LOOKING at the ICC rankings I was struck by the list of the leading Test all-rounders. Given that the greatness of an allrounder in previous eras was their ability to be picked for either their bowling or their batting skills – Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee all met this measure – it struck me how few of the current top 10 fulfil such criteria.
Top of today’s list is Bangladesh’s Shakib-al-Hasan, who would get picked as either batsman or bowler. But thereafter, only Ben Stokes was a contender.
The others, Ravindra Jadeja, Vernon Philander, Ravi Ash...