The Greatest All-Rounder of All Time

[Zinzan]

honestly even if you include the minnows it doesnt throw up any new names except vettori as a weak all-rounder. but it would change the stats of some of those cricketers most notably cairns' and kallis'. if these two are ever going to lose any of the polls by narrow margins i will pull up those stats and make the playing field tilt in their favor. is that okay with you?

Hey, it's not my thread, so it doesn't have to be okay with me

It's never going to be apples v apples regardless, but if it was me I would include Bang & Zim in this comparison. I suppose I can't help but remember Hadlee eating SL for dinner in the early days so can't help feel Cairns is sold short a tad in comparison

 

[bagapath]

Hey, it's not my thread, so it doesn't have to be okay with me

It's never going to be apples v apples regardless, but if it was me I would include Bang & Zim in this comparison. I suppose I can't help but remember Hadlee eating SL for dinner in the early days so can't help feel Cairns is sold short a tad in comparison

i think you're making a fair point. will include those stats during the polls

 

[Zinzan]

i think you're making a fair point. will include those stats during the polls

 

[BhupinderSingh]

I agree about Imran but I have one issue. His best bowling years and his best batting years hardly overlapped. By the time his batting really flowered he was bowling from experience and memory and really relied on the younger legs of Wasim and Waqar (even Bakht) to prop up the bowling.

Yes but Miller never took 10 wickets in a match and just took only 3 wickets per match.TBH,Imran has to be fairly ahead of him.

 

[andyc]

Odd dig.

 

[MrIncredible]

First time seeing this thread. IDK. At their peak it would be Botham, Sobers, Imran, Miller. But overall thats a toughie. IF i were picking an all time 11 i would have Sobers in b4 ne one of them because of his phenominal batting (his bowling an added bonus). Actually I think I would fit him in along side Imran. IMO imran is def in the top rung of great fast bowlers so he'd be in my XI.

Therefore:

Sobers/Imran
Miller
Botham
everyone else.

 

[subshakerz]

First time seeing this thread. IDK. At their peak it would be Botham, Sobers, Imran, Miller. But overall thats a toughie. IF i were picking an all time 11 i would have Sobers in b4 ne one of them because of his phenominal batting (his bowling an added bonus). Actually I think I would fit him in along side Imran. IMO imran is def in the top rung of great fast bowlers so he'd be in my XI.

Therefore:

Sobers/Imran
Miller
Botham
everyone else.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[The Sean]

Yes but Miller never took 10 wickets in a match

The Lord's Test of 1956 would like to have a chat.

 

[Jamee999]

World class at batting, bowling, drinking, smoking, partying, Ashes-winning, pedelo-commanding...

 

[zaremba]

Dr W Grace
Mr M Tate, once of Hayward's Heath
Mr W Hammond
Sir I Botham
Lord F Flintoff
That Aussie bloke with a Messerschmitt up his arse or whatever it was
That Kiwi with the indecisive wife
That Pakistani politician with those other chaps' indecisive wives
That Indian fella with the 4 sixes to save the follow-on
That West Indian spin bowling number 11 chap

in that order

 

[The Sean]

Dr W Grace
Mr M Tate, once of Hayward's Heath
Mr W Hammond
Sir I Botham
Lord F Flintoff
That Aussie bloke with a Messerschmitt up his arse or whatever it was
That Kiwi with the indecisive wife
That Pakistani politician with those other chaps' indecisive wives
That Indian fella with the 4 sixes to save the follow-on
That West Indian spin bowling number 11 chap

in that order

That Saffa Major who was as good a coach as he was a player?

 

[Matt79]

Yes but Miller never took 10 wickets in a match and just took only 3 wickets per match.TBH,Imran has to be fairly ahead of him.

Odd dig.

Not really. Today's the first time I've seen this thread, and upon seeing the title I thought "you can't have that thread without Bhupinder Singh!!". He's remarkably constant in he's monomania regarding Imran Khan being the best allrounder ever and ceaseless in his vigilance against any disrespect towards Imran. Haven't seen him post here for months, but not surprised this is the first thread he dug.

 

[Matt79]

The answer to the OPs question is: Shane Watson anyways.

 

[aussie]

My thoughts exactly.

Seconded. Although i strongly believe Procter could have been better than Sobers & Imran as pure all-rounders if he played more tests.

 

[subshakerz]

On second reflection, I looked over these amazing stats of Imran posted by Aussie. This was Imran's peak period (1980-88) with the ball during which he averaged a phenomenal 17, yet also averaged over 40 with the bat as well. How does this not count as the finest peak period by any all-rounder, or cricketer for that matter?

All-round records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

For one thing, this completely disproves the myth once and for all about Imran that he wasn't capable of being a full batsman and bowler simultaneously. During this period, he was also injured in 83 for two years yet was still selected as a batsman and did quite well.

The reason I would put this over Botham's peak (77-82, after which he was riddled with injuries and other problems) is that Botham faced many teams suffering the loss of Packer cricketers, and never really did well against the West Indies either. Imran had neither of those issues, and was captain on top of this.

 

[Ikki]

On second reflection, I looked over these amazing stats of Imran posted by Aussie. This was Imran's peak period (1980-88) with the ball during which he averaged a phenomenal 17, yet also averaged over 40 with the bat as well. How does this not count as the finest peak period by any all-rounder, or cricketer for that matter?

All-round records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

For one thing, this completely disproves the myth once and for all about Imran that he wasn't capable of being a full batsman and bowler simultaneously. During this period, he was also injured in 83 for two years yet was still selected as a batsman and did quite well.

The reason I would put this over Botham's peak (77-82, after which he was riddled with injuries and other problems) is that Botham faced many teams suffering the loss of Packer cricketers, and never really did well against the West Indies either. Imran had neither of those issues, and was captain on top of this.

Take a look at his batting position.

 

[Gowza]

between 3rd june 1982 and 2nd january 1992 imran averaged 51.60 with the bat and 19.90 with the ball and played 51 matches. there was a period where he averaged a smidgeon over 19 and over 51 with the bat, i doubt there would be anyone else who's ever managed those sort of stats over such a large period in test cricket, might have happened in FC cricket though.

 

[subshakerz]

Take a look at his batting position.

I'm not sure it matters that much. He still managed an average over 40 for a significant period while being phenomenally good with the ball. Aside from Botham, has anybody really come close to that achievement?

Even if he was a lower order batsman, he still produced the goods. And when he was injured as a bowler, he was still selected purely as a batsman and performed well, removing any doubt over his batting capabilities.

 

[aussie]

I'm not sure it matters that much. He still managed an average over 40 for a significant period while being phenomenally good with the ball. Aside from Botham, has anybody really come close to that achievement?

Even if he was a lower order batsman, he still produced the goods. And when he was injured as a bowler, he was still selected purely as a batsman and performed well, removing any doubt over his batting capabilities.

Yea exactly. I cant why him batting @ 7 is a problem. It was argubaly the best peak for an all-rounder in test history.

 

[aussie]

between 3rd june 1982 and 2nd january 1992 imran averaged 51.60 with the bat and 19.90 with the ball and played 51 matches. there was a period where he averaged a smidgeon over 19 and over 51 with the bat, i doubt there would be anyone else who's ever managed those sort of stats over such a large period in test cricket, might have happened in FC cricket though.

This wasn't when he was an all-rounder, combing quality batting & 90 mph bowling though. Imran bowling dropped off after WI 88, after that his batting got even better.

His peak years as an "all-rounder" was from Lahore 1980 to Bridgetown 1988