Jacques Kallis: a class act in Tests and ODIs, with bat and ball © AFP

This is the third article to round off the series I had undertaken to analyse the players who played ODIs and Tests. The first looked at the top batsmen and the second looked at the top bowlers. This one looks at the top players over these forty years, combining batting, bowling and fielding. The base for this analysis are the two earlier analysis. So detailed explanations will not be given.

The key points are mentioned below.

1. Tests and ODIs carry equal weight of 50 points. I do not subscribe to the view that ODIs should carry lower weight. Over the years the best players have demonstrated equal commitment and performed at the top level in both formats. It would be unfair to treat these two formats differently. Let me confess that I would never accord any form of T20 this equal status.

2. Batting and Bowling carry equal weight, (viz) 45 points each, i-e, 22.5 each for Tests and ODIs. There is a very important adjustment made on these to take care of the specialist players. This is explained below.

3. Fielding carries a weight of 10 points, split equally between Tests and ODIs. 5 points will be given for 500 dismissals in both formats. I know this will benefit the wicket-keepers. Let me say that that is the main purpose, to reward the most difficult of cricketing tasks.

4. In summary, the following adjustments are built in the batting and bowling analysis. This has been given to preempt questions on these.
- Period based adjustment for batting average and strike rate (for ODIs).
- Period based adjustment for bowling average and runs per over.
- Weighted bowler quality for batting and batsmen quality for bowling.
- Quality of wickets captured for bowling.
- Peer comparisons for batting average and strike rate (for ODIs).
- Peer comparisons for bowling average and runs per over.
- Team strengths incorporated in batting and bowling valuations.

6. For the Batting and Bowling analyses, I had set 1000 runs and 100 wickets as the cut-off levels. However I have to do it differently here as otherwise, great specialist players such as Lara and McGrath will miss out. Hence I have kept the cut-off at 20 Tests and 40 ODI matches respectively. The cut-off for ODIs is kept at a slightly lower level of 40 to take care of the early years when a player could play for 5 years and play only 40 matches.

5. Finally the very significant and major adjustment I have done to benefit the specialist players. This is essential since the all-rounders start with a built-in advantage, securing points on both. In fact before this adjustment, 17 of the top-20 were all-rounders. The adjustment methodology is explained below.

- First the total of unadjusted batting and bowling points are determined.
- The proportion of batting points out of this total of batting+bowling points is determined. If this proportion is less than 0.33, the player is deemed to be a specialist batsman (who might or might not bowl) and his batting points are adjusted by upto 12.5%. The 12.5% will be applicable for pure batsmen such as Hayden, Gilchrist, Dravid et al.
- The proportion of bowling points out of this total of batting+bowling points is determined. If this proportion is less than 0.33, the player is a specialist bowler (who could hold a bat almost always) and his bowling points are adjusted by upto 12.5%. There is a slight difference to batting in that the bowlers always bat and will never have zero batting points. The highest adjustment of around 9% is for bowlers who are very average batsmen such as Alderman, McGrath et al.
- This adjustment is done separately for Test matches and ODIs to take care of varying player performances. Tendulkar is only a "batsman who bowls" in Tests, with 44 wickets, but is almost an all-rounder in ODIs, with 154 wickets. Similarly there are bowlers who have performed as a batsman more effectively in ODIs than Tests.

Since the Australia-New Zealand Test finished early on the fifth day I was able to include that Test and make these the end-of-season analysis. The impact of the Test is that Ponting slipped down a place while Johnson and Ross Taylor moved up.

Let us look at the tables. There is so much data that it is impossible to present everything. Since most of the data has been presented and discussed in the previous two articles, only the player analysis related tables are presented here. The first table shows the total points and Test/ODI split.

SNo TotPts Player name        Cty    Test    ODIs

  1. 60.80 Kallis J.H         Saf   31.06   29.74
  2. 57.42 Pollock S.M        Saf   27.16   30.26
  3. 56.96 Tendulkar S.R      Ind   26.57   30.39
  4. 55.30 Wasim Akram        Pak   23.97   31.33
  5. 55.17 Imran Khan         Pak   28.10   27.07
  6. 54.38 Kapil Dev N        Ind   25.24   29.14
  7. 53.48 Hadlee R.J         Nzl   27.14   26.34
  8. 52.83 Waugh S.R          Aus   26.92   25.91
  9. 52.12 Jayasuriya S.T     Slk   21.50   30.62
 10. 51.83 Richards I.V.A     Win   23.17   28.66
 11. 51.75 Botham I.T         Eng   27.47   24.28
 12. 50.65 Muralitharan M     Slk   25.58   25.07
 13. 49.59 Warne S.K          Aus   26.67   22.92
 14. 49.52 Cairns C.L         Nzl   23.05   26.47
 15. 49.09 Flintoff A         Eng   21.66   27.43
 16. 49.03 Border A.R         Aus   25.86   23.17
 17. 47.16 Hooper C.L         Win   20.99   26.17
 18. 47.09 Waugh M.E          Aus   21.97   25.12
 19. 46.68 Vettori D.L        Nzl   21.68   24.99
 20. 46.52 Chappell G.S       Aus   23.94   22.58
 21. 46.15 Vaas WPUJC         Slk   20.46   25.69
 22. 45.35 Sehwag V           Ind   20.49   24.86
 23. 45.28 Gayle C.H          Win   18.79   26.49
 24. 45.27 Ponting R.T        Aus   24.11   21.16
 25. 44.97 Gilchrist A.C      Aus   20.92   24.05
 26. 44.27 Lara B.C           Win   24.54   19.73
 27. 44.10 Waqar Younis       Pak   20.38   23.72
 28. 43.82 Marshall M.D       Win   24.10   19.72
 29. 43.40 Ganguly S.C        Ind   18.12   25.28
 30. 43.15 Shahid Afridi      Pak   14.74   28.40

Kallis sits at the top of this collection of outstanding players on merit. His status as an all-rounder par excellence is fully justified. A self-effacing performer, it is difficult to think of a single match in which he has not performed in one area or other. In international matches his tally of 21456 runs, 512 wickets and 255 catches is unlikely to be surpassed ever. As far as runs/wkts against average opposition teams, let me remind the readers of two things. One is that an adjustment has been made for the team quality. Sceond is that almost every top player, at one time or other would have got some relatively easy runs/wkts.

If there is a surprise at the second-placed player, it will only be an indication of the quiet manner in which the unheralded Shaun Pollock has performed in the international scene. And if there is a criticism of this high placing it will only be in the minds of the biased and partisan. In international matches his tally of 7300 runs, 814 wickets and 168 catches is an indication of his outstanding skills. His bowling average is either side of 24 in the two forms of the game. He Test batting average of 32.32 is higher than that of many an established Test batsman.

Tendulkar is next. What does one say of this great player, inarguably amongst the three greatest players of all time in anyone's book. How can a guy be so good in whatever he does. The best in many batting milestones, no mean bowler in ODIs and helped in Tests by the specialist player adjustment. That his still-increasing tally of international 31045 runs will remain forever the Everest to be scaled, like the 19-wickets capture of Laker, is undisputed. To boot, 188 wickets and 226 catches. Finally how can such a great player be so unaffected by success and adulation. A fairly dubious ball-tampering charge remains the single grey-mark in 21 years of playing at the top level.

Now come two Pakistani great players. First Wasim Akram, among the greatest left-handed bowlers of all time and a fearless attacking batsman. He overcame personal health problems with such a level of performance that he should be a role model for any aspiring sportsman. His international tally stands at 6615 runs, 916 wickets and 119 catches. Undoubtedly a candidate for the best ever left-handed all-rounder.

