Impressive statistics, but Graham Gooch puts Hadlee's ability in perspective the best by saying,"Richard Hadlee at one end, Ilford seconds at the other."Īnd few other players can claim to have been so noticeably crucial in their team's outcome, justifying Hadlee's place amongst the great all-rounders of the game. This showed that whilst undoubtedly a bowling all-rounder, he was a capable batsman who could provide crucial runs nearer to the end of an innings. He was a handy lower-order batsman who would come in and throw his bat at the ball, ending up with a reasonable average of 27.16 which included two centuries and 15 half-centuries. He began his career as a fast opening bowler, but as he matured, shortened his run-up and concentrated more on moving the ball, something at which he is arguably the greatest of all time.Īt times, it seemed he had the ball on a piece of string in his heyday, best shown in his 9/52 effort against Australia. It was as a bowler that he is best remembered, taking what was then a world record of 431 wickets at an average of 22.29. New Zealand's greatest cricketer by quite a long stretch, Richard Hadlee was often the difference between New Zealand being a pushover or world beaters during his tenure at the top. When voting took place for India's cricketer of the century in 2002, it was Kapil Dev that won the award, ahead of greats such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. If you still need further convincing of his greatness, consider this. India would go on to win the tournament in a huge upset over the two-time defending champion West Indies, with Dev being the key figure in the tournament.
This being of course, his 175 not out against Zimbabwe at the 1983 World Cup, where after a terrible start, Dev came in and saved India from what would have been a huge upset. With the bat, he averaged 31.05 in a career which included eight centuries and 27 half-centuries.īut it is a One Day innings that he is best remembered for. This average seems relatively high compared to some of the other great all-rounders, but it must be remembered that Dev played a lot of his cricket at home in India on wickets that are far more friendly to spinners and batsmen, tending to hinder rather than help seam bowlers. He became just the second bowler in the history of the game to take 400 wickets, surpassing Richard Hadlee's world record in his final test, to finish with 434 wickets at an average of 29.64. He had a prolific test career spanning 16 years in which he earned a reputation as a consistent bowler and a hard hitting batsman. India's greatest all-rounder ever, and indeed India's greatest fast bowler, Kapil Dev is the first of the great 1980s all-rounders to appear on this list. Had he played longer, he may well have appeared higher up.īut that shouldn't take away from what he achieved, as finding a place on the list of the top ten all-rounders of all time is in itself a truly great achievement.
His test career lasted only from 1972 until 1977, which sees him slide on this list.
Few players can boast having this ability to bowl two styles at test-match level. He tended to be known more as a batting all-rounder, averaging 40.43 with the blade, scoring eight centuries and 20 half-centuries, a record that would see him make many sides purely as a batter.īut he did have a few more strings to his bow, capable of bowling both medium pace and right arm off break, taking 141 wickets at 32.20. Indeed, his fame as a commentator has perhaps eclipsed that of his playing days.īut to those who do remember, Grieg was a fine all-rounder who played 58 tests for England during the 1970s. Younger readers will know Tony Greig as being the South African-born English commentator, who currently resides in Australia and is part of the Channel Nine commentary team.