Angelo Mathews: The Most Underrated Player in International Cricket

When cricket's talking heads discuss the best batsmen in the world game, Angelo Mathews rarely gets a mention. Considering just how successful he has been in all forms of the game in recent times, that's a little unfair.

The Sri Lankan captain once again showed what a valuable all-round performer he is in his side's win over New Zealand in Hamilton on Thursday.

While Tillakaratne Dilshan took the plaudits with a superb century, Mathews produced another lovely cameo with the bat. His 39 from 46 balls saw the Sri Lankans safely over the winning line to level the series at one apiece.

Throw in an athletic run out and a successful marshaling of his bowling resources, and it was another good day at the office for the skipper.

The numbers certainly point to Mathews being one of the best batting practitioners plying his trade today.

If an average of 50 is the benchmark for world class in the Test arena. Mathews fits the bill, averaging 51.50.

The chief knock against him is that he doesn't turn enough 50s into hundreds. That's a fair criticism. Of the 24 times he has passed 50 in Test cricket, he has reached three-figures on only four occasions.

Anyone who saw his spectacular effort against England at Headingley—where he shepherded the Sri Lankan tail from a perilous 277-7 to a match-winning 457—knows he can bat big, though.

So good was Mathews' knock that ESPNCricinfo's Jarrod Kimber described it as "one of the best innings I've seen in modern cricket. He just put the ball wherever he wanted it."

His restrained century at Lord's wasn't too shabby, either.

The stats are equally impressive in the ODI game, where Mathews averages 40.32. Coming in at five or six behind Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene doesn't offer too many opportunities to reach three figures.

Indeed, Mathews has just a single ODI century to his name (but it was a corker).

Mathews is a consummate finisher. In 31 ODI innings in 2014, he passed 50 on nine occasions, was dismissed in single figures just three times and averaged 62.20 while scoring 1,244 runs.

Mr. Consistency indeed.

The captaincy appears to have given Mathews' batting even greater impetus too. He averages an impressive 76.25 in his 15 Tests wearing the armband. It's a similar story in ODIs, in which he averages 47.10 in his 56 matches in charge.

His team have enjoyed success, too, following up a win in the Asia Cup with a historic Test series triumph in England under Mathews' stewardship.

We've not even mentioned his bowling. It may not be in the class of the great all-rounders of the past, but it's more than useful, especially in the 50-over and T20 formats.

How the skipper performs will be one of the key factors in Sri Lanka's quest to add a World Cup to their recent Asia Cup and World T20 victories.

It looks like there will be a changing of the Sri Lankan guard after this year's 50-over showpiece. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene are set to wave goodbye to the global game. Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara is weighing up his options, but it would be no great surprise if he joined his 30-something compatriots in the international departure lounge.

The loss of those three cricketing titans will leave a huge hole in Sri Lanka's batting. In Angelo Mathews, they have at least one player capable of filling the gap.