I think Shawn Pollock is one of the most underated cricketers of this era. He is dependable, economic, humble, & a very good all rounder. He is diplomatic, & does not throw his weight around or shout his mouth off. We have no-one in his class to replace him at the moment, may he be with us for quite a while longer.

Ravi Shastri: Sure he was the 'Champion of Champions' and famously won himself a duty-free Audi-100, but he was hardly the sort of all-rounder who would have given either the opposition bowlers or batsmen sleepless nights.

Andrew Flintoff: Circa June 2004, this talismanic Englishman had decidedly underwhelming career figures - each of his wickets coming at the expense of more than 40 runs and averaging less than 30 with the bat. Since then, he's had a couple of stellar years, but are two good seasons all it takes to be jostling for space amongst the greatest of all time?

Wasim Akram: He does have a double century and has the ability to indulge in some clean hitting, but no captain in his right mind would be comfortable with having Akram anywhere higher than No 8 in the batting order.

What this whole greatest all-rounder debate (and the presence of the above three gentlemen in the debate) illustrates is just how scarce that captain's dream - the Genuine Allrounder who is an automatic choice for either of his two skills - is. I mean, 130 years of cricket and its a difficult task rounding up twenty such men without including questionable choices.

Perhaps, Cricinfo can run a series on ODI all-rounders where the question of who's the greatest of them all isn't as clear cut? Also, since that debate will be restricted to players from 1970 onwards, exercises in futility, such as comparing Monty Noble to the 21st century greats, will be avoided.

Hi
To me Pollock is one of the greatest allrounder in South African history. He is extremely gifted with both the bat and the ball... No doubt about that... What i feel is though his bowling is immaculate and he's good, there is just something missing in his bowling which makes you and me think that he can run through the opposition. He used to have that killer thing in him at the begining of his career but it seems lacking since the injury. To his batting side i feel he has not fully exploited the talents he posseses....He is no Sir Gary Sobers, Kallis with the bat... Nor is he an Imran, Sir Richard Hadlee, Botham with the ball......
This is a sad part but he is still a great allrounder and South Africa are fortunate to have 2 in the same team.

I think Pollock is greatly underrated - if he plays for another 3 years or say which is likely he may become the first ever player to take 500 wickets and score 5000 runs now that would be awesome. He may be no Sobers or Kallis with the bat but then again they struggle to meet his bowling? as for Imran, Hadlee, and Botham I'm sorry but his bowling record stands up against any of those three and for the batting well how many of those 5 have scored hundreds batting at 8 or 9? that in itself is a tremendous achievement. Shaun pollock by being so professional and graceful does himself a miss service in that what he is done because it is expected of him - he's always had to compete with Kallis for best all rounder - whereas all the other four you have mentioned were the only good allrounders in their teams.

I think Imran khan is the legend of cricket and a perfect allrounder all the time.he won worldcup 1992 for pakistan and what a way to finish his carrer.he is turely is poiner of cricket.Few would dispute that Imran was the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced, or the biggest heart-throb. Suave, erudite and monstrously talented, he gave cricket in the subcontinent real sex appeal in the 1970s and 1980s. As such he and TV completed the popularisation of the game in his country which Hanif Mohammad and the radio had begun. Thousands, if not millions, who had never dreamt of bowling fast on heartless baked mud suddenly wanted to emulate Imran and his lithe bounding run, his leap and his reverse-swinging yorker. He also made himself into an allrounder worth a place for his batting alone, and captained Pakistan as well as anyone, rounding off his career with the 1992 World Cup. He played hardly any domestic cricket in Pakistan: instead he just flew in for home series from Worcestershire or Sussex, or rather from the more fashionable London salons. His averages (37 with the bat, 22 with the ball) put him at the top of the quartet of allrounders (Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev being the others) who dominated Test cricket in the 1980s. And whereas Botham declined steadily, Imran just got better and better: in his last ten years of international cricket he played 51 Tests, averaging a sensational 50 with the bat and 19 with the ball. He gave no quarter during some memorable battles with West Indies - Pakistan drew three series with them at a time when everybody else was being bounced out of sight - and he led Pakistan to their first series victory in England in 1987, taking 10 for 77 with an imperious display in the decisive victory at Headingley. After retirement he remained a high-profile figure, with his marriage - and subsequent split with - the socialite Jemima Goldsmith and a not entirely successful move into the labyrinthine world of Pakistan politics

I agree that POLLOCK is the greatest allrounder of the late 90s and early 2000s. he's certainly better than the likes of flintoff, vinoo mankad (why is he even in the list???!!!! ), Ravi Shastri and Chris Cairns (Why isnt he in the list???!!!)
there have been better bowlers in the modern game than him (Akram, McGrath) and certainly better batters but in the 1990s and 2000s only Kallis can be a match for pollock where allrounders are concerned.

