From: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu (R. Bharat Rao)
Subject: The decade of the all rounder
Reply-To: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 00:31:26 GMT


The 1980's were surely the decade of the all-rounder.  4 stalwarts
graced the scene, any of whom could arguably be the second greatest
all-rounder of all time (any way the point of this post is not to
compare the 4 with Sobers but with each other, so if you disagree with
this, just go on to the next paragraph).

Warning, this post contains mainly subjective opinions, and is heavily
biased by the performance in the early to mid-80s 80s (when I was able
to see cricket regularly).  So, while all 4 were great, the question I
have often pondered; who was the best, or if I could have one of them
play for my country, which one would it be.

(those of you, who think that comparing them is a waste of time, may
hit `n' now and dispense with the flames :-)....

For starters, if you throw captaincy into the mix, there is absolutely
no question in my mind that Imran Khan stands at the top.  He was a
driving force in making Pakistan one of the top cricket powers in the
world, transforming them from a bunch of talented but inconsistent
players into a side that was a force to be reckoned with.  In this
way, he was similar to Clive Lloyd (who IMO was even better at this).
But, this unduly biases the picture.  So, for the rest of this note, I
will LEAVE OUT CAPTAINCY from this reckoning, and look at the 4 in
terms of their batting and bowling (and fielding).

Now, if we look at Imran, a somewhat strange phenomenon emerges.  He
was undoubtedly one of the top bowlers in the world in the early 80's
(he decimated India in particular), and his batting of late has been
excellent (witness his ranking, though suspect, in the Delliote
rankings).  Yet, there is something funny.  When Imran was a great
bowler he was a talented but inconsistent bat, and now while he is a
reliable bat, he is a shadow of the bowler he once was.  So while
Imran may have been a very good bat and a great bowler, IMO he was
never (or only for a short time) both at the same time.  This (in my
opinion) detracts from his greatness, so lets go on...

When comparing these players, there are two ways we can look at them.
One is career value which measures their total contribution over their
entire career.  The other is PEAK value, which is how good they were
at their peak (and I will arbitrary define peak as a 3-4 year
continuous stretch of top performance).  One could say that the peak
as the maximum of the hypothtical utility plot while career value is
the area under the curve (there, I had to inject SOME math in
there:-).

Now, there is no question, that at his peak Ian Botham was head and
shoulders above the other 3, at their peak.  He could and did win and
save matches single-handedly with BOTH bat and ball.  During a period
of 4 years he dominated cricket like no else did for a long long time.
While, he is now a pale shadow of his former great self, and it is
much the fashion to deride him at the net nowadays (and in spite of
the fact that I dislike him as an individual), IMHO at his peak he was
one of the greatest players of all time.  One can argue about Packer
and decimated sides and what-not, but until the fateful tour of WI
where he was made captain, his career was absolutely outstanding.  If
we look at PEAK value, none of the other 3 come even close, and while
it may be heresy to say so, he may even edge out Sobers at that great
man's peak.  The strange thing about both Kapil and Hadlee was that
their career really had no peak (or a very wide peak if you prefer)...
So the PEAK rankings are... Botham,Kapil,Imran,Hadlee.  In fact if I
were to put relative weights on the rankings, it would be Botham(20),
Kapil (13.5), Imran (12), Hadlee (11+).  BTW, let me stress that the
peak value is not not peak(batting) + peak (bowling) (in which case
Imran would be much higher), but peak (batting+bowling) and so Imran
slips down as his batting and bowling peaked at different times.

Unfortunately, 4-5 years of excellence, while amazing, do not make a
career, and if we look at career value, Botham slips to the bottom of
the list.  It is sad to say, but his performances post-1988 have
detracted from his career value.  So now, we turn to the other 3.

The decision of career value is a lot harder.  Sir Richard WAS the NZ
bowling attack for much of his career.  While his batting was not of
the class of the other 3, throughout his career he was one of the most
feared bowlers in the world.  What of Imran?  He was the among the
best bowlers of the world and one of the top notch bats, though not at
the same time.  As for Kapil Dev, he has been a model of consistency;
like Hadlee he has been the only force on the Indian bowling attack
for a long long time and a better bat (over his career, not
necessarily now) than Imran and Hadlee.  

This is a hard decision, and I wish I had not commited myself to
leaving captaincy out of the mix (as Imran would be the easy pick).
In fact, IMO all 3 of them had roughly equal career values at this
point (with Botham not too far behind).  So, if I were to rank them as
far as CAREER value goes, my ranking (in some sense relative to the
scale used for the peak value -- a 12-15 year career which was like
Bothm's peak throughout would be a 20) would be Imran (8+), Hadlee
(8), Kapil(8-), Botham (7).  Of the 4, IMO Kapil has the best chance
of overtaking the other two, since he is the probably the one of the 4
who is most effective at this point (Botham and Hadlee's careers being
over, and Imran close to winding it up).  So to summarize, *my* career
rankings (based on purely my subjective opinions)

	PEAK VALUE			CAREER VALUE (no captaincy)

	Botham (20)			Imran (8.2)
	Kapil (13.5)			Hadlee (8.0)
	Imran (12.0)			Kapil (7.9)
	Hadlee (11.0)			Botham (7)

All the above is my subjective opinion only... :-), before those
tigers come roaring out.

Even if you disagree with my rankings, I am sure that you will agree
with me that over the past 12-15 years we have seen 4 of the top 6-8
all rounders of all time, and they have given me a lot of enjoyment
and delight.

Bharat
--
R. Bharat Rao                          E-mail: bharat@cs.uiuc.edu 
AI Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
405 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801  (217)-244-1263 (O) 337-6498(H)
Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket