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Steve Smith

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Ashton Agar said:
The 21st century Bradman passed away last month.
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Really?

Smith is in cracking form. I was always one of his defenders but he has surpassed my expectations tenfold.
 
Clearly best in the world but hard to know what he would average in an era when they had decent bowlers. In reality India is a club attack compared with many of the great bowlers of yore.
 
Let's just settle a bit here. Had a great year, needs to back it up in the next few years
 

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His form in the one day series against South Africa was exceptional and he has just continued on that roll in the tests. I don't think the Indian attack is all that great, but I'd rate the South African attack as one of the top 2 in the world and he embarrassed them.
 
Hughes ended with an average Test record. Huge flaws in his game and never really got over them once found out at Test level. Sadly will never get the chance to overcome them. Comparing him to Bradman in any way is just silly.

Let's leave it at that and focus on Smith.
 
DEVO said:
His form in the one day series against South Africa was exceptional and he has just continued on that roll in the tests. I don't think the Indian attack is all that great, but I'd rate the South African attack as one of the top 2 in the world and he embarrassed them.
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In fairness though bowlers like Steyn, Morkel and Philander are nowhere near as good limited overs bowlers as test bowlers. The one pitch that had life in it we caved in like a pack of cards in Perth, the rest were featherbeds tailormade for hit and giggle cricket. No doubting the rich vein of form though.
 
Sea fog said:
In fairness though bowlers like Steyn, Morkel and Philander are nowhere near as good limited overs bowlers as test bowlers. The one pitch that had life in it we caved in like a pack of cards in Perth, the rest were featherbeds tailormade for hit and giggle cricket. No doubting the rich vein of form though.
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I don't agree with that statement, firstly I think Morkel in particular is better ODI bowler than test bowler, Steyn is top 2 in both forms of the game and Philander is still fairly inexperienced but the fact he has played more tests than ODI does suggests he is more of a test player.

Just out of interest:
Steyn has a better strike rate in ODI's than test (31.8.to 41.4), but a higher average (25.6 to 22.4).
Morkel has a better strike rate in ODI's (29.4 to 56.1) and a better average (24.2 to 29.7).
Philander has a better strike rate in ODI's (32.1 to 44.9), but a higher average (23.6 to 21).

ODI's and Tests are different games these days, but with strike rates and averages like that, in either form of the game I'd rate South Africa's pace attack the best in the game at the moment.

Secondly Australia and South Africa don't play hit and giggle cricket, even if the pitches are made for it. Those five games were the most competitive games we will see this summer. Until the World Cup final when Australia and South Africa do battle again.
 

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The comparisons to Bradman for both Hughes and Smith are laughable. The latter is in Brilliant form and it has been amazing to watch him improve over the last 18 months.

I would have him just behind AB if rating current Batsmen
 
Let's just leave it as smith hitting a purple patch. If he keeps it up for another 50 tests, then we can start the comparisons.
 
DEVO said:
I don't agree with that statement, firstly I think Morkel in particular is better ODI bowler than test bowler, Steyn is top 2 in both forms of the game and Philander is still fairly inexperienced but the fact he has played more tests than ODI does suggests he is more of a test player.

Just out of interest:
Steyn has a better strike rate in ODI's than test (31.8.to 41.4), but a higher average (25.6 to 22.4).
Morkel has a better strike rate in ODI's (29.4 to 56.1) and a better average (24.2 to 29.7).
Philander has a better strike rate in ODI's (32.1 to 44.9), but a higher average (23.6 to 21).

ODI's and Tests are different games these days, but with strike rates and averages like that, in either form of the game I'd rate South Africa's pace attack the best in the game at the moment.

Secondly Australia and South Africa don't play hit and giggle cricket, even if the pitches are made for it. Those five games were the most competitive games we will see this summer. Until the World Cup final when Australia and South Africa do battle again.
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It's probably not surprising that the strike rates are higher in ODIs given that batsmen often have to sacrifice wickets in the chase for quick runs. All three bowlers are at their most dangerous in the longer form of the game though.
 

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Richard Pryor said:
Could you imagine how big Bradman's average could have been if he got to beat up on Bangladesh and Zimbabwe?
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If Bradman played the West Indies in their 70s to mid 90s peak his average could well have been a lot smaller.

He played England mostly in his test career, with the odd series against South Africa, West Indies and India who weren't as strong as some of their more modern day teams. That being said he has almost double the average of the next best test batsman which puts him in a class of his own.

Pointless comparing players across different eras as factors change so much and comparing Smith to Bradman at this stage is ridiculous, let alone comparing Hughes to Bradman.
 
Plugger35 said:
If Bradman played the West Indies in their 70s to mid 90s peak his average could well have been a lot smaller.

He played England mostly in his test career, with the odd series against South Africa, West Indies and India who weren't as strong as some of their more modern day teams. That being said he has almost double the average of the next best test batsman which puts him in a class of his own.

Pointless comparing players across different eras as factors change so much and comparing Smith to Bradman at this stage is ridiculous, let alone comparing Hughes to Bradman.
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Might be apocryphal, but I've heard Bradman say he would have averaged in the low sixties/high fifties if he had to play the West Indies, when asked why he said "You have to understand, I'm a seventy year old man now".
 
Richard Pryor said:
Might be apocryphal, but I've heard Bradman say he would have averaged in the low sixties/high fifties if he had to play the West Indies, when asked why he said "You have to understand, I'm a seventy year old man now".
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It would have been interesting to see how he would've gone against them if he played in that era but I'm pretty sure his average would have taken a hit.

There wasn't too many batsmen that could make good scores regularly against the West Indies sides from that era, Allan Border was the exception and he only averaged just over 50.
 

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