Is Jimmy Adams the only player to ever complete this rare treble of achievements?

[mr_mister]

International century (6)
International five fer (2)

and five dismissals as a wicket keeper in an international match (done once in the '96 WC, 4 catches and a stumping with the gloves on)


Oh and he also opened the batting for his country and of course captained the side too




So yeah, Jimmy Adams possibly the most versatile player ever?

 

[Lillian Thomson]

He also did it all with a patch over his left eye and one hand tied behind his back.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

He also did it all with a patch over his left eye and one hand tied behind his back.

Hmm. A quick statsguru search reveals this to be untrue.

 

[Bolo.]

Hmm. A quick statsguru search reveals this to be untrue.

Your statsguru skills are lacking. Statsguru tells me this is correct, and that he had a wooden leg and a dead parrot glued to his shoulder while doing it.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm trying to think of other candidates.

Paul Collingwood definitely kept in a test when Prior was broken and ticks the "Michelle as bowler" box, but a quick check reveals he has precisely one victim as a keeper.

Rahul Dravid has bests of two wickets in an ODI innings as a bowler and three dismissals as a keeper.

AB de Villiers has 5 dismissals in an innings as a keeper and has taken two wickets in an ODI innings with the cherry in hand twice.

 

[honestbharani]

AB is obviously the most versatile. Guy opened the batting, can score direct hits tumbling around and not even facing the stumps, can get wickets bowling brisk medium pace swing, can keep well, and can make every bowler who ever bowled to him look like an idiot, and can take decent slip catches as well, and all while being the fastest mover in a cricket field every time he played.

 

[mr_mister]

Was AB's swing bowling as effective as you say

 

[Starfighter]

Was AB's swing bowling as effective as you say

I remember watching him bowl down here a few years ago, it was pretty awful stuff but enough to get a jammy wicket in the middle overs. I wouldn't count it as one of his assets honestly.

 

[honestbharani]

Nah, given his other skills the fact that he can actually get it to swing is the big thing for me. If we are talking about versatility, that counts IMO.

 

[Starfighter]

Dimuth Karunaratne can also get the ball to swing, so...

Another one of Adams's achievements was getting whacked in the face by a Dutchman. Not too many players with lengthy test careers have that.

 

[cnerd123]

Waqas Barkat of HK started his career as a wicketkeeper batsman, but now is a legspin bowling all-rounder. Only player to have scored a 50, taken a wicket, and carry out a stumping for HK in international cricket iirc. I think some other associates will definitely have a few cricketers like this - Namibia in particular.

Tatenda Taibu once bowled his full quota of overs in an ODI - 2/42 vs Sri Lanka. Wonder if we can find clips of that on YouTube

And Tim Zoehrer always features in discussions about wicketkeepers who bowl. In FC cricket he has a five wicket haul, a century, and probably 5 dismissals in a game as keeper too.

 

[mr_mister]

Nah, given his other skills the fact that he can actually get it to swing is the big thing for me. If we are talking about versatility, that counts IMO.

Literally 9 wickets across his entire FC/List A/T20 career (that's over 700 matches!)

ABDV is great but his bowling is not this extra string to his bow you think it is

 

[honestbharani]

Dimuth Karunaratne can also get the ball to swing, so...

.

Yeah but he can't keep or hit the stumps while tumbling around, so...

 

[cnerd123]

Literally 9 wickets across his entire FC/List A/T20 career

ABDV great but his bowling is not this extra string to his bow you think it is

Think of how many professional cricketers never bowl, or never take a wicket in their careers.

Granted its less of an impressive feat if you've played as much cricket as ABDV has. Given enough time almost any batsman who knows how to bowl a bit will end up getting nabbing a few wickets over the course of their career

 

[honestbharani]

Literally 9 wickets across his entire FC/List A/T20 career (that's over 700 matches!)

ABDV is great but his bowling is not this extra string to his bow you think it is

Where did I ever say anything of this sort? The fact that he can do all that he has done already at the international level plus ACTUALLY bowl swing at medium pace makes him the most versatile international cricketer I have seen. How does the quality of his bowling become a factor? My point is it takes skill to swing the ball and he had a bit of it, does not mean he suddenly becomes a wicket taking bowler.

 

[Starfighter]

Where did I ever say anything of this sort? The fact that he can do all that he has done already at the international level plus ACTUALLY bowl swing at medium pace makes him the most versatile international cricketer I have seen. How does the quality of his bowling become a factor? My point is it takes skill to swing the ball and he had a bit of it, does not mean he suddenly becomes a wicket taking bowler.

It really doesn't take that much skill to swing a ball, ball just needs to be in good enough condition with the seam oriented correctly. Actually controlling it is another thing, and if what I saw is any indication he couldn't do that.

 

[honestbharani]

Nah... if it was that simple many more of the batsmen who try to bowl would do it. Swing, is just like spin. To get the ball to deviate is in itself a skill.

 

[mr_mister]

Where did I ever say anything of this sort? The fact that he can do all that he has done already at the international level plus ACTUALLY bowl swing at medium pace makes him the most versatile international cricketer I have seen. How does the quality of his bowling become a factor? My point is it takes skill to swing the ball and he had a bit of it, does not mean he suddenly becomes a wicket taking bowler.

sorry dont mean to be rude. i just feel you were using his bowling as some final deciding point to claim ABDV is clearly the most versatile player ever, when i'm trying to actually base this on success in various disciplines, not just having occasionally done it over a career

even without his bowling i guess he has a decent argument. But i dunno i dont think id even consider him a part-time bowler. more of a 'has done it once or twice' type bowler

 

[honestbharani]

Well, I did see one spell of his where he was getting it to move around a bit. It was obvious he hardly ever practices bowling and was rather inconsistent with his line and even length, but the ability to swing the ball was definitely there and that is what makes it easy for me to call him the most versatile cricketer at the international level I have ever seen.

 

[mr_mister]

fair enough.

A couple of other big names who were certainly 'versatile' if not necessarily known for being great all-rounders

Chris Harris -

*A legitimate classical run-machine at FC level, averaging 45 from 131 matches and i assume mainly batting high in the order

*A completely different role as a late-order ODI finisher, and has the third most not-outs of any ODI batsman (but only an average of 29)

*His dibbly-dobbler super economic ODI bowling which brought over 200 wickets

*A great fielder and probably NZ's best from this era(but I'm basing this on anecdotes I didn't see much of him


Being a complete flop at test level i guess hurts him in some way but he's still definitely something i'm going for in this thread



Mark Waugh:

*Great success as a middle order test bat, 20 centuries

*Great success as an opening bat in ODIs, 18 centuries

*A five fer at both test and ODI level bowling his underrated medium pace in the early '90s. It seems like he could at least hit 130kmph for a time and had a decent bouncer before back injuries restricted him here

*Then he resorted to offies which were nowhere near as effective but he still was called on to use them a lot, at both the '96 and '99 world cups in crucial games he had long spells

*And of course he was a brilliant slips fieldsman, possibly in the top 5 ever and retired with 181 test catches, at the time the most ever


The fact he had long, long stints bowling completely different styles internationally helps his versatility argument a lot