An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists. Some wicket-keepers have the skills of a specialist batsman and have been referred to as all-rounders, but the term wicketkeeper-batsman is more commonly applied to them. Among the greatest all-rounders have been Imran Khan, George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes, Chris Cairns, Shaun Pollock, Keith Miller, Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Jacques Kallis, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, W. G. Grace, Mushtaq Mohammad, Lance Klusener, and Walter Hammond. With the advent of T20 cricket, the role of all rounder has changed prodigiously, with the vast majority of contemporary all-rounders typically fulfilling the role of an aggressive batsmen and a supplementary bowler.

Concept[link]

An all-rounder such as Andrew Flintoff is skilled at both batting (top) and bowling (bottom).

There is no precise qualification for a player to be considered an all-rounder and use of the term tends to be subjective. The generally accepted criterion is that a "genuine all-rounder" is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place in the team for which they play.^[1] Another definition of a "genuine all-rounder" is a player who can through both batting and bowling (though not necessarily both in the same match), consistently "win matches for the team" (i.e., propel his/her team to victory by an outstanding individual performance). By either definition, a genuine all-rounder is quite rare and extremely valuable to a team as he effectively operates as two players.

Confusion sometimes arises when a specialist bowler performs well with the bat. For example, the great West Indies pace bowler Malcolm Marshall sometimes produced a good innings, but not often enough for him to be considered an all-rounder. Instead he would be called a "useful lower order batsman". Equally, a specialist batsmen may be termed a "useful change bowler" and a good example of this type is Allan Border who once took 11 wickets in a Test match in 1989 when conditions suited his occasionally used left arm spin.^[2]

One of the main constraints to becoming a recognised all-rounder is that batsmen and bowlers "peak" at different ages. Batsmen tend to reach their peak in their late twenties after their technique has matured through experience. Conversely, fast bowlers often peak in their early to mid twenties at the height of their physical prowess. Other bowlers, mostly spinners but also fast bowlers who can "swing" the ball, are most effective in their later careers.^{[citation needed]}

One commonly used statistical rule of thumb is that a player's batting average (the higher the better) should be greater than his bowling average (the lower the better). In Test cricket, only three all-rounders have batting averages that are 20 greater than their bowling average over their entire careers: Garfield Sobers, Jacques Kallis and Walter Hammond. However, some other players have achieved such a differential over significant parts of their careers, such as Imran Khan, Steve Waugh, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson. (Michael Slater had a batting average of 42.8 and a bowling average of 10.0, but cases such as his are usually excluded by specifying a minimum number of matches, runs or wickets; Slater took only one wicket for a total of ten runs in his entire test career.) Doug Walters almost achieved the 20-run average differential with a batting average of 48.26 and a bowling average of 29.08, however he was generally regarded as an occasional bowler who could break partnerships rather than a genuine all-rounder.

In overall first-class cricket, there are several players with significantly higher batting averages. Statistically, few can challenge Frank Woolley who had a batting average of 40.77 and a bowling average of 19.87. Woolley took over 2000 wickets in his career, scored more runs than anyone except Jack Hobbs and is the only non-wicketkeeper to have taken more than 1000 catches.^[3]

Fielding prowess is another important consideration when assessing a player's all-round ability. Besides Woolley, other great fielders who are termed all-rounders include W G Grace, Walter Hammond, Paul Collingwood and Gary Sobers. They were all very athletic fields and safe catchers.

Essentially, an all-rounder is better at bowling than batting or vice-versa. Very few are equally good at both and hardly any have been outstanding at both. Thus the terms "bowling all-rounder" and "batting all-rounder" have come into use.^{[citation needed]} For example, in Test cricket, Keith Miller had a good batting average of 36.97 (but a higher first class average of 48.90) and an outstanding bowling average of 22.97, so he would be termed a bowling all-rounder.^{[citation needed]} Conversely, Gary Sobers had an outstanding batting average of 57.78 and a good bowling average of 34.03, so he would be termed a batting all-rounder.^{[citation needed]} The ideal of the genuine all-rounder is Imran Khan who had averages of 37 (batting) and 23 (bowling), which is very good as a batsman and outstanding as a bowler.

