An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists. Some wicket-keepers have the skills of a specialist batter and have been referred to as all-rounders, but the term wicket-keeper-batter is more commonly applied to them, [1] even if they are substitute wicket keepers who also bowl.
There is no precise qualification for a player to be considered an all-rounder and use of the term tends to be subjective. 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 in the team. [2] Another definition of a "genuine all-rounder" is a player who can through both batting and bowling (though not necessarily both in the same match), consistently "win matches for the team" (i.e., propel their team to victory by an outstanding individual performance). By either definition, a genuine all-rounder is quite rare and extremely valuable to a team, effectively operating as two players.
Confusion sometimes arises when a specialist bowler performs well with the bat. For example, West Indies pace bowler Malcolm Marshall achieved ten scores of 50 or above in 107 Test innings between 1978 and 1991, but had a batting average of less than 19. He would be termed a "useful lower-order batsman", or indeed "a bowler who bats a bit". Equally, a specialist batter may be termed a "useful change bowler" and a good example of this is Australian Allan Border, who in a Test match against the West Indies in Sydney in January 1989 took 11 wickets for 96 runs (7/46 in the first innings and 4/50 in the second) as the conditions suited his occasionally used left-arm spin. [3]
One of the main constraints to becoming a recognised all-rounder is that batters and bowlers "peak" at different ages. Batters tend to reach their peak in their late twenties after their technique has matured through experience. Conversely, fast bowlers often peak in their early to mid twenties at the height of their physical prowess. Other bowlers, mostly spinners but also fast bowlers who can "swing" the ball, are still effective in their later careers.
In 2013, Ali Bacher used statistical analysis to argue that there had only been 42 genuine all-rounders in the history of Test cricket. He rated Garry Sobers as the best, followed by Jacques Kallis. [4]
One commonly used statistical rule of thumb is that a player's batting average (the higher the better) should be greater than their bowling average (the lower the better). [5] In Test cricket, only two players i.e., Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis, have batting averages that are 20 greater than their bowling averages over their entire careers. [6] However, some other players have achieved such a differential over significant parts of their careers, such as Imran Khan who across 54 Test matches during the 1980s averaged 44 with the bat and 19 with the ball. [7] Wally Hammond and Doug Walters managed differences of 20.7 and 19.2, respectively, between their batting and bowling averages, however, they were generally regarded as occasional bowlers who could break partnerships rather than genuine all-rounders. Based on an analysis of runs scored, balls bowled and wickets taken by batting position, it was suggested in a 2022 article that to be considered a genuine all-rounder, a player should average at least 49.3 runs and take at least two wickets per game – a record achieved by only 13 players in the history of test match cricket. [5]
In overall first-class cricket, there are several players with significantly higher batting averages. Statistically, few can challenge Frank Woolley who had a batting average of 40.77 and a bowling average of 19.87. Woolley took over 2000 wickets in his career, scored more runs than anyone except Jack Hobbs and is the only non-wicketkeeper to have taken more than 1000 catches. [8]
Many all-rounders are better at bowling than batting or vice versa. Very few are equally good at both and hardly any have been outstanding at both. Thus the terms "bowling all-rounder" and "batting all-rounder" have come into use. [9] For example, Richard Hadlee had an excellent bowling average of 22.29 in Tests and a passable (yet unspectacular) batting average of 27.16, leading him to be termed a "bowling all-rounder", while the same can be said about Jason Holder. Meanwhile, a player like Jacques Kallis (batting average of 55.37 and bowling average of 32.65 in Tests) is known as a "batting all-rounder". [10]
Also, batting all-rounders may not bowl much due to injury concerns (e.g. Corey Anderson, Angelo Mathews), or their batting skills are far better than their bowling to begin with (e.g. Kane Williamson, Steve Smith) to the point they revert to being known as a batsman. [11]
Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best known for a remarkable opening bowling partnership along with fellow West Indian Curtly Ambrose for several years. Walsh played 132 Tests and 205 ODIs for the West Indies and took 519 and 227 wickets respectively. He shared 421 Test wickets with Ambrose in 49 matches. He held the record of most Test wickets from 2000, after he broke the record of Kapil Dev. This record was later broken in 2004 by Shane Warne. He was the first bowler to reach 500 wickets in Test cricket. His autobiography is entitled "Heart of the Lion". Walsh was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1987. In October 2010, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was appointed as the Specialist Bowling Coach of Bangladesh Cricket Team in August 2016.
Wasim AkramHI is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He is often revered as The Sultan of Swing. In October 2013, Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As captain, he led Pakistan to the finals of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, where they lost to Australia by 8 wickets. He was a part of the Pakistani squad which won the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Jacques Henry Kallis OIS is a South African cricket coach and former professional cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as the greatest all-rounder ever to play the game, he is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium swing bowler. As of 2022, Kallis is the only cricketer in the history of the game to score more than 10,000 runs and take over 250 wickets in both ODI and Test match cricket. He has also taken 131 ODI catches. He scored 13,289 runs in his Test match career, took 292 wickets, and 200 catches. Kallis scored 45 Test match centuries and is the third highest test match run scorer in history. Kallis won 23 Man-of-the-Match awards, the most by any player in Test history.
Khondaker Sakib Al-Hassan is a Bangladeshi cricketer and politician. He is a member of Parliament. He is known for his aggressive left-handed batting style in the middle order and controlled slow left-arm orthodox bowling. He is widely regarded as the greatest Bangladeshi cricketer and one of the greatest all rounders of all time.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz is a Bangladeshi international cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh national team. A bowling-all-rounder, he is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. On 11 February 2016, he was awarded 'Player of the Tournament' at the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2016, becoming the only Bangladeshi player to achieve this honor in an ICC Event. In November 2018, against the West Indies, he took the best match figures for a Bangladesh bowler in a Test match. In February 2021, he scored his maiden century in Tests against the West Indies. In the same series, he became the fastest bowler for Bangladesh, in terms of matches, to take 100 wickets in Test cricket, doing so in his 24th match. In May 2021, he was the No. 2 ODI bowler in ICC Rankings, becoming the third Bangladeshi bowler ever to hold that position; the other two being Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak.
