The gems of the game of cricket

By A. C. De Silva

Picking a team of great all-rounders of the not too distant past to form a cricket team that would have fitted into a great combine will be a great effort. The players named are of genuine world class credentials who can score a century for the asking or chip in with four or five wickets in an innings.

The players of the pre-war era have been left out and only players from 1950 to 1980 were considered in picking the best 10.

Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies): He will take top billing. Whether batting or bowling. Sobers performed with vim and vigour in the matches he played. Many would agree that he was the greater all-rounder the game of cricket has known.

What made him so famous?

He was a natural genius, determination, stamina and a remarkable capacity to produce high quality performance. Sobers would take heavy workload with ease.

Gary who enjoyed cricket, was an entertainer par excellence!

A gallant knight he was. He would take No.1 on the list. The style and panache with which he played the game and compiled those dazzling runs will hardly be matched by anyone. He could bat at any position, hit the ball hard or defend solidly. Sobers was a cricketer beyond compare. He was an entertainer par excellence.

He bowled genuine pace and swung the ball marvellously and when the shine was worn out, he would bowl teasing spin. Look at his figures a total of 8,032 runs (58 average) and 235 wickets (average 34).

Added to the above was his remarkable competence as a close in fielder. He played 93 Tests at a time when there was not much Test cricket.

Edward Ralph Dexter (England): He was one of the 'box-office' draws in the 60's. He would h it the ball with power and was a useful medium pacer. Dexter often demonstrated that the best way was to attack. He would play any bowling with his strong footwork, the point foot or the back foot. And he was elegant too.

He made a fine 70 against West Indies (Lord's 1963) that included Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith, plus a dazzling 76 against Australia (Old Trafford) were the two samples of his power-play.

He was a specialist fielder at cover-point

It was sad Dexter had to, time and again, save the country from defeat rather than go for a win. It appeared that the pressure of captaincy was too much on him, just as in the case of Gary Sobers. Dexter was one of the player-personalities responsible for the birth of one-day cricket.

Anthony William Greig: (England): Son of Scottish father and South African mother, stayed in South Africa till 1966 before moving to England. He died recently.

Greig was dashing cricketer who seldom failed in Tests. His batting was based on the front foot and he was strong on the off drive and the lofted straight drive.

A medium fast bowler and he also bowled useful off-breaks as he had proved his clays in that department, taking 13 wickets against, West Indies in the fifth Test at Port of Spain in 1974.

As a slip fielder, he was marvellous, and he was a highly competitive cricketer.

In the 1976 series against Australia, when Lillee and Thomson bowled short pitched deveries frequently, Greig had a really answer for them. He sliced the ball over the slips for a series of fours. He was left with a lot more of cricket in him when he bid adieu.

Richie Benaud (Australia): A splendid all-rounder, tough competitor and a enterprising and fine leader. He skippered Australia in four successful triumphant series. A fine leg-spinner with enviable control, Benaud bowled the googlies and top spinners with ease. A sharp turn aided by a tantalising are made him one of the finest bowlers of his breed.

A fine driver of the ball while batting Benaud once made 100 in 80 minutes against South Africa in a Test. He was a player with sound tactical sense. He led Australia against England at Manchester in 1961-62. At a time when England needs 100 runs with 9 wickets on hand, Benaud bowled round the wicket and hit the rough. He simply ran through the batting order to give Australia an exciting win.

Gregory Stephen Chappell (Australia): A graceful right-hand batsman and a casual player. His faultless hooks and majestic drives in front of the wicket made him an exciting batsman. In addition to his genius as a batsman Greg was more than useful medium pace bowler. When Greg was in full flow it was worth going miles to see him in action.

Though not as aggressive as his elder brother Ian, in captaincy, Greg was nevertheless a sound leader.

He was business-like in his approach. A peerless slip fielder, Greg is one of the shining cricketers cricketers Australia has ever produced.

Alan Keith Davidson (Australia): An all-rounder of the highest class. A bowler with a strong wheeling action. Davidson moved the ball late in the air and off the pitch. He had tremendous power as a batsman and had many attacking strokes and, in the field he would more in a flash whether in the deep or close to the wicket.

Davidson never had a lean trot. In the famous 'tied' Test at Brisbane, Davidson made 44 and 80 with the bat and took 5 for 135 and 6 for 87 with the ball.

He also bowled slow stuff intelligently. He was also the first man to score over 100 runs and take 10 wickets in a Test.

Raymond Russell Lindwall (Australia): One of the greatest new ball bowlers ever. His partnership with Miller became legendary. He was the best example of a fast bowler who produced maximum results with minimum efforts. His slow run to the wicket would be a slow start but than an arm-pulling acceleration brought effectiveness to his delivery and follow through.

He had genuine speed and variety of swing splendid control and the killer instinct. He used the bouncer rarely though it was his lethal weapon.

Many eyebrows will be raised when he is referred to Lindwall as an allrounder but it is convinced that he was a very good batsman who had to bat in the lower order only because Australia had a lot of fine batsman at that time. Lindwall hit two centuries and was a punishing driver through the covers.

Keith Ross Miller: (Australia): Like Gary Sobers, Miller was one of the finest players. A flamboyant cricketer, Miller did everything in style. A champion performer a powerful batsman and a hostile new ball bowler. As a fast bowler, Miller could deliver his thunderbolts from a short run-up. He had no normal run, or bowling mark. He didn't believe in such parameters. Yet, his lifting, disconcerting deliveries used to unsettle the best batsmen - as the legendary Hatton uses to often testify.

To top it all, Miller could even bowl a few lethal leg-breaks when the batsmen would least expect them. He had a well-concealed googly too. Talk of variety - Miller had them all.

A powerful batsman and a great fielder too

Miller was a fine all-rounder than the great all-rounders that followed him: from Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev to Shaun Pollock.

Michael John Procter (South Africa): Procter's deeds cannot be measured in terms of figures because he played not more than seven Tots because of factors other than cricket.

But he was a colossal figure in English county scene. He performed with remarkable consistency for Gloucestershire. Proctor bowled straight and at a lively pace, would swing the ball into the right hander. He bowled off the wrong feet. He was also highly successful in bowling off-spinners. A great striker of the ball. Procter once scored six hundreds in successive innings to equal a world record. Asif Iqbal (Pakistan): A very dashing batsman with a wide repertoire of stookes. Asif was also a very useful ewing bowler. He was a good fielder too. But the greatest thing about him was that he was exceptionally fast in the business of running between the wickets. A great thinker of the game.

In choosing the eleven, some names had to be left out. They were Basil D'Oliveria (England), Bob Simpson (Australia), Polly Umrigar (India), Bruce Tayloer (New Zealand), Frank Worrell (West Indies), Sam Lexton (Australia) and Eddie Barlow (South Africa).

So, the list reads thus: Sobers, Dexter, Greig, Greg Chappell, Davidson, Benaud, Lindwall, Miller, Procter and Asif Iqbal.

The last place will go to a keeper. Anyone of the three - Farookh Engineer (India), or Alan Knott (England) or Rodney Marsh (Australia). There is no need for a captain to lead this side. But for the sake of it, the vote will surely go to Benaud of Australia. Simply for the fact that the Aussie was a dynamic cricketer.