The greatest all-rounder of all time - A relative statistical analysis

All-rounders are an integral part of modern cricket. A player who can get a couple of wickets and a few runs is indeed an asset to the team. And throughout the years, there have been many great all rounders, who have taken the game to a whole new level, thanks to their batting and bowling abilities.

Many might say that statistics do not show what a player is. But in my opinion, if a player is great enough, even his stats will reflect his greatness.

According to me, the best all-rounders of all time are:

1. Sir Gary Sobers

2. Sir Ian Botham

3. Kapil Dev

4. Imran Khan

5. Jacques Kallis

 

Batting Comparisons:

1) Batting average in test cricket

Player	Batting Average
Jacques Kallis	56.94
Sir Gary Sobers	57.78
Kapil Dev	31.05
Sir Ian Botham	33.54
Imran Khan	37.69

Here, instead of runs scored, the batting average of the batsman has been taken into account, because the number of tests played by each player is different.

The following formula is used

Points = [Value of stat considered (e.g, Average)/ Highest value for that stat in this list ] * 10

Based on that, the points for each of the players in the list would look like this

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	9.85
Sir Gary Sobers	10
Kapil Dev	5.37
Sir Ian Botham	5.8
Imran Khan	6.52

 

2)Batting average in ODIs

Player	Average
Jacques Kallis	45.26
Sir Gary Sobers	38.32*
Kapil Dev	23.79
Sir Ian Botham	23.21
Imran Khan	33.41

Here, Kallis has the highest average. Sir Gary Sobers played only one ODI and his List A average has been considered.

Using the formula,

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	10
Sir Gary Sobers	8.46
Kapil Dev	5.25
Sir Ian Botham	5.12
Imran Khan	7.38

 

 

3) Batting strike rate in ODI

 

Player	S/R per 100 balls
Jacques Kallis	72.97
Sir Gary Sobers	- *
Kapil Dev	95.07
Sir Ian Botham	79.1
Imran Khan	72.65

The batting strike rate of Sir Gary sobers is not available.Yet, his reputation for being a fierce batsman is well known. So by default, the points which he got in his first class average calculation will be considered for the batting strike rate. Here, Kapil Dev is a distant first with an amazing strike rate of 95.

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	7.67
Sir Gary Sobers	8.46*
Kapil Dev	10
Sir Ian Botham	8.32
Imran Khan	7.64

 

That is the batting analysis. Total points at this stage are:

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	27.52
Sir Gary Sobers	26.92
Kapil Dev	21.54
Sir Ian Botham	20.62
Imran Khan	19.24

 

 Bowling Comparisons

1) Bowling average in Tests

Player	Average
Jacques Kallis	32.63
Sir Gary Sobers	34.03
Kapil Dev	29.64
Sir Ian Botham	28.4
Imran Khan	22.81

Here to calculate the points for each player, a different method is used. Since the person with the lowest average is considered the best, the points will be alloted as follows:

(100-Average of player)   / (100-average of player with least bowling average) *100

Hence,

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	8.72
Sir Gary Sobers	8.54
Kapil Dev	9.11
Sir Ian Botham	9.27
Imran Khan	10

 

 

2) Bowling strike rate in test cricket

Player	S/R
Jacques Kallis	69
Sir Gary Sobers	91.9
Kapil Dev	63.9
Sir Ian Botham	56.9
Imran Khan	53.7

 

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	6.69
Sir Gary Sobers	1.74
Kapil Dev	7.79
Sir Ian Botham	9.3
Imran Khan	10

3) Bowling average in ODI

Player	Average
Jacques Kallis	31.69
Sir Gary Sobers	31.00 *
Kapil Dev	27.45
Sir Ian Botham	28.54
Imran Khan	26.61

 

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	9.3
Sir Gary Sobers	9.41
Kapil Dev	9.81
Sir Ian Botham	9.74
Imran Khan	10

 

4) Strike rate in ODIs

Player	S/R
Jacques Kallis	39.3
Sir Gary Sobers	63
Imran Khan	40.9
Kapil Dev	44.2
Sir Ian Botham	43.2

 

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	10
Sir Gary Sobers	6.09
Kapil Dev	9.19
Sir Ian Botham	9.35
Imran Khan	9.73

 

Total bowling scores:

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	34.71
Sir Gary Sobers	25.78
Kapil Dev	35.9
Sir Ian Botham	37.66
Imran Khan	39.73

 

Final Points Table

Player	Points
Jacques Kallis	62.23
Sir Gary Sobers	52.7
Kapil Dev	56.52
Sir Ian Botham	56.9
Imran Khan	61.27

 

Hence, by my standards, Jacques Kallis qualifies as the greatest all-rounder of all time; even though it is a flawed process which puts Sir Gary Sobers at the bottom of the list.