Is Bart King still the top Associate cricketer of all time?
05-05-2010 11:09 am

For the last two decades at least, Kenya’s Steve Tikolo has been among the leading players in associate and affiliate cricket. More recently, Ryan ten Doeschate has produced an impressive record for The Netherlands by scoring a century in just over every fifth match he has played. It is interesting to pose the question as to how these cricketers stand in relation to associate/affiliate cricketers of all time and, in particular, how they compare with Bart King, widely regarded as the best ever American cricketer and one of the best players never to have played test cricket.

When assessing whether any player is the best of all time, it is necessary to establish some criteria. When a panel of experts assembled by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack selected the five cricketers of the century in 2000, they took account of leadership qualities, personality, character and impact on the public as well as statistical achievements. By looking at their choices (Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs, Shane Warne and Sir Vivian Richards in that order) it seems clear that the statistical requirements at test-match level include scoring a large number of runs with a high batting average (say over 50.00), taking a large number of wickets with a high number of occasions of 5 or more in an innings (say a minimum of 14 times) or achieving a good all-round record in both batting and bowling (Wisden lists players who have scored over 2000 runs and taken over 200 wickets which seems a reasonable starting point). This exercise looks for cricketers who have achieved similar levels of performance in what may be considered top class associate cricket.

The statistics used are career records based on the following: (1) all international matches between associate and affiliate countries from 1844; (2) all matches between associate/affiliate countries and teams from full-member countries containing at least seven players with first-class cricket experience at the time of the match; and (3) matches in associate countries which are generally regarded as close to first class in standard, e.g. Philadelphia v New York (two innings matches prior to 1914), Hong Kong v Shanghai, Straits Settlements v Federated Malay States, North v South (in Argentina up to 1939) and Officials v Settlers and Asians v Europeans (in Kenya). In some cases, the career records of players are incomplete because it has not been possible to obtain full scorecards. The career records combine two innings, one-day (limited overs) and twenty20 matches to produce an overall associate level performance. Data are as at 31 March 2010.

The case for Bart King

John Barton King (born 19th October 1873, died 17 October 1965) was a middle-order right-hand batsman and right-arm fast bowler, who represented Philadelphia and the USA between 1892 and 1912. He toured England with the Gentlemen of Philadelphia three times and on his last tour, in 1908, he topped the English first-class bowling averages by taking 87 wickets at an average of 11.01. A renowned exponent of inswing bowling - he called his inswinger the “angler" after the sharp curve or hook taken by the ball at the end of its trajectory, an effect he was able to achieve with both a new and old ball and under a range of atmospheric conditions. He used it sparingly as the surprise ball alongside bowling a consistent length and varying his pace.

Overall, in 65 first-class matches he scored 2134 runs (average 20.51) and took 415 wickets (average 15.65); with his bowling he achieved a strike rate of 33.08 accompanied by an economy rating of 2.83 runs per six-ball over. In all associate level matches (87 in number) he scored 2781 runs (average 20.75) and took 571 wickets (average 13.85) with 5 or more wickets in an innings on 56 occasions. Under the criteria given above, he therefore qualifies both as a bowler and an all-rounder. Given these achievements and how well he was regarded by the leading English and Australian players of his time, it is surprising that he was omitted from John Woodcock’s "100 greatest cricketers".

The contenders

Considering the batsmen first, the following have scored over 1500 runs in associate/affiliate cricket with an average of over 50: CD Ayling (Argentina, 2415 runs, average 65.27), David Hemp (Bermuda, 1908 runs, 54.51 - data include 1 match for Wales), Anil Lakhani (Kenya / East Africa, 2122 runs, 53.05 on an incomplete record) and Ryan ten Doeschate (The Netherlands, 3163 runs, 75.31). Clearly, the performance of ten Doeschate is superior to that of any other player, even more so we consider that he is the only one of the four to have taken over 100 wickets (116 at an average of 20.66).

For the bowlers, in addition to Bart King, the following have taken over 200 wickets with an average under 20 and with 5 wickets in an innings more than 14 times: Herbert Dorning (Argentina, 308 wickets, 14.50, 22 times), Jimmy Boucher (Ireland, 277 wickets, 16.10, 27 times, and Dermot Monteith (Ireland, 327 wickets, 17.92, 27 times). Of these bowlers, Dorning (1570 runs, average 21.22) and Monteith (1784 runs, 20.27) have scored over 1500 runs. It could be argued that the criteria are unfair regarding present-day players in that, with the predominance of limited-overs matches, obtaining 5 wickets in an innings (in a maximum of 10 overs) is a rarer occurrence, and also, that on artificial or covered grass pitches batsmen are more dominant over bowlers so that career averages umder 20 are less common.

