Sir Steven Smith

[Forward Press]

Third fastest (in terms of number of innings) to 23 Test centuries. Behind only you-know-who and just one behind Gavaskar.

On track to become Australia's undisputed second best GOAT.

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Australians know how to cricket.

Best batsman in the Don
Best legal spin bowler in Warne
Best fast bowler in McGrath

Add the likes of Ponting and Smith over the last 15 years and we can lay claim to producing three of the best five batsmen of all time.

Impressive!


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[Fat Nyfe]

He's a phenomenon. One to tell the grandkids about

 

[philreich]

In 1930, there was a headline in an English newspaper, "HE'S OUT." It's almost got to that stage with Smith - the legend of the man simply grows every time he bats.

 

[eth-dog]

Australians know how to cricket.

Best batsman in the Don
Best legal spin bowler in Warne
Best fast bowler in McGrath

Add the likes of Ponting and Smith over the last 15 years and we can lay claim to producing three of the best five batsmen of all time.

Impressive!


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I'd have Kallis, Sangakkara, Lara, Tendulkar all before Ponting of players I've seen. Then there are the likes of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Sobers, Richards, Weekes, Hutton, Pollock, Headley, Barrington, Walcott, Nourse, Miandad, Compton that all would have a claim as being just as good if not better than him.

Of course it's all relative. If Bradman wasn't included I'd probably take South Africa's all time XI ahead of ours.

 

[beta_condition]

In 1930, there was a headline in an English newspaper, "HE'S OUT." It's almost got to that stage with Smith - the legend of the man simply grows every time he bats.

The last 2 years people have said he's just in a purple patch and this average wont last. Currently at a career high average of 63.5 and just belted another century, 6th of the year.

 

[legend166]

It's funny reading all the salty comments from Indian fans on the Cricinfo commentary. They clutch onto this weird idea that Tendulkar was actually better than Bradman because Tendulkar played against more teams, scored more runs overall, etc. Smith might end up with a better record than Tendulkar anyway so all those arguments will be pointless.

Was also interesting hearing Clarke talk about Smith's work ethic. Clarke was a notorious perfectionist and hard trainer (to the point of it causing issues) and he said he's never seen anyone hit so many balls in the nets as Smith. Even more than Ponting.

 

[Xtreme]

Needs a hair cut, gotta ditch that fairy headband!

 

[Wolfs]

It's funny reading all the salty comments from Indian fans on the Cricinfo commentary. They clutch onto this weird idea that Tendulkar was actually better than Bradman because Tendulkar played against more teams, scored more runs overall, etc. Smith might end up with a better record than Tendulkar anyway so all those arguments will be pointless.

Was also interesting hearing Clarke talk about Smith's work ethic. Clarke was a notorious perfectionist and hard trainer (to the point of it causing issues) and he said he's never seen anyone hit so many balls in the nets as Smith. Even more than Ponting.

Funniest shit that back in 2010, I jokingly said that Smith would be better than Tendulkar on Cricinfo (the backlash was funny). I mean I had Smith as an average of early to mid 40's but this is crazy.

I mean I already have Kohli as a better ODI player than Tendulkar.

 

[DaRick]

Third fastest (in terms of number of innings) to 23 Test centuries. Behind only you-know-who and just one behind Gavaskar.

On track to become Australia's undisputed second best GOAT.

That achievement is even more impressive when you consider that during his 2010-11 run he was basically a no-rounder with a court-jester technique.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

24 more runs to get to 6000 for his career.

In 61 matches it will be.

Phenomenal.

 

[philreich]

24 more runs to get to 6000 for his career.

In 61 matches it will be.

Phenomenal.

Yep - as good as Warner has been, he didn't reach 6000 until his 70th Test. The way Smith is going, by the time he's finished, the only records he won't break will be those set by The Don himself.

 

[ioppolo]

Not bad for a shit leggie who can slog a bit.

 

[woota]

I'd have Kallis, Sangakkara, Lara, Tendulkar all before Ponting of players I've seen.Then there are the likes of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Sobers, Richards, Weekes, Hutton, Pollock, Headley, Barrington, Walcott, Nourse, Miandad, Compton that all would have a claim as being just as good if not better than him.

Of course it's all relative. If Bradman wasn't included I'd probably take South Africa's all time XI ahead of ours.

This.

Lara, Tendulkar, Dravid, Kallis, De Villiers, Sangakarra > Ponting

 

[ioppolo]

Sangakkara was good, but he's in the rung below Ponting, Kallis, Tendulkar & Lara. Dravid is in the same territory as Sangakkara.