Sobers has been hailed as the "greatest-ever all-rounder"^[4][5] though, as the figures show, even he was much better at one discipline than the other. He was primarily described as a great batsman and a very good bowler. His distinctive capability was that he was able to bowl medium fast seam as well as wrist spin, having originally entered the West Indies team as a finger spinner. 90 out of 100 judges in the Wisden Cricketers of the Century award chose Sobers in their five selections.

An all-rounder who missed out on Test Cricket due to the apartheid era of the 1970s and 1980s was the South African Clive Rice. His first-class batting average was 40.95 and his bowling average was 22.49. Another outstanding South African all-rounder was Mike Procter who played only seven tests for the same reason, taking 41 wickets at an average of 15.02. His batting averages were 25.11 in tests and 36.01 in first-class cricket, and he scored 48 first-class centuries in 401 matches including an equal-record six in consecutive innings.

Notable all-round feats[link]

V E Walker of Middlesex, playing for All-England versus Surrey at The Oval on 21, 22 & 23 July 1859, took all ten wickets in the Surrey first innings and followed this by scoring 108 in the England second innings, having been the not out batsman in the first (20*). He took a further four wickets in Surrey’s second innings. All-England won by 392 runs.^{[citation needed]}

On 15 August 1862, E M Grace carried his bat through the entire MCC innings, scoring 192 not out of a total of 344. Then, bowling underarm, he took all 10 wickets in the Kent first innings for 69 runs. However, this is not an official record as it was a 12-a-side game (though one of the Kent batsmen was injured).^{[citation needed]}

The first player to perform the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in an English season was W G Grace in 1873. He scored 2139 runs at 71.30 and took 106 wickets at 12.94. Grace completed eight doubles to 1886 and it was not until 1882 that another player (C T Studd) accomplished the feat.^[6]

In the 1906 English cricket season, George Herbert Hirst achieved the unique feat of scoring over 2000 runs and taking over 200 wickets. He scored 2385 runs including six centuries at 45.86 with a highest score of 169.^[7] He took 208 wickets at 16.50 with a best analysis of 7/18.^[8] In the same season, Hirst achieved another unique feat when he scored a century in both innings and took five wickets in both innings of the same match. Playing for Yorkshire versus Somerset at Bath, Hirst scored 111 and 117 not out; and took 6/70 and 5/45.^[9][10]

George Giffen (1886, 1893 and 1896) and Warwick Armstrong (1905, 1909 and 1921) achieved the double in an English season three times, the most by members of touring teams.^[11]

Alan Davidson was the first player to take ten wickets and score a hundred runs in a Test match. Playing for Australia against West Indies at Brisbane in 1960-61, he took 5/135 and 6/87, and scored 44 and 80 in what became the first Tied Test. He was playing throughout with a broken finger.^[12]

Nineteen players on a total of 26 occasions have taken five wickets in an innings and scored a century in the same Test match. Ian Botham achieved this feat five times, and Jacques Kallis, Garfield Sobers and Mushtaq Mohammed twice each.^[13]

See also[link]

• Batsman
• Bowler (cricket)
• Double (cricket)
• Fielder
• Wicket-keeper
• Cricket terminology

References[link]

Cited sources[link]

• Benaud, Richie (2005). My Spin on Cricket. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-83393-9. 
• Pervez, M. A. (2001). A Dictionary of Cricket. Universities Press. ISBN 978-81-7370-184-9. 
• Trueman, Fred (2004). As It Was. Macmillan. ISBN 0-330-42705-9. 
• Webber, Roy (1951). The Playfair Book of Cricket Records. Playfair Books. 