Wasim Akram a player who has one many test and one series for Pakistan single handedly. Ask batsmen of his era who they find difficult to play? answer is none other than Wasim Akram, however with the bat he has not performed as well as he could have, but still a leader, reasonable hitter and one of the greatest bowlers, he is best. Flintoff among contemporary allrounders has to be best, no one can forget 2005 ashes

While Pollock's statistics may be good, I hardly think he ever came up to match the class that the greatest all rounders had. While he may well be the greatest SAfrican all rounder for years to come, I think the lack of class will quite possibly never rank him among the greats of all times. This is probably because Pollock's match winning performances are quite minimal as compared to what the greats had achieved.

Wasim Akram by far the greatest bowler of the 90's. He had everything from swing to well targeted bouncer. Everyone remembers the two balls of the 92 world cup final, but does anyone remember what happened to Brian Lara in that tournament? One of Wasim's specials ensured he could no longer continue and his toe was borken!
His batting average could have been better, but taking into account Pakistan always had a long line up Wasim always used to come be in towards the end of an innings. Unless Pakistan was faced with one of their speciality collapses, where he could do little to prevent the inevitable.

But for me, to mention players such as Flintoff in the same name as the great Wasim is simply not worthy. Flintoff still has got alot to prove at the highest level. Everyone is rating this guy over one Ashes series, he has still got alot to prove.

Comparing Wasim with Pollock, I would agree that despite his record, Pollock lacks that zip which other South Africans like Ntini and Donald have and had. Captains would always turn to Donald first expecting him to skittle out the lower order. Likewise Pakistani captains would turn to Wasim expecting the same.

In my opinion there is no contest, also an important point to remember, for the last 5 - 6 years of his career Wasim played with diabetes - just another sign of what an excellent athlete he was.

The greatest left handed bowler ever. Possibly one of the greatest bowler of the 90's but I do not think the greatest all rounder of all.

In my opinion the fight is close between Imran Khan and Kepil Dev. Too players who both led their teams to world cups, and who could both win a match with bat and bowl. I would stray towards Imran.

Shaun Pollock is a truly great allrounder but
it would be wrong to compare his batting with
Ian Bothams. Both scored 14 test centuries
against Shaun Pollock's 2 during the same number
of test matches. Both Imran and Pollock have
the advantage of more not outs to boost their
average........as a bowler/batsman allrounder
Botham would seem the most effective.

Such a great allrounder of late 80's and early 90's is Imran Khan. No other country have such a greatest allrounder at that time even some other big name at that time like kapil from india but he had quite impressive averages but not allrounder like imran who lead the team with bat and bowl and then an intelligent captian too, and specially he prepared two main striker wasim akram and waqar younis in his time. I nver see anyone did this in his time. Its one of the speciallity for Imran Khan. No other person even now doing like Imran Khan. Even now a days Imran's words suppose to be true and best analysis not only in pakistan cricket but also for the world's cricket.
Other than Imran we have only one name no one can challenged him in all time in the history with bowl and with captancy that is only Wasim Akram. No other choice but he is set a standard because of Imran Khan.

See all the records,only two person come in that contest 1.Ian Botham and 2.Kapil Dev.Because others have either batting side extra strong or bawling side extra strong.But both side were almost equal of above two.Both were more venomenous than others competetors.Botham is little bit advantage for test cricket but Kapil is well ahead for one day.Think about the pitches where Kapil played.In my opinion both came at first position as per records but if I have to choice only one I would choice kapil Dev for all time top all rounder of cricket histry and second place would be for Ian Botham.Third place goes to Imran Khan.Others come after that.

