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Golden Age of Allrounders?


sandeep

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The T20 age will usher in a new era in cricket - one that will give rise to a lot more all-rounders - even test quality - than ever seen before.   This is because the T20 format incentivizes up-coming players to develop into a multi-tool player.   That's where the top dollar$ go.   In a T20 line-up - the more big-hitting all-rounders who can bowl a few overs, and a full quota of 4 on their 'good' day, the better your odds are of winning the game.   The slot at 4 through 8 - i.e. 5 players are open to players of this type.  While if you are just a bowler you better be good enough to make the top 3 short list - same goes for batsmen - maybe you take that 4th specialist bat if he's really good in an ODI.   Since the money incentives and spot availability in the lineup favors the 'all-rounder' - you can bet that every player in the business is going to attempt at developing his secondary skill.  Not all will succeed and be able to deliver on both sides of the ball of course, but when you have literally dozens of players auditioning for this role, you are bound to find a few who will end up doing well - at the franchise and domestic level to begin with, and eventually in international cricket. 

 

Even ODIs are slowly evolving into a long form T20 in terms of batting tactics and approach, where some teams go all out up front, and consolidate later if needed - others consolidate up front and then maximize hitting at the end.  Both scenarios still favor the big-hitting allrounder's selection over a specialist.   I would go as far as to say that the 2019 world cup will be won by the team that has the max number of international class all-round options in its team.   And of course a wicket-keeper good enough to bat in the top 5 as well.    England recently fielded an ODI XI in the India series, where even the #10 and #11 were no mugs with the bat.  Why do you think Cricket Australia has decided to give maximum exposure to the likes of Hilton Cartwright?   Why do you think James Faulkner is back in the mix of things?  

 

Ben Stokes/ Glen Maxwell/ Shakib Hassan / Andre Russell/ Dwayne Bravo/ Marcus North / Hilton Cartwright/ Hardik Pandya / Krunal Pandya / Mooen Ali / Axar Patel with improved batting / Rahul Chahar (u19 leggie who can bat - The list goes on and on.   You can even add the likes of Sunil Narine to this list - our Trini bhaiyya has gone the opposite route - transitioning from a stud spin bowling only option to a guy who can out-Gayle-storm any opposition on his day with the bat.  

 

And there is no doubt that out of the short list of all-rounders that end up making it at the international level - a good chunk of them are going to be put to use in test cricket - the last format which will resist the invasion of the all-rounders - you don't really need more than 2 - especially at the cost of a quality batter or bowler.  But a lot of the white ball all-rounders are going to be able to translate their skills when they play the 5 day version.   The success of Stokes and MoeenaLisa in test cricket, and the promising starts of the likes of Hardik Pandya and Glenn Maxwell is only the beginning.  

 

Its been a long gap since the days when Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee were the glory boys of cricket - sure we had a few pretenders and an ATG (Jacques Kallis) in the interim - but stay tuned.   The golden age of bonafide great all-rounders is coming.  And it will be here sooner than you think.  

 

 

 

 

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Spinning this thread on its head...

 

Why haven't there been more bowlers who can perform a dual role and therefore revolutionise the idea of an all rounder?

 

What I'm talking about is a bowler who can switch between two different types, let's say spin and seam up depending on pitch and match conditions. How useful could this be to the balance of a team.

 

In bygone years we have seen someone like Andrew Symonds bowl seam up and off spin and even a Tendulkar could bowl all sorts. But these guys were just part timers.

 

I appreciate it is difficult to master one type of bowling let alone two but I feel it could revolutionise the meaning of an all rounder if a player was to master two skills with the ball. 

Edited by WeStMiDz
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9 hours ago, WeStMiDz said:

Spinning this thread on its head...

 

Why haven't there been more bowlers who can perform a dual role and therefore revolutionise the idea of an all rounder?

 

What I'm talking about is a bowler who can switch between two different types, let's say spin and seam up depending on pitch and match conditions. How useful could this be to the balance of a team.

