The all-rounder conundrum.

Further to our discussion of what constitutes an all-rounder some months back, here's another take. England and Australia both seem to be preoccupied in replacing Botham and Miller respectively.

http://www.watoday.com.au/news/sport/cricket/allround-conundrum-thats-yet-to-be-solved/2009/05/22/1242498925955.html

Australia isn't preoccupied by 'replacing Miller blah blah blah' at all. They've spent most of the last 30 years picking 6 batsmen, one keeper, and four bowlers ... fortunately most of those bowlers have been able to bat a bit, but Lee, Reiffel, Warne, Sleep, Merv Hughes, Fleming, Gillespie, Lawson et al were all chosen for their bowling, and any batting achievements were a bonus. What a bonus in Gillespie's case ...

McDonald is unlikely to play a significant role in this series. He's a tight bowler, designed to play a part if we need that sort of protection. He'll bat below Haddin and Johnson if he plays. Watson is a near Test class batsman who can bowl a bit, but who will cripple his Test batting career if he continues to attempt to do so. As I first suggested to a disbelieving Mr Cricket cum Gabba Dan 2-3 years ago, Watson would be best served quitting the bowling crease altogether, or perhaps bowling about as often as a late-career Steve Waugh, or even as little as Damien Martyn. His body can't hack a heavier work load. He isn't a new Miller, a new botham, or even a new Flintoff; and no-one in Australia expects that. Symonds was never an all-rounder ... in his early days he could bat a bit, although he was more of a hitter than a batsman, and he barely bowled at all, even at State level. He became a serviceable trundler at ODI level towards the end of his career, but he was never really more than a part-timer. IMO having Symonds at the bowling crease was a waste of a fine fieldsman.

Barring Johnson, an accidental batting find, there isn't a decent Australian all-rounder on the horizon. Ironically, perhaps, Miller was an accidental bowling find. If Johnson steps up a level to become a fine batsman, which I doubt, that would be an amazing bonus.

Cozzy is a great all-rounder.

Watson back to the top of the order please, and ... DON'T BOWL, TWAT, BECAUSE YOU KEEP BREAKING DOWN.

Watson's hard-handed technique is starting to get found out at the top of the order, as groundsmen leave a little more grass on the pitches compared to a couple of years ago. He should mimic Kallis and bat at 4, and bowl 10 overs a day.

Aus need to find a soft handed grafter at the top of the order to partner Warner. Ed Cowan would be ideal.

I'd be happy with him at 4, too. Just not risking his batting career by bowling any significant amount ...

Kallis isn't the tightly over-muscled bowling try-hard that Watson is.

Watson's problem seemed to come when CA told NSW he wasn't allowed to bowl in the Champions League a few months ago. It seems having a break from bowling and then starting back up again after a month is what caused the injuries, as he'd had a pretty good run of about a year being injury free.

Didn't Courtney Walsh and Glenn Mcgrath both say that they only got injured if they stopped bowling for an extended period of time? Perhaps Watson has a similar problem.

Watson's injuries go back years and years, though ... not just this last little patch. They've always been related to his bowling, and AFAIK they've almost always been muscular.

Henry wrote:Watson's problem seemed to come when CA told NSW he wasn't allowed to bowl in the Champions League a few months ago. It seems having a break from bowling and then starting back up again after a month is what caused the injuries, as he'd had a pretty good run of about a year being injury free.

Didn't Courtney Walsh and Glenn Mcgrath both say that they only got injured if they stopped bowling for an extended period of time? Perhaps Watson has a similar problem.

Freddie Trueman used to say the best way to prevent getting injuries from bowling was to do more bowling.

lardbucket wrote:I'd be happy with him at 4, too. Just not risking his batting career by bowling any significant amount ...

Kallis isn't the tightly over-muscled bowling try-hard that Watson is.

Fwiw I cringe watching Kallis nowadays, he's a more than decent bowler but he looks like he has to put so much effort in to bowl.

TAYne POCson surely isn't worth his Test place as a batsman alone? Come to think of it, Aussie batting resources probably are that poor these days!

Without the bowling he's basically an Aussie Mark Butcher, i.e. 50 and out... still, maybe a bit harsh on Butcher who did play an Ashes Test-winning innings once!

Red wrote:Further to our discussion of what constitutes an all-rounder some months back, here's another take. England and Australia both seem to be preoccupied in replacing Botham and Miller respectively.

I can hardly imagine Australia wanting to replace Botham now. I suspect in 1981 Australia would have tried to replace him with a pile of poo.

England did a good job of that with some of the "all-rounders" they tried in the late 80s and early 90s...

Oh, but currently the greatest allrounder in the world is...

Shakib Al Hasan.

Well, so much for statistics.

sh!ts all over Kallis as an all-rounder. I read somewhere that he'd been the top all-rounder for 10 years. What a joke. At least Shakib bowls more than 10 overs an innings.

To be fair, Kallis usually doesn't need to bowl more than 10 overs an innings with the pace attack at South Africa's disposal.

Stevie Nix is the classic all rounder...jack of all trades and master of none

Henry wrote:To be fair, Kallis usually doesn't need to bowl more than 10 overs an innings with the pace attack at South Africa's disposal.

No. Nope. Neh. Not 'to be fair'... he bowls 10 overs an innings, regardless of his teammates. He has no bowling affect on the outcome of series. He's trounced Bangla and Zim and to a lesser extent the Windies.... against the rest, he's totally shite. So, sack your idea of fairness - I'm holding Shakib's hand aloft and saluting the fact he has both facets of the game going on properly in his repertoire.