However, there are many current bowlers (Muhammad Nabi and Hamid Hassan of Afghanistan and Peter Connell of Ireland are examples) who have taken over 100 wickets with averages below 20 so that, with longer careers, they may also come near to or exceed the criteria for consideration.

The following players join Bart King in having scored over 2000 runs and taken over 200 wickets: Kyle McCallan (Ireland - 3570 runs, 23.33 and 252 wickets, 30.59), Alec O’Riordan (Ireland - 2030 runs, 18.97 and 207 wickets, 21.97), Steve Tikolo (Kenya - 13,724 runs, 45.00 and 284 wickets, 33.79), S Navaratnam (Malaysia - 3988 runs, 29.32 and 274 wickets, 20.52) and Craig Wright (Scotland - 2967 runs, 21.19 and 274 wickets, 24.05). None of these has a bowling average remotely approaching that of King, so the only possibility of selecting an all-rounder as a contender for top cricketer would be to find one whose batting average far offsets the much higher bowling average. The only player who stands out is Steve Tikolo.

Based on the above, it would seem that there are four players who could be nominated as possible rivals to Bart King as the top associate/affiliate cricketer of all time: Ryan ten Doeschate, Herbert Dorning, Dermot Monteith and Steve Tikolo.

The evaluation

It should be noted that 75 per cent the matches in which King played were first class and that his overall and first-class careers were very comparable (batting averages of 20.75 and 20.51 respectively and bowling averages of 13.85 and 15.65 respectively). It could also be argued that the top associate/affiliate cricketers should be able to hold their own in first class competition. Table 1 shows the comparison between the overall record in associate/affiliate cricket and the performances in first-class cricket for all five players. In order to be compatible with the overall performance list in associate/affiliate cricket, “first-class"level is defined here as combining true first-class matches, all ListA and equivalent twenty20 matches. For King and Dorning, the “first-class" records are a sub-set of their overall associate records.

For Tikolo the “first-class record" includes 231 matches for Kenya which are a sub-set of his overall associate record plus 34 matches played for other teams. Monteith’s record includes the sub-set of his overall record relating to first class and List A matches for Ireland plus 12 such matches for Middlesex. Ten Doeschate’s record covers the sub-set of his associate/affiliate record of first-class, List A and twenty20 matches for The Netherlands (55 in total) together with 189 such matches for Essex. Thus ten Doeschate’s “first-class" level record is very different from that of the others in that 78% of it comes from matches outside of associate/affiliate cricket.

Table 1
Comparison of career records
(see text for the matches included at associate and first class levels)

With the exception of Bart King, it can be seen that all the players show a substantial worsening of their overall records when only “first-class" level matches are considered. Dorning’s batting and bowling are both worse at “first-class" level than at associate level where his performances were perhaps enhanced by his long career in Argentina’s North versus South fixtures. Although Tikolo is undoubtedly one of the leading associate cricketers of his generation, he has not been able to reproduce his associate level batting record against first class opposition.

This is not true for Ryan ten Doeschate despite the difference of over 30 between his associate level and “first class" level batting averages. A “first class" level batting average in the mid 40s is very respectable and, in true first-class (two innings) matches he averages an even more impressive 51.28. It is a matter of judgement as to whether his superiority over King as a batsman is sufficient to overcome the latter’s greater superiority in bowling and thereby make him a greater player. Since he has yet to make the same impact on the English first-class game as King did in his time, it might be fairer to conclude that he has the potential to surpass him but has not yet done so.

Of the four cricketers considered perhaps the one who comes closest to challenging King is Dermot Monteith whose “first-class" level bowling average is only 3.87 worse than his associate level average compared to King’s difference of 0.19; their associate level batting averages are very similar but Monteith’s falls away more at the first class level. Monteith’s reputation as Ireland’s greatest ever cricketer thus seems secure.

The outcome of this analysis is perhaps not too surprising. The inability of associate cricketers to transfer their performances into the first-class game confirms the gap that exists between associate/affiliate cricket and that in the full member countries.

It also suggests that, provided King played, the side that has come closest to narrowing the gap was Philadelphia between 1897 and 1908 when they were arguably equal in standard to the weaker of the English counties. For his performances in contributing to this, Bart King still remains the greatest associate/affiliate cricketer of all time.