SaintPowelly wrote:mikesiva wrote:m@tt wrote:SaintPowelly wrote:Greatest all-rounder ever in my eyes ( sorry Sobers )
Definitely seems the right time to go now though, enjoy your retirement Jacques.
The Dravid of all-rounders? Goes about his brilliance quietly, is possibly a tad under appreciated, and doesn't stand out as much as flashier players (Sobers being flashy, as well as brilliant).
I don't quite agree that Kallis was a greater allrounder than Sobers, though....
I was always taught that you subtract your bowling average from your batting average to get the statistical assessment of how great an allrounder is, and on that basis Sobers just edges Kallis.
Kallis, batting 55.12, bowling 32.53 = 22.59
Sobers, batting 57.78, bowling 34.03 = 23.75
But no other allrounder in the history of Test cricket comes close on that statistical assessment....
Sobers 93 tests..Kallis 166
Is Tendulkar greater than Bradman?
Playing lots of Tests don't make you greater than one who played less...they played less Test cricket back in the 1960s.
I always value averages over aggregates.
After his final Test, Kallis has improved his Test average, batting 55.37, bowling 32.65 = 22.72.
He still had more to contribute, clearly, but felt that he wanted to retire before he reached the stage where folks questioned his place in the side.