Top 5 modern day all-rounders in cricket

4. James Faulkner

James Faulkner

His recent exploits with the bat against England in the ODI at Brisbane earned him a guard of honour welcome from his teammates after he hit the winning runs. It is now almost made certain that Australia now have a great all-rounder at their disposal. One might think that his services may not be required with the bat considering that he bats at no. 8 or 9, but he has shown that he is no novice with the bat and has done great for his team on more than one occasion.

We all know how his left-arm pace and variations in bowling have been successful in getting wickets. He has 6 wickets from the only Test match he has played and, to add that, 30 ODI wickets from 22 games. But his record with the bat is equally impressive. He averages over 50 in ODIs, and can be relied on to deliver in the most crunch of situations that prevail at the time when he goes out to bat.

His 116 against India while chasing 383 was no ordinary innings – he almost caused a great upset with Clint McKay in a 115 run-stand for the 9^th wicket – before both of them fell when Australia still needed 58 to win.

He is a very good batting prospect down the order for the Aussies and irreplaceable in the pace attack. He can be expected to be a part of the Aussie team for a good part of the future, and that too in all formats. His finishing skills with the bat make him a very versatile player and have helped the Australians more than once before. He just has to stay fit and continue in the way he has so far.