Top Eight All-Rounders in world cricket
English cricket is in pretty good shape at the moment following a history making test series win in India and although the ODI series may not be going so well, the team have only recently lost their number one spot in the rankings. However, it has been a struggle for the selectors to find genuine all-rounders in the mould of a Freddie Flintoff in his prime. The likes of Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan and Chris Woakes are in and out of the team in various formats so to see if we can find some consistency for the English we here at FREEbets.org.uk we look at the top all-rounders in world cricket.
8. Ravindra Jadeja
The 24-year-old Indian may not have really broken into the test arena as yet but he is making his mark in the 50-over game and it is probably only a matter of time before he improves on his one test cap thus far. There doesn’t seem to be a lot to his slow left-arm orthodox bowling but it has had batsmen in all sorts of trouble which has led to 69 wickets in 64 ODIs at a decent economy of 4.80.
He doesn’t always get much of a go with the bat due to India’s excellent top order but he is an extremely useful man to have coming in at number seven or eight. He averages just a shade under 30 with six half-centuries and a strike rate of over 80. He has a long way to go to become a complete all-rounder but he would certainly get into any 50-over side in the world right now.
7. Yuvraj Singh
Jadeja’s compatriot would be seen by some as just a part-time bowler but anyone who has claimed 109 wickets in ODIs has to be considered an all-rounder by anyone. Again he is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler who doesn’t look too dangerous but clearly he has ways of getting people out in limited overs cricket, just ask Kevin Pietersen.
His batting is unquestionably his strength though and why he is in the team and has played an enormous 281 ODIs for India. He averages over 37 with a strike rate over 87 with 13 centuries and 50 half centuries along the way and with the bowling to boot he is one of the most useful cricketers in the world.
6. Chris Gayle
Again you would call Gayle a batsman who bowls a bit but like Yuvraj he would always argue he is an all-rounder and with 72 test wickets and 157 in ODIs it is difficult to argue with the big man.
As mentioned he is predominantly a batsman and has outstanding figures in all forms of the game. Averaging over 42 in tests, over 38 in ODIs and possibly most impressively over 36 in T20s Gayle is arguably the most valuable batsman in the world game and certainly there are few players who a team relies on more than the West Indies on their main man.
His bowling is nowhere near as explosive as his batting but his slow off-breaks do enough and there will be many a full-time bowler who will love to have taken the amount of wickets that the Gayle force has.
5. Jacob Oram
Whilst the others thus far would not be referred to as true all-rounders, the giant Kiwi Jacob Oram is undoubtedly one in its purest form.
Coming in at seven for the Black Caps in recent years he averages an impressive 36.32 with the bat with five centuries in his 33 tests and has taken 60 wickets in the longest form of the game as well. He has majored in the 50-over format though playing 160 times for his country and whilst his batting has been his strength in the test side it has been his bowling in the ODIs. 173 wickets in 160 games at 29.17 is a great return and whilst he only averages 24 with the bat, they are always useful runs down the order.
4. Mohammad Hafeez
The Pakistan all-rounder has turned out the best part of200 times for his country across all formats and although his primary role is as a batsman he has been known to open the bowling in the limited over matches.
He is there to keep things tight at the top of the innings and his bowling average of just slightly over 4.00 in ODIs proves he has done that, and with 92 wickets to his name in that format he clearly does some damage as well. He has just 29 wickets in tests but his batting average is only just below 40 in the five-day game which is very good at world level.
His statistics may not be quite as impressive as a Yuvraj or a Gayle but his deployment as an opening bowler rather than a filler-in along with his batting just moves him up this list.
3. Shakib Al hasan
The 25-year-old is testament to how much cricket in Bangladesh is improving given that they have produced a player that would undoubtedly get into any other international side in the world. Shakib has so few weaknesses in his game which sees his stats with bat and ball across all three forms stack up with the best around.
Averaging over 35 with the bat in both tests and ODIs is excellent work from the man from Jessore and couple this with 160 one day wickets in 126 matches and more impressively 102 wickets in just 28 tests with his slow left-arm bowling. Without being disrespectful to Bangladesh, these figures in a team that loses the vast majority of matches they compete in is a wonderful achievement and at just 25 he has all the time in the world to improve on them even further.
2. Shane Watson
It was not clear how the Australian’s career was going to turn out during his twenties when numerous injuries and moves up and down the batting order continually disrupted his progress but at 31 he is now in our eyes at FREEbets.org.uk the second best all-rounder on the planet.
Now an opener with the bat in all forms he averages nearly 40 in tests and over that milestone in ODIs but it is T20s that is really incredible where he has hit 10 half-centuries and averages over 30 at an unbelievable strike rate of 148.48.
He has 62 test wickets, 155 ODI wickets and again possibly most impressively he has taken 35 T20 wickets at an average of just 20.42. He has become an integral part of the Australian line-up in all three forms with both bat and ball and that is some achievement by anybody’s standards.
1. Jacques Kallis
Although there will be plenty of debate lower down this list there was only ever going to be one man at the numberone spot and few will argue that Jacques Kallis thoroughly deserves that title. The only real debate is whether he is the greatest of all time or not and many would say he is.
Even at 37-years-old he still plays in all three forms and excels with bat and ball in each defying age and weight in the process. His test batting average is a quite outrageous 56.73 and couple this with 285 test wickets and you can see why some would say he is the best in history.
His stats in limited over matches are equally impressive averaging over 45 with the bat in 50-overs and taking 270 wickets whilst in T20s he averages over 35 with the bat and under 28 with the ball.
In terms of numbers Kallis is an absolute freak and if we ever see anyone match the kind of numbers he has achieved again then we will be very lucky cricket watchers.