Shane Watson

Personal information
Full name	Shane Robert Watson
Born	(1981-06-17) 17 June 1981 (age 31) Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Nickname	Watto, Danger man
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting style	Right-hand
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	All-rounder (Opening batsmen)
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 391)	2 January 2005 v Pakistan
Last Test	17 November 2011 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 148)	24 March 2002 v South Africa
Last ODI	4 March 2012 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.	33
T20I debut (cap 19)	24 February 2006 v South Africa
Last T20I	8 August 2011 lastT20Iyear = 2012 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001–2004	Tasmania
2004–2009	Queensland
2005	Hampshire
2008–	Rajasthan Royals
2009–	New South Wales
2011–	Sydney Sixers
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	List A
Matches	32	144	100	205
Runs scored	2,135	4,288	7,186	6,055
Batting average	38.12	42.50	45.19	40.09
100s/50s	2/16	6/25	17/40	8/36
Top score	126	185*	203*	185*
Balls bowled	3,164	5,036	9,389	6,922
Wickets	56	138	189	180
Bowling average	28.01	29.55	27.37	31.99
5 wickets in innings	3	0	7	0
10 wickets in match	0	0	1	0
Best bowling	6/33	4/36	7/69	4/36
Catches/stumpings	24/–	47/–	81/–	66/–
Source: Cricinfo, 22 November 2011

Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically.

He debuted for the Australian cricket team in 2002, playing his first One Day International against South Africa. While he has become a regular member of the one-day squad, Watson has played few Test Matches for Australia, having debuted against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2005. Despite being allocated to be Australia's designated Test all-rounder, injuries have often prevented him from claiming his position in the Test team. However, from the second half of 2009, Watson has acted as Australian Test opening batsman, along with Simon Katich.

Watson was awarded the 2010 Allan Border Medal and again in 2011, becoming the second player (after Ricky Ponting) to win back-to back Allan Border Medals. Watson's wife Lee, whom he married on 3 June 2010, is a Fox Sports Australia presenter.^[1]

Playing career[link]

Early career[link]

Watson was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 2000.^[2] He started his first-class cricketing career for Tasmania after leaving his home state of Queensland, but returned to play for his native Queensland as his international career was beginning. He has also played for Hampshire in the English County Championship in 2005. He regards Terry Alderman as one of his mentors.

International career[link]

Watson was selected for his first Australian team in early 2002, being selected to tour South Africa with the Test team after topping the Pura Cup wicket-taking charts for Tasmania, as well as steady middle-order batting performances. Australian captain at the time Steve Waugh stated that Watson would possibly be Australia's first genuine all rounder since Keith Miller and Alan Davidson in the 1950s. Watson expressed joy at being selected in an Australian team with Waugh, whom he cited as his idol. Watson scored an unbeaten century on his debut in a tour match, but did not play in the Tests as the selectors retained the same XI that had swept South Africa 3–0 in the Australian season. Watson did make his ODI debut on tour, ironically replacing Waugh, who was sacked after the team failed to make the ODI finals in the preceding Australian summer. Watson continued as a regular member of the ODI team until he suffered three stress fractures in his back, at the start of 2003, missing the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He was replaced by his Queensland teammate Andrew Symonds, who proceeded to establish his position as the all rounder after scoring 143* and 91* during the tournament.

Watson's injury sidelined him until the 2003–04 Australian season, and during his rehabilitation he played most of the season as a batsman, allowing himself to improve his batting skills while his back was still healing. During this time he smashed an unbeaten 300* for his club side, Lindisfarne.

Watson returned to regular ODI duty in the 2004–05 season, as a bowling all rounder. He also played in the Third Test against Pakistan as the fifth bowler, in order to allow Australia to play two spinners and three pace bowlers on a dry Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

Following England's Ashes victory over Australia in 2005 with a five bowler strategy, Australia responded by including Watson as the fifth bowler and all rounder in all Test matches. Watson stated his intention to emulate Andrew Flintoff, who played the analogous role for England. Watson played against the ICC World XI in the role, but he dislocated his shoulder in just his second Test in that designated role against the West Indies, after diving to field a ball. Watson was again replaced by Symonds and was unable to represent Australia for the remainder of the summer.

He was recalled for the one day squad for the 2006 tour of South Africa but was dropped when all-rounder Andrew Symonds returned from injury. Watson was looking to establish a place in the Test side when he got injured, and Andrew Symonds stepped in to fill the gap.