Then the charismatic Imran Khan. His batting only suffers in comparison to his bowling. His bowling performance against India in the series is among the best ever in the sub-continent. He missed over 15 Tests as a bowler, otherwise he would be placed higher. And let us not forget that his captaincy record is outside the scope of this analysis. His numbers stand at 7516 runs, 544 wickets and 63 catches.

The top-10 list is completed by Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Steve Waugh, Jayasuriya and Viv Richards. One could argue on the relative placements. However these ten are among the best players of all time.

Two each from South Africa, Pakistan, India and one each from Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies comprise the top-10.

Just outside the top-10 are Muralitharan and Warne. Many a specialist great player like Lara, McGrath, Dravid, Gilchrist, Kumble et al are outside the top-10, but in the top-30. This is understandable and should be accepted by all. After all we are talking about players, not batsmen or bowlers.

To view/download the complete table list, please click/right-click here and save the file.

Now for three more support tables. First the table showing the total points, split into batting, bowling and fielding.

SNo TotPts Player name        Cty    Bat     Bow    Fld

  1. 60.80 Kallis J.H         Saf   35.54   22.71   2.55
  2. 57.42 Pollock S.M        Saf   23.22   32.53   1.68
  3. 56.96 Tendulkar S.R      Ind   43.74   10.96   2.26
  4. 55.30 Wasim Akram        Pak   20.42   33.69   1.19
  5. 55.17 Imran Khan         Pak   25.33   29.21   0.63
  6. 54.38 Kapil Dev N        Ind   25.52   27.59   1.27
  7. 53.48 Hadlee R.J         Nzl   21.08   31.77   0.63
  8. 52.83 Waugh S.R          Aus   34.36   16.29   2.18
  9. 52.12 Jayasuriya S.T     Slk   31.08   19.21   1.83
 10. 51.83 Richards I.V.A     Win   38.07   11.66   2.10
 11. 51.75 Botham I.T         Eng   24.55   25.70   1.50
 12. 50.65 Muralitharan M     Slk    7.88   41.11   1.66
 13. 49.59 Warne S.K          Aus   13.48   34.21   1.90
 14. 49.52 Cairns C.L         Nzl   25.06   23.69   0.77
 15. 49.09 Flintoff A         Eng   24.21   23.94   0.94
 16. 49.03 Border A.R         Aus   35.34   11.01   2.68
 17. 47.16 Hooper C.L         Win   27.63   17.35   2.17
 18. 47.09 Waugh M.E          Aus   32.18   12.08   2.83
 19. 46.68 Vettori D.L        Nzl   20.90   24.61   1.17
 20. 46.52 Chappell G.S       Aus   33.52   11.57   1.43
 21. 46.15 Vaas WPUJC         Slk   17.24   28.12   0.78
 22. 45.35 Sehwag V           Ind   34.76    9.23   1.36
 23. 45.28 Gayle C.H          Win   28.97   14.66   1.66
 24. 45.27 Ponting R.T        Aus   41.82    0.28   3.17
 25. 44.97 Gilchrist A.C      Aus   36.07    0.00   8.90
 26. 44.27 Lara B.C           Win   41.43    0.00   2.84
 27. 44.10 Waqar Younis       Pak   10.20   33.41   0.49
 28. 43.82 Marshall M.D       Win   13.36   30.10   0.36
 29. 43.40 Ganguly S.C        Ind   31.53   10.18   1.69
 30. 43.15 Shahid Afridi      Pak   26.69   15.53   0.93

To view/download the complete table, please click/right-click here and save the file.

Now for the second support table. This shows the base numbers in terms of Test matches, runs, wickets, catches and averages.

