Cricket can be the loneliest of all team sports. Yes, you’re part of a team but when you break it down it’s simply one bowler against one batter surrounded by 10 others whose sole objective is to remove the batter from his cherished position.

The batter job is to blunt the bowler, preserve their wicket and score runs on behalf of their batting partner at the other end and 9 team mates watching from the sidelines.

For cricket fans, it’s theatre and can be a show you don’t dare miss.

I asked a cricket fan to choose the one bowler from any era they’d like to see take on one batter from any era.

Their answer was – Allan Donald v Steve Smith.

What a match up that would be, and there’s been so many memorable match ups throughout the years

In asking others the same question, there are some fascinating responses. Let’s take a look.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/32/paul-ryan/blog/652/ball-v-bat-all-time-cricket-matchups