Watson had been previously criticised for his relatively flat bowling trajectory and inability to move the ball, reflected in his relatively high bowling average. Jamie Cox, a former Tasmanian team-mate and future Australian selector, felt that Watson was being mis-used as a bowling allrounder, believing that he was better suited as a conventional batsman and part-timer bowler, rather than a bowler who engaged in power hitting in the latter part of an innings.

This changed when Watson opened the batting for Australia at the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, alongside wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, instead of Simon Katich. In the competition he impressed with both the ball and bat, as Australia moved to their first Champions Trophy victory. Critics and captain Ricky Ponting cited his better strike rate, straight hitting and the ability to bowl as the reasons why he was selected ahead of Katich. After failing in the first two matches against the West Indies and England, Watson made a 50 in Australia's victory over India, which sealed their place in the semi-finals, and in the 2009 Champions Trophy was held in South Africa, Watson again played a prominent role, making two consecutive 100s against England and New-Zealand in semi-final and final, helping Australia to defend their title.

Ponting suggested that Watson would bat at the number 6 position in the Ashes series against England in 2006–07, and he was named in the squad. However, he came off the ground in a one-day domestic game the week before the first Test with a suspected hamstring tear, which ruled him out for the first three Tests. Michael Clarke was called up in Watson's place, and responded with a half-century, and then a century to cement Clarke's place in the team.

Watson was expected to be fit for the fourth Test on Boxing Day and the MCG in Melbourne, and because of Damien Martyn's unexpected retirement, it looked likely that Watson would be included in the side. However, another injury setback in a match for Queensland ruled Watson out for the rest of the Ashes series. Watson eventually returned in February to the ODI side, replacing Cameron White in the all rounder position, However he again broke down with injury during the 2007 Cricket World Cup and missed most of the Super 8's before returning in fine style smashing an unbeaten 65 off 32 balls against New Zealand. Injury again struck Watson in the early stages of the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 as he missed most of the tournament due to hamstring strain.‎ He was then out of action for the 2007–08 Australian season.

After Symonds was omitted from the Australian team for disciplinary reasons, and Watson took the all rounder's position for the tour of India in late-2008, batting at No. 6. During the Third Test in Delhi, he was involved in a series of confrontations with Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored a double century and reached his century by lofting Watson over midwicket for six. During the innings, Gambhir elbowed Watson while going for a run, and claimed that the incident was not intentional at a press conference, and claiming that Watson had no capacity to dismiss him. He later pleaded guilty and was banned for one match.

After returning to Australia, Symonds was recalled to the Test team and both all rounders played in the First Test against New Zealand in Brisbane. As the pitch was a green, rain-affected moist surface expected to favour seamers, spinner Jason Krejza was dropped to accommodate two seam bowling all rounders. After the match, which Australia won, Watson was dropped as spinner Nathan Hauritz was included and Symonds retained. Symonds continued to perform poorly, and there were calls for Watson to take his place, but both men then fell injured at the end of the year, Watson with a stress fracture. Watson returned to international duty in the ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE, scoring a century.

Watson in the field during Australia's tour of England in 2009. During the Ashes he replaced Phillip Hughes as opener.

He returned to the Australian Test side for the 3rd Ashes Test match at Edgbaston on 30 July 2009 when he replaced opener Phillip Hughes who had been struggling for form. In a rain interrupted match he made 62 and 53 batting alongside Simon Katich.^[3] He scored his second highest Test score of 96 against the West Indies in the Second Test in Adelaide in December 2009. He and Katich put on a century stand and he had reached 96 at stumps, only to inside edge his first ball of the next morning onto his stumps while attempting to hit a boundary to reach his century. In the Third Test, he made 89 in another century stand with Katich. In the second innings, he removed opposition captain Chris Gayle and then charged towards him, screaming in celebration directly in front of him. This earned him a fine from the match referee, and considerable criticism from much of the Australian public.

