What is All-rounder?

An all-rounder is a cricket player who excels at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat, and most batsmen end up bowling occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines. Wicket-keepers who are also very good batsmen (such as Adam Gilchrist) are considered by some to be all-rounders.

Definition

There is some confusion as to the precise definition that a player needs to fit in order to be considered an all-rounder. The generally accepted criterion is that a genuine all-rounder is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place on the team. By this definition, true all-rounders are quite rare, and extremely valuable to a team since they effectively count as two players. More commonly, all-rounders are better at bowling than batting or vice versa. Thus the terms "bowling all-rounder" or "batting all-rounder" are used to describe such players.

One commonly used statistical rule of thumb is that the batting average of an all-rounder (the higher the better) should be greater than the bowling average (the lower the better). For example, Imran Khan had the combined Test cricket averages of 37.69 with the bat and 22.81 with the ball; likewise, Keith Miller had 36.97 and 22.97, and; Ian Botham had 33.34 and 28.40 respectively. The need to excel in both departments complicates comparison between players, especially when they played under the differing conditions of disparate historical eras.

The issue is clouded by the many specialist batsmen and bowlers who exhibit some degree of skill in the other department. For example, the Australian bowler Brett Lee has batting ability, but is not good enough to be selected as a Test batsman in his own right. There is no agreement whether players in this class, including batsmen who can bowl a few useful overs such as Sachin Tendulkar, are to be considered all-rounders.

VE Walker and EM Grace

Two of the most amazing all-round feats took place within three years of each other in the 19th century.

First, VE Walker of Middlesex, playing for All-England versus Surrey at The Oval on 21, 22 & 23 July 1859, took all ten wickets in the Surrey first innings and followed this by scoring 108 in the England second innings, having been the not out batsman in the first (20*). He took a further four wickets in Surrey’s second innings. All-England won by 392 runs.

Next came EM Grace on 15 August 1862. He carried his bat through the entire MCC innings, scoring 192 not out of a total of 344. He then, bowling underarm, took all 10 wickets in the Kent first innings for 69 runs. However, this is not an official record as it was a 12-a-side game (though one of the Kent batsmen was injured).

Fielding prowess

A further confusion to all-rounder status is added when fielding is considered. Particularly in the modern game great emphasis is put on fielding skills and some exceptional fielders have been considered "all-rounders" by some, Jonty Rhodes being a prime example. If one is to consider all three disciplines then Frank Woolley perhaps stands alone. He is the only player to take 1000 first class catches (excluding wicket-keepers), only Jack Hobbs has scored more first class runs and he took over 2000 wickets at an average of less than 20.

List of batting all-rounders

• Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
• Paul Collingwood (England)
• Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
• Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
• Justin Kemp (South Africa)
• Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)
• Scott Styris (New Zealand)
• Shane Watson (Australia)

List of bowling all-rounders

• Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)
• Azhar Mahmood (Pakistan)
• Andrew Flintoff (England)
• Jacob Oram (New Zealand)
• Irfan Pathan (India)
• Shaun Pollock (South Africa)
• Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka)
• Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)

List of wicketkeeper-batsmen

• Mahendra Dhoni (India)
• Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
• Matthew Prior (England)
• Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

List of historical all-rounders

• Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan)
• Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
• Gubby Allen (England)
• Les Ames (England) (wicket-keeper/batsman)
• Asif Iqbal (Pakistan)
• Trevor Bailey (England)
• Eddie Barlow (South Africa)
• Richie Benaud (Australia)
• Ian Botham (England)
• Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
• Lance Cairns (New Zealand)
• Hansie Cronje (South Africa)
• Alan Davidson (Australia)
• Ted Dexter (England)
• Basil D'Oliveira (England)
• Aubrey Faulkner (South Africa)
• Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) (wicket-keeper/batsman)
• CB Fry (England)
• George Giffen (Australia)
• Trevor Goddard (South Africa)
• EM Grace (England)
• WG Grace (England)
• Jack Gregory (Australia)
• Tony Greig (England)
• Sir Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)
• Andrew Hall (South Africa)
• Wally Hammond (England)
• Chris Harris (New Zealand)
• George Herbert Hirst (England)
• Carl Hooper (West Indies)
• Ray Illingworth (England)
• Gilbert Jessop (England)
• Imran Khan (Pakistan)
• Kapil Dev (India)
• Lance Klusener (South Africa)
• Denis Lindsay (South Africa) (wicket-keeper/batsman)
• Brian McMillan (South Africa)
• Vinoo Mankad (India)
• Keith Miller (Australia)
• Mike Procter (South Africa)
• Paul Reiffel (Australia)
• Clive Rice (South Africa))
• Wilfred Rhodes (England)
• Ravi Shastri (India)
• Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
• Alec Stewart (England) (wicket-keeper/batsman)
• Paul Strang (Zimbabwe)
• Heath Streak (Zimbabwe)
• Bruce Taylor (New Zealand)
• Fred Titmus (England)
• Clyde Walcott (West Indies) (wicket-keeper/batsman)
• Guy Whittall (Zimbabwe)
• Frank Woolley (England)
• Frank Worrell (West Indies)

See also

• Batsman
• Bowler (cricket)
• Double (cricket)
• Fielder
• Wicket-keeper
• Cricket terminology
• Five-tool player

References

• ¹ www.cricinfo.com
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack