Introduction
You have been warned. This one’s for hardcore cricket nuts. Red-ball nuts. Five-day nuts. The hardest of the hardcore. No coloured pajamas here.
This post is to celebrate all-rounders. More particularly, men who have done “the double” of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Test cricket. (At this stage, my analysis only covers the men’s game. As and when I find, and get used to analysing, Test statistics related to the women’s game, I shall write a similar post. Until then, please forgive the bias, it’s an availability and access and usage issue which will improve).
As far as I can make out, there have been 3186 male Test cricketers so far, and all my analysis is based on that set of players. Please let me know if you find any factual errors in this post, I’d be very grateful.
So.
The hard stuff
We have 3186 players, men who have played in at least one Test match.
Of the 3186, 586 have scored 1000 runs or more in their careers.
Of the 3186, 198 have taken at least 100 wickets.
There are only 75 men who have done both.
Let’s take a closer look at the 75. All my data is as of yesterday, 25th August 2024. The time-slice I have put players in is based on when they ended their careers, rather than when they may have completed their particular type of double.
20 of them have done the double, and no more. They’ve scored 1000 runs and taken 100 wickets. Here’s the full list:
Before 1961: I Johnson (AUS) 1000 109; M Tate (ENG) 1198 155; G Giffen (AUS) 1238 103; M Noble (AUS) 1997 121; 1961-70: A Davidson (AUS) 1328 186; 1971-80: F Titmus (ENG) 1449 153; I Alam (PAK) 1493 125; R Illingworth (ENG) 1836 122; 1981-90: J Bracewell (NZ) 1001 102; S Nawaz (PAK) 1045 177; 1991-00: J Emburey (ENG) 1713 147; 2001-10: M Rafique (BAN) 1059 100; I Pathan (IND) 1105 100; N Boje (SA) 1312 100; A Giles (ENG) 1421 143; A Razzaq (PAK) 1946 100; 2011-20: None; 2021-present: K Maharaj (SA) 1135 171; MDK Perera (SL) 1303 161; Mehidy Hasan (BAN) 1547 169; C Woakes (ENG) 1921 166
Another 21 have scored at least 1000 runs, less than 2000, but taken 200 wickets or more, sometimes a lot more, a whole lot more. Here’s that list:
Before 1961: R Lindwall (AUS) 1502 228. 1981-90: A Qadir (PAK) 1029 236; 1991-00: M Hughes (AUS) 1032 212; M Marshall (WI) 1810 376; C Ambrose (WI) 1439 405; 2001-10: J Srinath (IND) 1009 236; J Gillespie (AUS) 1218 259; H. Streak (ZIM) 1990 216; W Younis (PAK) 1010 373; B Lee (AUS) 1451 310; M Muralidaran (SL) 1261 800; 2011-20: P Siddle (AUS) 1164 221; G Swann (ENG) 1370 255; V Philander (SA) 1779 224; Z Khan (IND) 1231 311; D Steyn (SA) 1251 439; H Herath (SL) 1699 433; 2021-present: K Roach (WI) 1182 273; P Cummins (AUS) 1295 269; J Anderson (ENG) 1353 704; N Lyon (AUS) 1521 530.
Another 5 have scored between 2000 and 3000 runs, and taken at least 100 wickets but less than 200 wickets:
Before 1961: M Mankad (IND) 2109 162; T Bailey (ENG) 2290 132; W Rhodes (ENG) 2325 127; K Miller (AUS) 2958 170; 1961-70: T Goddard (SA) 2516 123
We then have four players who have scored over 3000 runs, taken more than 100 wickets but less than 200 wickets.
1971-80: A Greig (ENG) 3599 141; 1991-00: R Shastri (IND) 3830 151; 2001-10: C Hooper (WI) 5762 114; 2021-present: J Holder (WI) 3073 162
Then we come to those that have done at least the Double Double. When I was young, this list consisted of just two people, one who had done it before I started watching Test cricket (Richie Benaud) and another who did it after I had seen him play, live (Gary Sobers). So in my mind anyone who does the Double Double is a king amongst all-rounders.
Amazingly, we now have 25 such people, including Benaud and Sobers. Now we get to the serious end of the list, one where the entry criteria are at least 2000 runs and 200 wickets. Here’s the list, which reads like the Hall of Fame for Hall of Famers in cricket:
1961-70: R Benaud (AUS) 2201 248; 1971-80: G Sobers (WI) 8032 235; 1981-90: R Hadlee (NZ) 3124 431; 1991-00: I Khan (PAK) 3807 362 I Botham (ENG) 5200 383; N Kapil Dev (IND) 5248 434; 2001-10: W Akram (PAK) 2898 414; A Kumble (IND) 2506 619; L Cairns (NZ) 3320 218; A Flintoff (ENG) 3845 226; C Vaas (SL) 3089 355; S Pollock (SA) 3781 421; S Warne (AUS) 3154 708; 2011-20: M Johnson (AUS) 2065 313; H Singh (IND) 2224 417; D Vettori (NZ) 4531 362; J Kallis (SA) 13289 292; 2021-present: M Starc (AUS) 2093 358; T Southee (NZ) 2098 380; R Jadeja (IND) 3036 294; M Ali (ENG) 3094 204; R Ashwin (IND) 3309 516; S Broad (ENG) 3662 604; S Al-Hasan (BAN) 4520 241; B Stokes (ENG) 6508 203.
For those interested in nationalities, the breakdown is Australia 16, England 16, India 10, South Africa 7, Pakistan 7, West Indies 6, New Zealand 5, Sri Lanka 4, Bangladesh 3 and Zimbabwe 1.
The Best of the Best of the Best
If we wanted to rank the 25 Double Double makers, we could give them points: 1 point per 1000 runs and 1 point per 100 wickets, qualifying criteria 2000 runs and 200 wickets.
Let’s look at those with 6 points or more:
Jacques Kallis 15; Gary Sobers, Shane Warne 10; Kapil Dev, Stuart Broad 9; Ian Botham, Anil Kumble, Ravi Ashwin, Ben Stokes 8; Richard Hadlee, Shaun Pollock, Daniel Vettori 7; Imran Khan, Carl Hooper, Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas, Harbhajan Singh, Shakir Al-Hasan 6
That would make Kallis the clear winner.
We could have raised both bars at the same time, 1000 100, 2000 200, 3000 300, 4000 400, 5000 500, etc. If we did that, then the clear winner is Kapil Dev, the only person to have gone past 4000 runs as well as 400 wickets.
I prefer a different way to select the best of the best of the best. Add the third criterion, make the qualifying mark 100 catches.
If we do that, if we only look for people who have done the Double Double (2000 runs and 200 wickets) and taken at least 100 catches, we land up with a very short list.
Gary Sobers. Ian Botham. Shane Warne. Jacques Kallis. Ben Stokes.
Five great all-rounders.
But.
Only one of them has taken 200 catches. Only one has done the Double Double Double.
Jacques Kallis, take a bow.
A coda. Only one of the five people who’ve made 2000 runs and taken 200 wickets and a minimum of 100 catches is still playing. Ben Stokes.