 

In bygone years we have seen someone like Andrew Symonds bowl seam up and off spin and even a Tendulkar could bowl all sorts. But these guys were just part timers.

 

I appreciate it is difficult to master one type of bowling let alone two but I feel it could revolutionise the meaning of an all rounder if a player was to master two skills with the ball. 

Two different skill set

 

However it reminds me of 96 WC manoj prabhakar was hammered both up front and later as a offspinner. I dont believe he ever player for India again. 

 

Edited by jf1gp_1
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42 minutes ago, jf1gp_1 said:

Two different skill set

 

However it reminds me of 96 WC manoj prabhakar was hammered both up front and later as a offspinner. I dont believe he ever player for India again. 

 

Obviously it's a different skill set but cricketers have mastered the art of becoming good at batting and bowling so why not attempt to master the art of two types of bowling...

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10 hours ago, WeStMiDz said:

Spinning this thread on its head...

 

Why haven't there been more bowlers who can perform a dual role and therefore revolutionise the idea of an all rounder?

 

What I'm talking about is a bowler who can switch between two different types, let's say spin and seam up depending on pitch and match conditions. How useful could this be to the balance of a team.

 

 

 

Gary Sobers bowled  seam, finger spin and wrist spin..... and averaged 34 with the ball in test matches  with 235 test wickets.

 

Karsan Ghavri could bowl both seam and spin and averages 33 in test matches with 109 test wickets.

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59 minutes ago, WeStMiDz said:

Obviously it's a different skill set but cricketers have mastered the art of becoming good at batting and bowling so why not attempt to master the art of two types of bowling...

I understand but show me one batsman who was Dravid in test and Sehwag in shorter format.

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13 hours ago, sandeep said:

The T20 age will usher in a new era in cricket - one that will give rise to a lot more all-rounders - even test quality - than ever seen before.   This is because the T20 format incentivizes up-coming players to develop into a multi-tool player.   That's where the top dollar$ go.   In a T20 line-up - the more big-hitting all-rounders who can bowl a few overs, and a full quota of 4 on their 'good' day, the better your odds are of winning the game.   The slot at 4 through 8 - i.e. 5 players are open to players of this type.  While if you are just a bowler you better be good enough to make the top 3 short list - same goes for batsmen - maybe you take that 4th specialist bat if he's really good in an ODI.   Since the money incentives and spot availability in the lineup favors the 'all-rounder' - you can bet that every player in the business is going to attempt at developing his secondary skill.  Not all will succeed and be able to deliver on both sides of the ball of course, but when you have literally dozens of players auditioning for this role, you are bound to find a few who will end up doing well - at the franchise and domestic level to begin with, and eventually in international cricket. 

 

Even ODIs are slowly evolving into a long form T20 in terms of batting tactics and approach, where some teams go all out up front, and consolidate later if needed - others consolidate up front and then maximize hitting at the end.  Both scenarios still favor the big-hitting allrounder's selection over a specialist.   I would go as far as to say that the 2019 world cup will be won by the team that has the max number of international class all-round options in its team.   And of course a wicket-keeper good enough to bat in the top 5 as well.    England recently fielded an ODI XI in the India series, where even the #10 and #11 were no mugs with the bat.  Why do you think Cricket Australia has decided to give maximum exposure to the likes of Hilton Cartwright?   Why do you think James Faulkner is back in the mix of things?  

 

Ben Stokes/ Glen Maxwell/ Shakib Hassan / Andre Russell/ Dwayne Bravo/ Marcus North / Hilton Cartwright/ Hardik Pandya / Krunal Pandya / Mooen Ali / Axar Patel with improved batting / Rahul Chahar (u19 leggie who can bat - The list goes on and on.   You can even add the likes of Sunil Narine to this list - our Trini bhaiyya has gone the opposite route - transitioning from a stud spin bowling only option to a guy who can out-Gayle-storm any opposition on his day with the bat.  

