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Lots of excitement at Newlands in the first Test between South Africa and Australia. A cynic might note a number of unlikely events that could have been the subject of wagers. But nonetheless, we are long overdue an update on the World’s Best All-rounder table.

And we have a new entry! As predicted in my last table back in June, Shane Watson has hurtled into the table at no.8. He is undoubtedly a fine all-rounder and deserves his place in the list. Is he a better bowler than, say, the Waugh brothers were at his age? Well if averages mean anything then we must say yes. Is he a better all-rounder than Shaun Pollock? It’s close, but Watson’s better batting average and catching record just put him marginally ahead.

Player Matches Runs Bat ave Wickets Bowl ave Catches X-factor
JH Kallis 146 11949 57.17 270 32.15 167 31.17
GS Sobers 93 8032 57.78 235 34.04 109 29.92
Imran Khan 88 3807 37.69 362 22.82 28 20.20
KR Miller 55 2958 36.98 170 22.98 38 19.69
ER Dexter 62 4502 47.89 66 34.94 29 18.42
Asif Iqbal 58 3575 38.86 53 28.34 36 16.14
Mushtaq Mohammad 57 3643 39.17 79 29.23 42 15.68
SR Watson 31 2047 37.91 55 28.29 22 15.33
SM Pollock 108 3781 32.32 421 23.12 72 14.86
AW Greig 58 3599 40.44 141 32.21 87 14.73
TL Goddard 41 2516 34.47 123 26.23 48 14.41
BM McMillan 38 1968 39.36 75 33.83 49 11.82
ST Jayasuriya 110 6973 40.07 98 34.35 78 11.44
IT Botham 102 5200 33.55 383 28.40 120 11.32
CL Cairns 62 3320 33.54 218 29.40 14 9.36
JDP Oram 33 1780 36.33 60 33.05 15 8.73
GE Gomez 29 1243 30.32 58 27.41 18 8.52
Shakib Al Hasan 24 1421 33.05 89 31.02 9 7.40
N Kapil Dev 131 5248 31.05 434 29.65 64 6.89
JR Reid 58 3428 33.28 85 33.35 39 5.60
MH Mankad 44 2109 31.48 162 32.32 33 4.91
A Flintoff 79 3845 31.78 226 32.79 52 4.65
IK Pathan 29 1105 31.57 100 32.26 8 4.59
KD Mackay 37 1507 33.49 50 34.42 16 4.50
DL Vettori 106 4238 30.27 353 33.62 57 2.20

What of the spinners at the lower end of the table? Daniel Vettori clings on at the bottom of the table, an all-rounder just. Shakib al Hasan has improved his stats markedly since June and vaulted above such illustrious all-rounders as Andrew Flintoff and Kapil Dev.

The table waits impatiently for the resumption of Shahid Afridi’s test career (also predicted back in June). Two more wickets and we have him.

A reminder of the simple X-factor formula: it’s just the player’s batting average over 30 + Bowling average under 35 + catches per match.