Top 5 all-rounders with 4,000 Test runs and 100 wickets
England all-rounder Ben Stokes has had a sensational 12 months in international cricket. He was the team’s talisman at the 2019 World Cup with 465 runs in 11 matches at an average of 66.42 and a strike rate of 93.18. He also chipped in with the ball, claiming seven wickets at an average of 35.14. England would not have lifted the World Cup but for his incredible batting heroics in the final.
In the Ashes series that followed, Stokes pulled off a miraculous victory at Headingley from a position of no hope. His unbeaten 135 would go down in history as one of the greatest Test knocks ever. In the ongoing Test series against South Africa, he helped England draw level at Cape Town with a fantastic all-round effort. At Port Elizabeth, Stokes became only the seventh cricketer to complete the double of 4,000 Test runs and 100 wickets. He is now on his way to be counted in conversations as one of the best all-rounders of all time.
Here’s a look at the top five all-rounders to have achieved the same before him.
#1. Sir Garfield Sobers
West Indian legend Sir Gary Sobers is the topmost name on the list. In a 20-year Test career spanning from 1954 to 1974, Sobers featured in 93 Tests and scored 8,032 runs at an average of 57.78. In a distinguished career, Sobers notched up as many as 26 hundreds apart from 30 fifties.
His highest of 365 not out came against Pakistan at Kingston in February 1958. It stood as a record for highest Test score for many years until another West Indian legend, Brian Lara, surpassed it at Antigua in April 1994. Sobers was present at the ground to witness history being created.
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Apart from 8,000-plus Test runs, Sobers also picked up an impressive tally of 235 wickets. His scalps came at an average of 34.03 with six five-wicket hauls. Sobers’ best in an innings was 6 for 73 against Australia at Brisbane in December 1968, a Test Windies won by 125 runs. His best match figures of 8 for 80 (5 for 41 and 3 for 39) came versus England at Leeds in August 1966. West Indies were triumphant in the match by an innings and 55 runs.
Note: All statistics as of January 19, 2019