 

And there is no doubt that out of the short list of all-rounders that end up making it at the international level - a good chunk of them are going to be put to use in test cricket - the last format which will resist the invasion of the all-rounders - you don't really need more than 2 - especially at the cost of a quality batter or bowler.  But a lot of the white ball all-rounders are going to be able to translate their skills when they play the 5 day version.   The success of Stokes and MoeenaLisa in test cricket, and the promising starts of the likes of Hardik Pandya and Glenn Maxwell is only the beginning.  

 

Its been a long gap since the days when Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee were the glory boys of cricket - sure we had a few pretenders and an ATG (Jacques Kallis) in the interim - but stay tuned.   The golden age of bonafide great all-rounders is coming.  And it will be here sooner than you think.  

 

 

 

 

Interesting points and thread. Right now it seems like just a real lack of quality in those names when compared to genuine all rounder greats- though a lot of the current ARs are decent in their own right only potentially Stokes might end up being compared to them. Moeen if his bowling continues in the current upward trajectory- hope it does. England are uniquely blessed right now with a good set of allrounders or bowlers who can bat.

 

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Dibbly Dobbly allrounders have come and gone for years...standout allrounders are very rare....Ben Stokes & Shakib are the only ones worth mentioning in the game today very much like Freddie Flintoff, his team mate Moeen Ali is invaluable in tests, not too sure in the shorter version of the game, he would be hammered more often than not. Chris Morris is also good but blows hot and cold way too often. Hardik has loads to prove in overseas tours, but yes he has the potential. Carlos Braithwaite set the stage on fire in his debut T20 world cup, but since then is lost...Am personally a fan of Russell, but hasn't played too often for the international side to rescue West Indies from sinking....T20 performances have been overshadowed by Gayle, Simmons, Samuels and Sammy. Sammy has had defining moments in the world cup successes, but barring that there are not enough occasions where has rose to prominence as an allrounder. Ashwin and Jadeja are tigers in their own fortresses, but simply lack penetration or maturity overseas....

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Some of you (not all) appear to have missed the point of the thread.   Also not helped by the fact I just spit out my thoughts on this, stream of consciousness style, and didn't really organize my thoughts into a more properly put together post.  

 

Simply put - T20 economic incentives mean more players will aspire and attempt to be all-rounders, and that big jump in quality is bound to unearth at least a handful of genuine "test" quality all-rounders - at a rate not seen in cricket earlier.  I'm not claiming that the current lot is the greatest bunch of allrounders there ever was.  

Edited by sandeep
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This is just beginning to a change into an era demanding more skills from cricketers. Versatility of a cricketer would be more and more mainstream. Specialists remain but all rounders would carve a niche for them in all the teams eventually. Fitness requirements would also be more stringent. 10-20 years from now we shall clearly be witness to a better game in terms of both athleticism as well as overall quality of cricket.

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2 hours ago, Kerberos said:

This is just beginning to a change into an era demanding more skills from cricketers. Versatility of a cricketer would be more and more mainstream. Specialists remain but all rounders would carve a niche for them in all the teams eventually. Fitness requirements would also be more stringent. 10-20 years from now we shall clearly be witness to a better game in terms of both athleticism as well as overall quality of cricket.

    From this year onwards i will be looking keenly at 2 u-19 boys of India . Nagarkoti & Washington Sundar . These should do very

   well  and be in india ODI side in 2 years time if they progress well. 

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All rounder is someone who can get picked for either of or atleast one of the skills alone for the team and can contribute in with the other skill at times in the level of single skill players. Ashwin can get picked as a bowler alone and has contributed critically like a batsman scoring test 100s. Pandya can get picked as a batsman may be yes we shall see can he get picked as a bowler possible..Jad as a bowler in tests for sure, as a batsman has he contributed does he have a test 100 for instance. More allrounder choices than ever, great ones like Kallis and Botham could play purely in either skill area, we dont have one yet. 

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For limited overs, the number of allrounders is so high now. Many bowlers have to work on their batting skills to win selection. I think it is fair to say its a great period of allrounders. 

 

In tests its hard to get excited, because Kallis was such a legend as an allrounder. The current test allrounders are more wait and see projects IMO.

 

 

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