The Jacks of one trade

During the 1990s, cricket witnessed an increasing trend of players who featured prominently in one form of the game. These 'specialists' played a crucial role for their teams: be it Gavin Larsen choking the run-flow in the middle overs or Michael Slater getting Australia off to a galloping start in Tests.

If the specialists need a poster-boy, they wouldn't have to look much further than Chris Harris. A veteran of 250 ODIs, Harris has played in only 23 Tests. His worker bee-like middle-order batting in the one-day game earned him an average of 29 but his touch-nudge-and-push method wasn't successful in Tests where he averaged just 20.44. Similarly, his economical wicket-to-wicket bowling in the limited-overs format resulted in 203 wickets, a New Zealand record, but the lack of a natural wicket-taking ability hampered his Test prospects.

New Zealand spawned several such players who were proficient in one form of the game but mediocre in the other. Roger Twose was a handy one-day bat but never made his mark on the Test circuit. Geoff Allot, the highest wicket-taker in the 1999 World Cup, averaged a very impressive 23.21 in ODIs but leaked 58.47 per wicket in Tests and Chris Pringle's career stats tell a similar tale. Dion Nash, Simon Doull and James Franklin all have respectable Test records that are let down by expensive one-day figures. And now Jacob Oram scores at 43.56 in Tests but his one-day equivalent is a meagre 17.61.

When Michael Bevan burst on to the international ODI stage, he was an instant success. He made an impressive start to his Test career as well but his sensational one-day success tagged him as a limited-overs specialist. Growing concerns about Bevan's ability to counter a short-ball barrage led to his eventual axeing from the Test side. After he played his last game, Bevan had a one-day average of 53.58 and a Test average of 29.07. He now has a first-class average of 58.30 but, at 35, he's unlikely to make a return. Neil Fairbrother, the original Bevan, was a busy middle-order bat and averaged an impressive 39.47 in 75 ODIs. He, however, was a woeful failure in the Test format, making just over 15 runs per innings in ten Tests.

ODI specialists - Batting (qualification: 20 innings in both)

Player	Tests	Runs	Ave	HS	100		ODIs	Runs	Ave	HS	100		Diff
MG Bevan (Aust)	18	785	29.07	91	0		232	6912	53.58	108*	6		-24.50
Saleem Elahi (Pak)	13	436	18.95	72	0		48	1579	36.72	135	4		-17.76
NV Knight (Eng)	17	719	23.96	113	1		100	3637	40.41	125*	5		-16.44
RG Twose (NZ)	16	628	25.12	94	0		87	2717	38.81	103	1		-13.69
NC Johnson (Zimb)	13	532	24.18	107	1		48	1679	36.50	132*	4		-12.31
HH Dippenaar (SAf)	33	1511	31.47	177*	3		86	2693	43.43	123	2		-11.95
A Jadeja (India)	15	576	26.18	96	0		196	5359	37.47	119	6		-11.29
CZ Harris (NZ)	23	777	20.44	71	0		250	4379	29.00	130	1		-8.55
DR Pringle (Eng)	30	695	15.10	63	0		44	425	23.61	49*	0		-8.50
CWJ Athey (Eng)	23	919	22.97	123	1		31	848	31.40	142*	2		-8.43

Take an explosive batsman with an unorthodox technique, add a penchant for hitting over the top along with an enviable hand-eye co-ordination and the concoction should result in a one-day giant. But most of Virender Sehwag's exploits have come when clothed in white. Perhaps it's because there are more gaps and fewer boundary riders in a Test field that Sehwag averages 55.32 in Tests and a comparatively pedestrian 32.15 in ODIs when most would have expected his successes to have been reversed. Indian fans must hope that he is not following in the footsteps of one Michael Slater.

Slater was, perhaps, one of the first to influence the pace at which Test cricket was played. His cavalier approach at an average of 42.83 helped produce results in high-scoring contests. But after 42 ODIs, Slater averaged just 24.07 and, with a set opening pair in Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh, his failures ensured a short ODI career.

