What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Steven Peter Devereux Smith - Best Test Batsman Since Bradman

TheParraboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
66,219
How many tons for Smith this summer?

I'll go with 3.

Wouldn't be surprised if they are double tons

then again wouldn't surprise me if has a lean series by his standards, cause of the mental effort he put into the ashes
Didn't he say he was mentally shot when he toured SA, cause he put so much in the home ashes?

Maybe not having the captaincy he will just keep on keeping on?
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
11,410
Wouldn't be surprised if they are double tons

then again wouldn't surprise me if has a lean series by his standards, cause of the mental effort he put into the ashes
Didn't he say he was mentally shot when he toured SA, cause he put so much in the home ashes?

Maybe not having the captaincy he will just keep on keeping on?

I'm thinking the same. He will be expected to score runs. Though the great players usually do.

Also think the Pakistan attack is a bit dangerous. 2-3 guys are going to be bunnies in our batting lineup if that ball starts to move (not that its different to the usual).
 

King hit

Coach
Messages
13,778
Would really like to see comparisons between Smith and Ponting. Ponting was unstoppable for a time. I remember people saying Ponting was the best since Bradman back in the day.
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
11,410
Steve PD Smith finding himself in unfamiliar positions so far this series. Basically needing to play very aggressively since our top order are scoring big tons. Unselfish player.
 

Fangs

Coach
Messages
11,410
Smith's weakness was exposed by Pakistan
He seems to struggle when he comes in at number 4 and the score is all ready 350
I think NZ need to use this tactic in the upcoming test series

Steven Waugh caught that later in his career. Needed it to be backs to the wall.
 

Meth

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
34,660
Smith, Kohli, Williamson, Root.

All fantastic cricketers.

I had a bit of spare time on my hands today, so I thought I might look a little closer at how they measure up against each other. I know not everything is seen in numbers (and we can discuss variables), but I thought it might help to gauge how they rank comparatively and what sort of gap exists between them (if any)

Being upfront, my initial thought is that there wasn't really a Big 4 anymore as much as there was a Big 3 (with a clear #1). Root's star has been on the wane for some time now.

I thought I'd compare seasons over the last four calendar years (with Smith's gap year to be considered an anomaly to be taken into account).

Test

Kohli- (currently ranked #2)
2016- 75.93 (12 matches)
2017- 75.64 (10 matches)
2018- 55.08 (13 matches)
2019- 31.80 (3 matches)
Overall 62.58

Smith- (currently ranked #1)
2016- 71.93 (11 matches)
2017- 76.96 (11 matches)
2018- 32.14 (4 matches)
2019- 110.57 (4 matches)
Overall- 73.54

Williamson- (currently ranked #3)
2016- 47.06 (10 matches)
2017- 62.88 (7 matches)
2018- 59.18 (7 matches)
2019- 74.5 (4 matches)
Overall- 56.70

Root- (currently ranked #6)
2016- 49.23 (17 matches)
2017- 50.84 (11 matches)
2018- 41.21 (13 matches)
2019- 29.72 (9 matches)
Overall- 43.62

Based on that, there's some clear distinction between all 4 of them really. It's hard to group them together.

1- Smith


2- Kohli

3- Williamson


4- Root

Looking at ODI cricket for good measure.

Root- (currently ranked #8)
2016- 61.23 (15 matches)
2017- 70.21 (19 matches)
2018- 59.12 (24 matches)
2019- 50.55 (22 matches)
Overall- 59.59

Williamson- (currently ranked #6)
2016- 41.11 (18 matches)
2017- 42.57 (14 matches)
2018- 46.80 (11 matches)
2019- 59.25 (20 matches)
Overall- 47.56

Smith- (currently ranked #28)
2016- 50.17 (26 matches)
2017- 44.90 (13 matches)
2018- 20.40 (5 matches)
2019- 37.90 (10 matches)
Overall- 43.41

Kohli- (currently ranked #1)
2016- 92.37 (10 matches)
2017- 76.84 (26 matches)
2018- 133.55 (14 matches)
2019- 64.3 (23 matches)
Overall- 83.73

Based on that-

1- Kohli

2- Root

3- Williamson
4- Smith

Root may have climbed back into the four with his recent form in Asia
 

Latest posts

Top