To chose the greatest allrounder, you have to chose the people who made a real impact on the game. People like Kapil Dev who led India to victory in the world cup and Imran Khan, who led his side to victory in the 1992 world cup.
You have to choose an allrounder that was an outstanding captain as well as a player on the cricket field. For me Imran Khan was the greatest allrounder ever. He was leading one of the least recognised cricketing nations to make them one of the best in the world. He was, in my opinion one of the great bowlers the world has seen and definitely the best batsman out of Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee and Gary Sobers. Number one goes to Imran. Number two to Kapil Dev. Number three to Gary Sobers.

Any exercise in ranking all rounders, I think, relies excessively on their batting and bowling prowess. In my opinion there are at least two other aspects of the game where a player can contribute significantly, even to the same extent as the two mentioned above. Therefore, the criteria for selecting the greatest allrounder must take into account ALL ways in which a player can contribute to a team's cause and then evaluate the players on that basis. These other two less-talked about, but no less important departments of the game are fielding and captaincy.

Some of the greatest names in this list have had an Achilles heel in one or more of these. Just to illustrate this point, one can look at three of the four greatest all-rounders of the 1980s. Imran, for all he did with the bat and ball, was never better than a reasonable fielder.
The less said about Botham's captaincy record, the better and Hadlee, despite the outstanding bowler that he was, never had to deal with the pressures of captaincy at all.

If there is one name that comes to mind, who accomplished something significant in all FOUR disciplines, it is that of the inimitable Kapil Dev. His record as a new-ball bowler and aggressive middle-order batsman is good enough to earn him a place as one of the greatest all-rounders in history. But when one takes into account the brilliance of his fielding and the leadership skills he possessed, I think he surpasses everyone else on this list. For several years, batsmen were terrified of his arm from the outfield and his catching at slips was as safe as has ever been seen. All this while, he was the captain and main strike bowler of a side packed with batting stalwarts yet lacking half-decent support when he took the new ball. As a captain, he was a towering influence on his team, inspiring them to a fairytale win in the World Cup, the single achievement that every captain craves for. It is for this formidable array of skills that he possessed, that I rank him as the greatest all-rounder ever.

When looking at how great an allrounder is, one should not only look at statistics such as averages. These can be very deceptive. It is important to note how valuable a players wickets and runs are and in whcih context they were scored. This is why I would not rate Pollock as highly as others even though his stats are very impressive. I cannot recall any great batting performances form him which have swung matches, unlike Imran Khan , Botham etc. Likewise with Kallis, I do not class him and pollock as matchwinners able to swing the balance of the match in favour of their team. Wasim, even though his batting credentials are not as impressive as the others if one looks at statistics he has had some some great match winnig performances with bat and ball

Whether it is the beauty (batting, bowling, fielding or just walking in to bat), the skill or the performances (many of which changed the game)- there has never been an allrounder like Garry Sobers. It is the fact that most of the contributors (including myself) have not seen him play is the reason we are even discussing the other players. Sobers would have been selected in any world team of his time simply as a batsman AND simply as a bowler. Now who else in the list would qualify thus?

Greatest Allrounder.

Firstly, there is no clear winner, as no player is better at both batting and bowling than all the other players, so it is a trade off between overall batting and bowling ability. Matchwinning ability should be another factor, players like Pollock and Kallis although having great averages, they fall short of Sobers and Hadlee, as they tend to score runs slower, and take wickets less often.

The top 5 in my view are:

Sobers, Imran, Hadlee, Botham and Gilchrist.

Sobers is the best batting allrounder.
Hadlee is the best bowling allrounher.
Gilchrist is the leading keeper batsman.
Botham and Imran are the two that could bat in the top 6 and open the bowling. With Imran by far the most consistent.

Overall, I rank them as follows:

Imran - as bowling is more valuable than batting
Sobers
Gilchrist
Hadlee
Botham - too inconsistent to be any higher, and would not make an alltime world XI as he was not good enough in either discipline.

I have always liked Pollock. I think he is one of the greatest bowlers ever and one of the greatest allrounders ever as well. He is just amazing. His batting is quite classy and is effective but his bowling is just out of this world. He is the best bowler on the planet right now, after the retirement of McGrath. Even without his retirement, you could argue of him being the finest bowler out there.

I am an Aussie, but I think that Pollock is the greatest allrounder. A brilliant bowler (one of the best ever), and a very reliable batsman (who has saved SA many times).