Test specialists - Batting (qualification: 20 innings in both)

Player	Tests	Runs	Ave	HS	100		ODIs	Runs	Ave	HS	100		Diff
JDP Oram (NZ)	17	1002	43.56	126*	2		79	951	17.61	81	0		25.95
GRJ Matthews (Aust)	33	1849	41.08	130	4		59	619	16.72	54	0		24.35
V Sehwag (ICC/India)	38	3300	55.00	309	10		139	4148	32.15	130	7		22.84
GR Viswanath (India)	91	6080	41.93	222	14		25	439	19.95	75	0		21.97
VG Kambli (India)	17	1084	54.20	227	4		104	2477	32.59	106	2		21.60
Shoaib Mohammad (Pak)	45	2705	44.34	203*	7		63	1269	24.40	126*	1		19.94
AR Border (Aust)	156	11174	50.56	205	27		273	6524	30.62	127*	3		19.93
KD Walters (Aust)	74	5357	48.26	250	15		28	513	28.50	59	0		19.76
MJ Slater (Aust)	74	5312	42.83	219	14		42	987	24.07	73	0		18.76
JF Reid (NZ)	19	1296	46.28	180	6		25	633	27.52	88	0		18.76

A bowling attack capable of taking 20 wickets is a bleeding obvious necessity to win a Test but India's opening bowlers in recent years all appear on the ODI specialist list due to their mediocrity in Tests. Ajit Agarkar has an average of 27.26 at a strike rate thats better than Glenn McGrath's in ODIs but goes for 47.20 in Tests, taking a wicket every 14 overs. Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, both not in India's current Test plans, average 42.40 and 36.25 in Tests while going nearly ten runs lesser in the one-day game. Irfan Pathan, India's present spearhead, takes wickets at nearly 25 apiece in both forms of the game. But since most of his Test exploits have come against minnows, it remains to be seen whether he will impress against tougher opposition.

Jeff Thomson, that speedy scourge of batsmen, reveled in times when he wasn't restricted to just two attempts at the batsman's skull. He wasn't so hot in the one-day format, managing just 55 wickets in 50 games at 35.30 while he took wickets at 28 apiece in Tests. Brett Lee appears as a one-day specialist because of a fantastic average of 21.64 and a more generous 31.82 in Tests. But if his performances against West Indies in the recent Test series are an indication of change, he might soon drop off the list.

ODI specialists - Bowling (qualification: 3000 balls in Tests, 1500 in ODIs)

Player	Tests	Wkts	Ave	BBI	5		ODIs	Wkts	Ave	BBI	5		Diff
IVA Richards (WI)	121	32	61.37	2/17	0		187	118	35.83	6/41	2		25.54
GW Flower (Zimb)	67	25	61.47	4/41	0		219	104	40.25	4/32	0		21.22
AB Agarkar (India)	23	53	47.20	6/41	1		150	232	27.26	6/42	2		19.94
Tapash Baisya (Bang)	21	36	59.36	4/72	0		51	56	39.71	4/16	0		19.64
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	24	65	46.12	5/36	2		70	102	28.00	5/10	1		18.12
CL Hooper (WI)	102	114	49.42	5/26	4		227	193	36.05	4/34	0		13.37
GRJ Matthews (Aust)	33	61	48.22	5/103	2		59	57	35.15	3/27	0		13.07
M Amarnath (India)	69	32	55.68	4/63	0		85	46	42.84	3/12	0		12.83
CPH Ramanayake (SL)	18	44	42.72	5/82	1		62	68	30.13	4/17	0		12.59
GS Chappell (Aust)	87	47	40.70	5/61	1		74	72	29.12	5/15	2		11.57

Test specialists - Bowling (qualification: 3000 balls in Tests, 1500 in ODIs)

Player	Tests	Wkts	Ave	BBI	5		ODIs	Wkts	Ave	BBI	5		Diff
JG Bracewell (NZ)	41	102	35.81	6/32	4		53	33	57.09	2/3	0		-21.27
DJ Nash (NZ)	32	93	28.48	6/27	3		81	64	40.96	4/38	0		-12.48
DS de Silva (SL)	12	37	36.40	5/59	1		41	32	48.65	3/29	0		-12.25
SB Doull (NZ)	32	98	29.30	7/65	6		42	36	40.52	4/25	0		-11.22
TBA May (Aust)	24	75	34.74	5/9	3		47	39	45.43	3/19	0		-10.68
BA Reid (Aust)	27	113	24.63	7/51	5		61	63	34.96	5/53	1		-10.33
Tauseef Ahmed (Pak)	34	93	31.72	6/45	3		70	55	40.85	4/38	0		-9.13
Mohammad Rafique (Bang)	22	73	36.42	6/77	6		82	71	44.70	4/33	0		-8.27
DN Patel (NZ)	37	75	42.05	6/50	3		75	45	50.24	3/22	0		-8.19
SD Anurasiri (SL)	18	41	37.75	4/71	0		45	32	45.75	3/40	0		-7.99