The Cricket Statistician No 195

14 On this reckoning, Table F suggests that Stevens is the second best “old all-rounder” of all time – second only to the great Wilfred Rhodes in terms of bat/bowl ratio. There is a similarly large gap between Stevens and the third-placed Frank Woolley as there is between him and Rhodes. As noted above, Grace’s figures until the age of 25 were exceptional. However, they increasingly tailed off with age. Before he turned 40, he scored 32,012 runs (av. 44.64) and took 2,165 wickets (av. 16.21), but his batting average dropped by more than 10 and his bowling average increased by more than eight after his 40th birthday. Alley played effectively as an all-rounder throughout his 40s, famously scoring 3,019 runs (and taking 62 wickets) in 1961, at the age of 42, and following that with almost 2,000 runs and 112 wickets the next season. Basil D’Oliveira, too, performed usefully with both bat and ball well into his forties. Indeed, he may have been even more prolific from the age of 40 than Table F suggests. In his memoirs, 20th Century All-rounder (Pretext Publishing, 2011), Clive van Ryneveld suggested that D’Oliveira was in fact born in 1928, stating: “I was born in Cape Town in 1928, a contemporary of Basil D’Oliveira…” If D’Oliveira in fact turned 40 on 4 October 1968, then he scored 11,954 (av. 40.38) and took 298 wickets (av. 29.12) after that date. Nonetheless, there is a strong case that Stevens is the best all-rounder over the age of 40 for more than 80 years. And his recent achievements have only strengthened his case for being regarded as the best all-rounder never to have been given the opportunity to experience international cricket. 17 How are ‘illegal’ balls treated by scorers and do they count, or not, as balls faced? Illegal balls are those, not counting in the over, other than a Wide or No Ball and usually happens because of penalty runs being awarded under the following circumstances: Law 24.4 – Fielder returning without permission and in contact with the ball. Law 28.2 – Illegal fielding. Law 41.4 – Deliberate attempt to distract striker preparing to or receiving a delivery. Law 41.5 – Deliberate distraction, deception, or obstruction of either batsman. Law 41.14 – Batsmen stealing a run during bowler’s run up. It can also happen if a bowler attempts to run out a batsman (‘Mankad’) The sub-group has been asked whether, or not, illegal balls count for: • Batsman’s total balls • Batsman’s dot/other balls • Partnership total balls • Partnership individual batsman’s balls ACS Statistics Logistics Group Third Report