Although cricket is largely based around two specialist positions, batter and bowler, there are many players who can do both well and they are known as all-rounders.
Every bowler must bat in an innings and there’s occasions when premier batsmen may bowl a few overs, but an all-rounder is a player who is comfortable excelling in both areas of the game.
What is an all-rounder?
An all-rounder in cricket is a player who is highly capable with the bat and who can score plenty of runs as well as taking the ball and being able to secure wickets for his team.
In a typical cricket team, the best batsmen will be in the team for their batting prowess whilst the world’s best bowlers are not expected to perform miracles when it’s their time to bat. They’re simply there to take wickets and keep the score to a minimum total.
An all-rounder is a player who can perform in both areas of the game. When they bat, they’re more than capable of scoring high runs to boost the total and when the innings swaps over, they can take the ball and be a threat to opposing batsmen.
The value of an all-rounder is seen far more frequently in limited overs cricket when bowlers are only allowed a certain number of opportunities to bowl which means that an all-rounder is able to help out with the bowling duties plus also providing assistance in the batting area.
Who are some of cricket’s best all-rounders?
Below is a list of some of cricket’s greatest all-rounders.
- Andrew Flintoff (England)
- Ian Botham (England)
- Kapil Dev (India)
- Shaun Pollock (South Africa)
- Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)
- Ben Stokes (England)
- Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
- Keith Miller (Australia)
- Imran Khan (Pakistan)
- Garfield Sobers (West Indies)