How valuable are all-rounders?

“Freddy” Flintoff’s heroics in the Ashes series highlights the role of all-rounders. Elsewhere in this blog I’ve indicated that the only plausible contestant to Bradman for greatest cricketer is Sobers. Is there any way that an all-rounder’s batting average may be manipulated to move Sobers closer to Bradman?

It’s tough.

One way to look a the issue is to say that playing an all-rounder avoids having to play another bowler with a typical bowler’s batting. So a rough measure might be: batting average plus (difference between bowling average and the average cost of a wicket in the relevant era). Here’s how the top all-rounders fare using a rough and ready average of 30 for the cost of a wicket.

Flintoff: 33.4 + (30-32.3) = 33.4-2.3 = 31.1 (bit of a shocker, eh?)
Sobers; 57.8+(30-34) = 53.8 (don’t fear, the Don!)
Miller: 37+(30-23) = 44
Khan: 37.7+(30-22.8) = 44.9
Kapil Dev = 31+(30-29.6) = 31.4
Botham: 33.5+(30-28.4) = 35.1

This obviously needs some work but suggests the somewhat shocking conclusion that all-rounders are not that valuable. Don’t tell that to the Barmy Army!