33.54 14/ 22 383 28.40 27/
During the six years when Botham was at his peak, he was the best of the four allrounders going around during that period. Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee were tremendous too - though Hadlee's best was to come later - but none of them matched Botham's consistency with bat and ball. During this period, the difference between Botham's batting and bowling average was 12.59. Imran and Hadlee had better bowling averages, but neither matched Botham as a batsman (though Imran's best as a batsman was to come later).
The four leading allrounders between Jan 1977 and Dec 1982 Player Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM Diff in ave
Ian Botham 58 3229 37.11 11/ 13 262 24.52 20/ 4 12.59
Imran Khan 37 1429 29.16 1/ 4 186 21.79 13/ 3 7.37
Kapil Dev 44 1904 32.82 2/ 11 172 29.68 13/ 1 3.14
Richard Hadlee 23 767 21.91 1/ 4 114 23.22 11/ 2 -1.31
GARY SOBERS
In fact, his bowling career can be divided into three distinct parts: till 1960, he bowled quite sparingly, taking only 43 wickets in 34 matches, without a single five-for. Then came the best passage for him as a bowler, during which period he delivered two of his most incisive performances: at Headingley in 1966 he returned figures of 5 for 41 and 3 for 39 to help West Indies win by an innings; at the Gabba a couple of years later, his orthodox left-arm spin was good enough to give him a second-innings haul of 6 for 73 and bundle Australia out for 240 as they chased 366 for victory.
Sobers' Test career as a bowler Period Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Till Dec 1960 34 43 47.25 118.7 0/ 0
Jan 1961 to Dec 1968 33 125 27.93 76.3 5/ 0
Jan 1969 onwards 26 67 36.94 103.6 1/ 0
Career 93 235 34.03 91.9 6/ 0
Sobers' Test career as a batsman Period Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Till Dec 1957 14 672 30.54 0/ 3
Jan 1958 onwards 79 7360 62.90 26/ 27
Career 93 8032 57.78 26/ 30
