Kapil Dev, Sir Ian Botham, Jacques Kallis – these are some of the first names that spring to mind when we think of some of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game.
What is it that sets them apart from an ‘all-rounder’ like Moeen Ali or Stuart Binny?
Far too often players who can do a bit with the ball and a bit with the bat get labeled as all-rounders. Even though such players are neither fully equipped to deliver as batsmen nor as bowlers, the overall package is thought to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Great all-rounders like Kapil Dev, Botham, Kallis, were not bits and pieces cricketers. They were absolute bankers in at least one of the disciplines it takes to be an all-rounder.
Kapil Dev was India’s premier performer with the new ball. Similarly, Kallis was a world class level batsman first and foremost. An Indian captain who wanted wickets would turn to Kapil and could rely on him to deliver and similarly a South African captain who wanted runs could trust Kallis to do the job.
Kapil Dev scored 5248 Test Runs at an average of 31.05. By itself this is not a great Test batting record, perhaps it is not even a good record. However, when those runs are coupled with the 434 test wickets (a world record for most test wickets back then) that he took in addition to scoring those runs, Kapil Dev’s becomes the twice the player.
Kallis took 292 wickets at an average of 32.65. In itself, this is not exactly the greatest bowling record in world cricket, but when the package also includes 13289 runs at 55.37, it is easy to see why Kallis was such an indispensable player for South Africa.
Jack of all trades, master of one
Most will be aware of the saying – Jack of all trades, master of none. Kapil Dev and Kallis went just a little better than that.
This is the basis for the making of a true all-rounder. An all-rounder should be able to get into the playing XI purely as a batsman or as a bowler alone – he must be a master in the art of either bowling or batting. If he can then make meaningful contributions in the second discipline as well, then it’s a bonus.
Even if you took away Kapil Dev’s batting he would still be among the first names on the team sheet and similarly, even if Kallis forgot how to bowl, he could get into the side on the strength of his batting by itself.
All genuine all-rounders were first and foremost absolutely reliable with either the bat or the ball. Be it the all-rounders already named so far or the likes of Imran Khan (362 wickets at bowling averaging 22.81), Pollock (421 wickets at 23.11), Sobers (8032 runs at batting averaging 57.78) or Hadlee (431 wickets at 22.29).
Bits and pieces
Those all-rounders who do a bit with the bat and a bit with the ball are rarely bankable in either of the two disciplines are jack of one trade and distinctly average in the other. This is not good enough for Test level.
Moeen Ali, for example, is not a go-to player with either the bat or the ball. Cook can’t rely on him to get wickets nor can he fully rely on him to get runs.
This may seem an odd statement to make in light of the fact that Moeen Ali scored over a 1000 runs in the past calendar year, However, there were numerous instances when he needlessly threw away his wicket playing risky shots.
It is the hallmark of a dependable batsman to put a price on his wicket, and not just throw his wicket away when the team is counting on him to bring the result home.
Most notably in the final Test of the India versus England test series, on the final day, England seemed on course to hold out for a draw. However, just when the England ship seemed stable, Ali charged down the wicket and presented an easy catch to mid-on.
This needless dismissal sparked an England collapse, which saw them capitulate and lose the remaining wickets in under two sessions to hand India a very unlikely win.
Moeen Ali averages 35.02 with the bat, and has taken 82 wickets at an average of 42.22. If Moeen Ali’s batting average had been 10 points higher, or his bowling average 10 points lower, then a case could have been made for him as a proper Test-level all-rounder.
However his stats indicate that he is neither a genuine batsman nor a genuine bowler, so how can someone who is neither fully a batsman nor a bowler, be considered an all-rounder?
All-rounders who are not good enough to get into the playing XI on one discipline alone often tend to become lotteries. They play in the side because on a good day they could score some handy runs, or pick up wickets, but more often they do neither.
India too have fallen into this trap in the past. Stuart Binny, who like Moeen Ali was neither fully a Test-level bowler, nor was he a Test batsman, and it is no surprise that the experiment of using him as an all-rounder didn’t work. It is better to play specialists ahead of such neither here nor there, lottery all-rounders.
All all-rounders don’t need to be frontline bowlers or batsmen. The point is that they should first fulfil a role for the team in at least one of the two primary cricket disciplines, even if the role is that of the fourth-choice bowler.
This is where someone like Ben Stokes is such a useful all-rounder for England. Stokes gets into the side as England’s 4th choice seam bowler first. The X-factor that Stokes brings with the bat is a bonus.
Of late Ravichandran Ashwin’s performances with the ball first and foremost, and the useful contributions that he has started to make with the bat, make him a prime candidate for entry into the genuine all-rounders club.
It is also true that genuine all-rounders are a rare breed, and not every side will have one. However what is also true is that teams in the past have won even without a truly genuine all-rounder, but no side has won consistently with someone who bowls a bit and bats a bit, being used as an all-rounder option.
For instance, the great Australian invincible Test team of the late 90s and 00s didn’t have any all-rounder of Kallis’ ability. However, that side didn’t fall into the trap of taking a bits and pieces cricketer and pretending they were all-rounders.
Even someone like Adam Gilchrist, who a lot of people will say was effectively an all-rounder, was a brilliant keeper first and foremost, and could get into the playing XI on the quality of his keeping alone.
This is the true nature of a genuine test cricket all-rounder.
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