SNo  Player name        Cty Mat  Runs   Avge Wkts   Avge Ct/S

  1. Kallis J.H         Saf 137 10843 (54.76) 261 (31.56) 156
  2. Pollock S.M        Saf 108  3781 (32.32) 421 (23.12)  72
  3. Tendulkar S.R      Ind 166 13447 (55.57)  44 (52.27) 104
  4. Wasim Akram        Pak 104  2898 (22.64) 414 (23.62)  43
  5. Imran Khan         Pak  88  3807 (37.69) 362 (22.81)  28
  6. Kapil Dev N        Ind 131  5248 (31.05) 434 (29.65)  64
  7. Hadlee R.J         Nzl  86  3124 (27.17) 431 (22.30)  39
  8. Waugh S.R          Aus 168 10927 (51.06)  92 (37.45) 112
  9. Jayasuriya S.T     Slk 110  6973 (40.07)  98 (34.35)  78
 10. Richards I.V.A     Win 121  8540 (50.24)  32 (61.38) 122
 11. Botham I.T         Eng 102  5200 (33.55) 383 (28.40) 120
 12. Muralitharan M     Slk 132  1256 (11.63) 792 (22.71)  72
 13. Warne S.K          Aus 145  3154 (17.33) 708 (25.42) 125
 14. Cairns C.L         Nzl  62  3320 (33.54) 218 (29.40)  14
 15. Flintoff A         Eng  79  3845 (31.78) 226 (32.79)  52

To view/download the complete table, please click/right-click here and save the file.

And the third support table. This shows the base numbers in terms of ODI matches, runs, wickets, catches, averages and strike rates.

SNo  Player name      Cty Mat  Runs   Avge- StRt Wkts   Avge-RpO Ct/S

  1. Kallis J.H       Saf 298 10613 (45.75- 72.4) 251 (32.01-4.8)  99
  2. Pollock S.M      Saf 303  3519 (26.46- 86.7) 393 (24.51-3.7)  96
  3. Tendulkar S.R    Ind 442 17598 (45.12- 86.3) 154 (44.30-5.1) 122
  4. Wasim Akram      Pak 356  3717 (16.52- 88.3) 502 (23.53-3.9)  76
  5. Imran Khan       Pak 175  3709 (33.41- 72.7) 182 (26.62-3.9)  35
  6. Kapil Dev N      Ind 225  3783 (23.79- 95.1) 253 (27.45-3.7)  63
  7. Hadlee R.J       Nzl 115  1751 (21.62- 75.5) 158 (21.56-3.3)  24
  8. Waugh S.R        Aus 325  7569 (32.91- 75.9) 195 (34.51-4.6) 106
  9. Jayasuriya S.T   Slk 443 13428 (32.43- 91.2) 322 (36.71-4.8) 105
 10. Richards I.V.A   Win 187  6721 (47.00- 90.2) 118 (35.83-4.5)  88
 11. Botham I.T       Eng 116  2113 (23.22- 79.1) 145 (28.54-4.0)  30
 12. Muralitharan M   Slk 327   660 ( 6.80- 76.7) 505 (22.74-3.9)  94
 13. Warne S.K        Aus 194  1018 (13.05- 72.0) 293 (25.73-4.3)  65
 14. Cairns C.L       Nzl 215  4950 (29.46- 84.3) 201 (32.81-4.8)  63
 15. Flintoff A       Eng 141  3394 (32.02- 88.8) 169 (24.38-4.4)  42

To view/download the complete table, please click/right-click here and save the file.

A few requests to the readers.

1. Pl check the complete table by viewing/downloading the link before rushing off with questions like "Where is Zaheer Khan" or "I don't see Javed Miandad".
2. Look at this as a list of great players. Apply the "Best amongst equals" philosophy. The best batsman/bowler need not be the best player and vice versa. Here all facets of the game are considered.
3. In your anxiety to push up your favourite player, do not pull down other players or countries. There are blogs and websites for that sort of diatribe. Not in this site or blog, though.
4. The usual request. Do not insult me, a fellow contributor, a fellow reader, any player or another country. Disagree with anything, but in a nice and cultured manner.
5. And finally, without clearly reading and understanding the article, please do not make statements like "Abc greater than Xyz. How can it be". It can be because of the numbers.