Stats: Greatest Fast Bowling All-rounders of All Time

The rare breed of great seam bowling all-rounders

What is the rarest commodity in cricket? An opener like Virender Sehwag who can rip the opposition bowling on his day and end the match before the first day ends? How about a wicket-keeper like Adam Gilchrist whose mercurial batting form often launched cricket’s best counter-attacks? How about a fast bowler like Dale Steyn or Wasim Akram, who could conjure magical spells that would turn the game in the course of half a session? How about spin wizards like Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan who were at times impossible to handle especially on a fourth or fifth day track?

Who are the rarest in the game though, the breed every team has yearned for, desired, cherished and relished with a sense of nostalgia when they moved on? Isn’t it the fast-bowling all-rounder, the player who could score vital runs and pick vital wickets, especially with the new ball? The game has seen very few of them, so few that you could count the genuine fast bowling all-rounders in the entire history of Test cricket, with enough runs and wickets to back their claim with the fingers of your hand.

There are two kinds of fast bowling all-rounders. There are those who could bowl with the new ball but were predominantly batsmen, specialist batsman who could walk into the team on the strength of their batting alone. There are those who are predominantly new ball bowlers who could also bat really well, players who could play at No.6 or No.8 and add batting strength to their team. So, how do you determine who the greatest fast bowling all-rounder of all time is? Here are a few factors we will take a deep look at:

1. Runs and wickets, obviously.
2. Batting and bowling averages
3. The difference in batting and bowling averages
4. Centuries and five wicket hauls

The broadest criteria – 2000 runs and 200 wickets

This is one of the broadest possible criteria for a fast bowling all-rounder. We picked 13 fast bowling all-rounders who have managed the double in Test cricket. (Sorted by wickets)

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100s	Wkts	Bowl Av	5-fors	Ave Diff
N Kapil Dev (India)	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	29.64	23	1.4
Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ)	86	3124	151*	27.16	2	431	22.29	36	4.86
SM Pollock (SA)	108	3781	111	32.31	2	421	23.11	16	9.19
Wasim Akram (Pak)	104	2898	257*	22.64	3	414	23.62	25	-0.98
IT Botham (Eng)	102	5200	208	33.54	14	383	28.4	27	5.14
Imran Khan (Pak)	88	3807	136	37.69	6	362	22.81	23	14.88
WPUJC Vaas (SL)	111	3089	100*	24.32	1	355	29.58	12	-5.25
SCJ Broad (Eng)	84	2419	169	22.82	1	308	29.16	14	-6.34
MG Johnson (Aus)	71	2034	123*	22.35	1	306	27.94	12	-5.59
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	166	13289	224	55.37	45	292	32.65	5	22.71
GS Sobers (WI)	93	8032	365*	57.78	26	235	34.03	6	23.74
A Flintoff (Eng/ICC)	79	3845	167	31.77	5	226	32.78	3	-1.01
CL Cairns (NZ)	62	3320	158	33.53	5	218	29.4	13	4.13

The table clearly proves one assumption of ours at the start – fast bowling all-rounders indeed are a rare commodity, especially when you filter out the ones who had potential and sift the ones who realised that potential. Interestingly, as we inspect the numbers further, we will see that while Garry Sobers is considered by many as the greatest all-rounder ever for his ability to bowl pace and spin and bat and field brilliantly, he may not be the greatest fast bowling all-rounder of all time. His closest contender in that aspect, Jacques Kallis may not be the greatest fast bowling all-rounder either.

Some names in there, reek of unfulfilled potential, especially Andrew Flintoff and Chris Cairns. Flintoff was plagued by injuries and more importantly, for an Ashes hero, all is forgiven. Stuart Broad, Mitchell Johnson and Chaminda Vaas, do not even qualify as all-rounders in the strictest interpretation of the term. They are, what you might refer to as a handy bat, a good No.8.

The biggest surprise in that table though is Shaun Pollock, former South African captain, who had a genuine batting ability, with some crucial innings under his belt. Pollock was for long overlooked as a genuine all-rounder playing beside players like Lance Klusener and often walking in as late as No.9. But the numbers are right there to prove that any team in the world right now will be more than happy with his services even if he were half the incredibly stingy and immaculate bowler that he was.

2000 runs and 300 wickets

If we tweak the criteria a little bit more and pick those players who were genuinely good and had a good batting ability, the list becomes shorter. This is a list of players who have scored at least 2000 runs with 300 wickets. There are just nine players in the history of the game with 300 wickets and 2000 runs, Kallis missing out by seven wickets.

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100s	Wkts	Bowl Av	5-fors	Ave Diff
N Kapil Dev (India)	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	29.64	23	1.4
IT Botham (Eng)	102	5200	208	33.54	14	383	28.4	27	5.14
Imran Khan (Pak)	88	3807	136	37.69	6	362	22.81	23	14.88
SM Pollock (SA)	108	3781	111	32.31	2	421	23.11	16	9.19
Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ)	86	3124	151*	27.16	2	431	22.29	36	4.86
WPUJC Vaas (SL)	111	3089	100*	24.32	1	355	29.58	12	-5.25
Wasim Akram (Pak)	104	2898	257*	22.64	3	414	23.62	25	-0.98
SCJ Broad (Eng)	84	2419	169	22.82	1	308	29.16	14	-6.34
MG Johnson (Aus)	71	2034	123*	22.35	1	306	27.94	12	-5.59

1. Only six fast bowling all-rounders in Test cricket have more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets.
2. Only 10 fast bowling all-rounders in Test cricket have more than 3000 runs and 200 wickets.
3. Only two fast bowling all-rounders in Test cricket have more than 300 wickets and more than 4000 runs – Kapil Dev and Ian Botham
4. Only four fast bowling all-rounders in Test cricket have more than 200 wickets and more than 4000 runs – Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Sir Gary Sobers and Jacques Kallis. Interestingly, Sobers didn’t take all of those wickets bowling pace alone, another point in contention as we contemplate on the greatest fast bowling all-rounder of them all.

200+ wickets and 4000+ runs

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100s	Wkts	Bowl Av	5-fors	Ave Diff
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	166	13289	224	55.37	45	292	32.65	5	22.71
GS Sobers (WI)	93	8032	365*	57.78	26	235	34.03	6	23.74
N Kapil Dev (India)	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	29.64	23	1.4
IT Botham (Eng)	102	5200	208	33.54	14	383	28.4	27	5.14

• Only one fast bowling all-rounder in the history of Test cricket has scored more than 5000 runs and has taken 400 wickets – Kapil Dev. In fact, Kapil is the only player to have achieved this remarkable feat. Daniel Vettori, a spinner, came close but fell short narrowly on both counts.

Comparing the averages

Over the years, there have been two universally acceptable benchmarks to call a batsman or a bowler great. A batsman must have an average above 50 to be called great. A bowler must have an average below 30 to be called great. What would be a suitable benchmark for all-rounders?

Let us first take a look at players who averaged above 30 with the bat and below 30 with the ball. Just five fast bowling all-rounders have managed that and amongst them Imran Khan seems the most impressive by a massive margin. With his batting average, Imran would have made the team as a batsman alone and with his bowling average as a bowler alone – the hallmark of a true all-rounder.

One cannot be sure if that could be said of any of the four other players in the list below, although New Zealand were, for a while dependent on Chris Cairns, the batsman.

Batting Average of above 30 and Bowling Average below 30

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100s	Wkts	Bowl Av	5-fors	Ave Diff
N Kapil Dev (India)	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	29.64	23	1.4
IT Botham (Eng)	102	5200	208	33.54	14	383	28.4	27	5.14
Imran Khan (Pak)	88	3807	136	37.69	6	362	22.81	23	14.88
SM Pollock (SA)	108	3781	111	32.31	2	421	23.11	16	9.19
CL Cairns (NZ)	62	3320	158	33.53	5	218	29.4	13	4.13

About the only unfair aspect of the table above is the elimination of genuinely good batsman whose bowling average was a tad higher than 30. From our original mother-list of fast bowling all-rounders with 2000 runs and 200 wickets, we will find a few others if we create a different parameter – the average difference.

In other words, for a good all-rounder the batting average should be higher than the bowling average. Greater the positive difference more is the value of the player for the team. Kallis and Sobers will skew the differences a little bit with their stunningly high batting average, but the benchmark in terms of positive difference being the mark of a great player holds true.

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100s	Wkts	Bowl Av	5-fors	Ave Diff
GS Sobers (WI)	93	8032	365*	57.78	26	235	34.03	6	23.74
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	166	13289	224	55.37	45	292	32.65	5	22.71
Imran Khan (Pak)	88	3807	136	37.69	6	362	22.81	23	14.88
SM Pollock (SA)	108	3781	111	32.31	2	421	23.11	16	9.19
IT Botham (Eng)	102	5200	208	33.54	14	383	28.4	27	5.14
Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ)	86	3124	151*	27.16	2	431	22.29	36	4.86
CL Cairns (NZ)	62	3320	158	33.53	5	218	29.4	13	4.13
N Kapil Dev (India)	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	29.64	23	1.4

The table clearly has some exciting new pointers:

1. Kapil Dev, the only all-rounder with the 5000 runs – 400 double has the lowest positive average difference, indicating a higher bowling average and a lower batting average.
2. Kallis, the only all-rounder with 10000 runs and 200 wickets has a massive difference of 22.71 thanks to his high batting average, but will not necessarily be a force with the new ball. Kallis, despite his pace and ability to ball the heavy ball always remained a support bowler for South Africa. Although Sobers took the new ball a few times, the same is true even for him.
3. Shaun Pollock on the contrary, despite the high difference was never a batsman who could be considered for batting high up the order at No.5 or above, even though it would have been interesting to witness how that would have gone down.
4. Richard Hadlee’s batting average of 27 doesn’t make him a great fast-bowling all-rounder although the potential was all there. That leaves just two greats – Ian Botham and Imran Khan.

Why Imran and Botham would go down as the greatest fast bowling all-rounders of all time

A lot of Indians, South Africans or West Indians wouldn’t like it that when push comes to shove, we picked Imran and Botham for the final round of comparison. Here are the reasons:

1. High average difference – that is where they left the other great, Kapil Dev behind as Kapil had a high bowling average and a lower batting average compared to the other two.
2. Imran gets an extra point because of his remarkable bowling average of 22.81, the hallmark of a truly great fast bowler who could swing the ball both ways, reverse it and also bowl the sharp bouncer. Imran’s bowling average is almost six runs lower than Botham’s.
3. Imran Khan’s batting average is higher than that of Botham’s too, more than four runs.
4. Botham scores in impact game. Botham has 14 centuries compared to Imran’s 6. Botham had 27 five wicket hauls compared to Imran’s 23. In other words, Botham was more likely to produce a match defining performance with the bat or with the ball.
5. Having played 14 Tests more than Imran, Botham clearly had the advantage in the wickets column but it is hard to see how Imran could have scored more runs than Botham even if he played the same number of Tests. Add to that the fact that Botham scored a double century and the scales tilt in his favour further.

Conclusion

For various reasons on the spectrum, we managed to eliminate one or more fast bowling all-rounders. However, it becomes really tough to separate Imran Khan from Ian Botham. But, for the sheer mercurial ability with bat and ball, averages being important coupled with leadership qualities that have moulded many a greats for Pakistan, one has to hand the title over to Imran Khan.

Probably the 80s and 90s witnessed the most number of fast bowling all-rounders, who are dwindling with every passing day. With the retirement of Kallis and Shane Watson recently, the cupboard is almost bare.

It remains to be seen if Ben Stokes or Angelo Mathews would achieve the heights their potential suggests. Until then, all we are left with is the nostalgia for the kind of player player who had the ability to handle a new ball, whether as a bowler or with the bat in hand!