All Rounder Views

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An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists. Some wicket-keepers have the skills of a specialist batsman and have been referred to as all-rounders, but the term wicketkeeper-batsman is more commonly applied to them. Among the greatest all-rounders have been Imran Khan, George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes, Mushtaq Mohammad,Chris Cairns, Keith Miller, Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Jacques Kallis, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, W. G. Grace, Walter Hammond, and Wasim Akram.

There is no precise qualification for a player to be considered an all-rounder and use of the term tends to be subjective. The generally accepted criterion is that a genuine all-rounder is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place in the team for which they play.[citation needed] Another definition of a genuine all-rounder is a player who can through both batting and bowling (though not necessarily both in the same match), consistently win matches for the team (i.e., propel his/her team to victory by an outstanding individual performance). By either definition, a genuine all-rounder is quite rare and extremely valuable to a team as he effectively operates as two players.

Confusion sometimes arises when a specialist bowler performs well with the bat. For example, the great West Indies pace bowler Malcolm Marshall sometimes produced a good innings, but not often enough for him to be considered an all-rounder. Instead he would be called a useful lower order batsman . Equally, a specialist batsmen may be termed a useful change bowler and a good example of this type is Allan Border who once took 11 wickets in a Test match in 1989 when conditions suited his occasionally used left arm spin.[1]

One of the main constraints to becoming a recognised all-rounder is that batsmen and bowlers peak at different ages. Batsmen tend to reach their peak in their late twenties after their technique has matured through experience. Conversely, fast bowlers often peak in their early to mid twenties at the height of their physical prowess. Other bowlers, mostly spinners but also fast bowlers who can swing the ball, are most effective in their later careers.[citation needed]