In the First Test against Pakistan, he made 93 runs on Boxing Day and featured in his third century stand in as many matches with Katich, but was run out after a mix-up with Katich in which both players ended up running towards the same end, again falling short of his debut Test hundred. On Day four, Watson finally made his first Test hundred. He went to lunch sitting on 98* and including the lunch break was stuck in the 90s for 106 minutes. After the lunch break he got to 99, and was then stuck there and could only get dot balls. He brought up his debut Test century in interesting style, hitting the ball hard to Abdur Rauf at point who put the catch down. The ball spilled away and gave Watson enough time to run through for the single he needed. His century came after 293 minutes off 186 balls with 9 fours and a six. When Ponting declared, he remained not out, making 120. Watson was awarded man of the match on 30 December for his role in Australia's Test victory.

In the second innings of the Second Test at the SCG, Watson fell short of another century, dismissed for 97. During this Test, the Australian Cricket Media Association presented Watson with Australian Cricketer of the Year Award.^[4]

In the first test of Australia's 2010 tour of India, Watson opened his account with his second test century – an attritional 126 runs off 338 balls on a slow, low Mohali pitch. The innings capped an excellent start to the tour, as he also scored a century in each innings of the warm-up match, albeit at a much brisker pace. He topscored again in the second innings with a run-a-ball 56, which proved vital in setting a competitive target as Australia's middle order again collapsed in spectacular fashion following his dismissal.

On 30 March 2011, Watson was named test and ODI vice-captain.^[5] On 11 April 2011 he made 185 not out off 96 balls against Bangladesh. Watson hit 15 sixes in this innings, breaking the record previously held by Xavier Marshall. He also scored the highest one day international score by an Australian batsman passing Matthew Hayden's score of 181 not out set in 2007.^[6]

Indian Premier League[link]

Watson played in the Indian Premier League for the Rajasthan Royals team. Signed up for US $125,000, he performed well with both the bat and the ball scoring four half-centuries to anchor his team to victory in three matches of the tournament and in the semifinals. He also picked up 17 wickets, won four man of the match awards in his first twelve games and also won the Man of the Series award.^[7]

On the back of his IPL performance, Watson was subsequently selected to replace Matthew Hayden in the one day series as part of Australia's tour to the West Indies, after Hayden had injured himself during the IPL season.^[8] Watson went on to establish himself as an ODI opener in the series.

Watson missed the second IPL season due to national duty and injury, and Rajasthan failed to reach the top four in the qualifying rounds. For 2011 season, Rajasthan Royals successfully retained Shane Watson along with the skipper Shane Warne.^[9]

Achievements[link]

Test Centuries[link]

Test Match Centuries of Shane Watson
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Home/Away
1	120*	15	Pakistan	Melbourne, Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	2009	Home
2	126	21	India	Mohali, India	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	2010	Away

ODI Centuries[link]

ODI Match Centuries of Shane Watson
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Home/Away/Neutral
1	126	69	West Indies	Grenada, West Indies	National Cricket Stadium	2008	Away
2	116*	77	Pakistan	Abu Dhabi, UAE	Sheikh Zayed Stadium	2009	Neutral
3	136*	89	England	Centurion, South Africa	SuperSport Park	2009	Neutral
4	105*	90	New Zealand	Centurion, South Africa	SuperSport Park	2009	Neutral
5	161*	118	England	Melbourne, Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	2011	Home
6	185*	132	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium	2011	Away

Test 5-Wicket Hauls[link]

Shane Watson's Test 5-Wicket Hauls
#	Figures	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	5–40	19	Pakistan	London, England	Lord's	2010	Win
2	6–33	20	Pakistan	Leeds, England	Headingley Stadium	2010	Loss
3	5–17	31	South Africa	Cape Town, South Africa	Newlands Cricket Ground	2011	Loss

At the Allan Border Medal night of 2010, he won the one day player of the year, was runner up for the Test player of the year and won the Allan Border Medal.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shane Watson

• Cricinfo page on Shane Watson
• Shane Watson profile at cricket.com.au

v t e Australia squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup (3rd title) 4 Gillespie 11 McGrath 12 Bevan 14 Ponting (c) 18 Gilchrist 25 Lehmann 28 Hayden 29 Harvey 30 Martyn 31 Hogg 34 Bichel 39 Symonds 43 Hauritz 46 Maher 58 Lee 59 Bracken Coach: Buchanan Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne and Shane Watson were named in the original squad but withdrew from the tournament