 

[eth-dog]

Sangakkara was good, but he's in the rung below Ponting, Kallis, Tendulkar & Lara. Dravid is in the same territory as Sangakkara.

Sangakkara was the best bat of the lot. Kallis the best player, Sanga the best bat.

Compare Ponting and Sangakkara's record's at 3, Sanga without the gloves:

Sanga: 82 matches, 8835 runs @ 69.02, 30 tons (9 doubles, 1 triple), 39 50's, high score of 319.
Ponting: 113 matches, 9904 runs @ 56.27, 32 tons (5 doubles), 43 50's, high score of 257.

Sanga was a class above Ponting, not below.

 

[beta_condition]

Smith has moved to 947 icc ranking points outright second highest in the history of the game, just 14 behind Bradman's highest point.

 

[Fat Nyfe]

I remember following his career after he came back into the team in 2013 when his average was low 30's, and hoping he could have a good enough purple patch to push it up to 40. Hah.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Sangakkara was the best bat of the lot. Kallis the best player, Sanga the best bat.

Compare Ponting and Sangakkara's record's at 3, Sanga without the gloves:

Sanga: 82 matches, 8835 runs @ 69.02, 30 tons (9 doubles, 1 triple), 39 50's, high score of 319.
Ponting: 113 matches, 9904 runs @ 56.27, 32 tons (5 doubles), 43 50's, high score of 257.

Sanga was a class above Ponting, not below.

Doesn't Sanga's career average drop from 57 to 46 if you take out the Bangas and the Zimbos? (Not 100% sure if it's true but have heard it before).

Not savvy enough with statsguru to check how much Sanga played at 3 against them, but his 20 Tests against the easybeats vs Pontings 7 makes pure statistics not the best comparison.

 

[DaRick]

Smith has moved to 947 icc ranking points outright second highest in the history of the game, just 14 behind Bradman's highest point.

Sounds about right - naturally the higher the ICC ranking, the harder it is to pick up more points.

A seminal achievement for Smith and Australian cricket.

 

[woota]

Sangakkara was good, but he's in the rung below Ponting, Kallis, Tendulkar & Lara. Dravid is in the same territory as Sangakkara.

De Villiers is the best ODI batsman ever, by a fair margin.

In terms of raw talent IMO De Villiers might be the best of all those players, he just won't play enough test matches to rack up near as many runs or 100s as the other guys in the top echelon.

 

[legend166]

Doesn't Sanga's career average drop from 57 to 46 if you take out the Bangas and the Zimbos? (Not 100% sure if it's true but have heard it before).

Not savvy enough with statsguru to check how much Sanga played at 3 against them, but his 20 Tests against the easybeats vs Pontings 7 makes pure statistics not the best comparison.

Sangakarra's average excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh is 52.6, so as big a drop as you're saying.

Honestly I don't think I can split Tendulkar, Lara, Kallis, Ponting, and Sangakarra. Tendulkar had the best career out of them all, purely because of his consistency over 20 years of Test cricket. Ponting had the highest sustained peak. No one in the modern era (until we've got to Smith) matches Ponting's 2002-2007. His problem though was he went on too long because our side sucked, and that brought his stats down.

I guess in the end you just pick Kallis because then you're getting a very good bowler too.

 

[Demosthenes]

Sangakkara's stats flatter him.

 

[eth-dog]

Doesn't Sanga's career average drop from 57 to 46 if you take out the Bangas and the Zimbos? (Not 100% sure if it's true but have heard it before).

Not savvy enough with statsguru to check how much Sanga played at 3 against them, but his 20 Tests against the easybeats vs Pontings 7 makes pure statistics not the best comparison.

With the stats I provide, Sanga's average drops from 69 to 61. Ponting drop from 56 to 55, so not as steep, but still not as good.

Sangakkara's stats flatter him.

Not really. A lot gets made of his "bullying" of lower ranked sides but Sanga made 150 against every country in the world, made a ton in every country except for the West Indies (where he only played 4 tests) and was a genuine superstar of the game.

 

[beta_condition]

With the stats I provide, Sanga's average drops from 69 to 61. Ponting drop from 56 to 55, so not as steep, but still not as good.

Not really. A lot gets made of his "bullying" of lower ranked sides but Sanga made 150 against every country in the world, made a ton in every country except for the West Indies (where he only played 4 tests) and was a genuine superstar of the game.

He was there's no doubt but his stats are super inflated compared to the others mentioned, his average drops to 47 when you discount Pakistan as well, whole 10 runs lower than his career average while Ponting's drops to 48 just 3 runs lower.