Hitman
Senior T20I Player
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
- Runs
- 17,314
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Steve Smith is coming back to the pack in Tests and if his average drops mid to late 50s by the end of his career, I doubt he would be considered better than Ponting overall as Australia's 2nd best Test batsman after Bradman.
As a Test batsman, he is ahead of Ponting.
Sachin was obviously more complete, even Kohli is more complete all format batsman but in tests Smith is easily the best batsman i have ever seen.
Best after Bradman
He needs to improve his 4th innings record.
Don't be too arrogant. He has played just 76 1st innings while Tendulkar had played exactly 200, so he isn't even half way there! Despite that Tendulkar averages 66 in 200 1st innings he batted in!1st innings are where tests are won, and his 1st innings record makes Sachin look like a tailender
Don't be too arrogant. He has played just 76 1st innings while Tendulkar had played exactly 200, so he isn't even half way there! Despite that Tendulkar averages 66 in 200 1st innings he batted in!
Brian Charles Lara for his brilliance and Rahul Dravid a player for all situations
Kohli himself is past his best. And Williamson is'nt in the class of Smith (even Kohli is a class below in tests).how many Test hundreds did Ponting have after his 100th test> I rememneber he got a hundred in each innings vs South Africa.
Back then it looked like Ponting couldnt ever be stopped, but eventually he started getting LBW where as in the past he would hit straight balls for four.
I have a feeling that once Smith losses a touch from age his decline will be cruel, perhaps in 5 years Williamson and Kohli will be rated higher, although Kane is easily number 1 in the world atm.
Best I've seen was Lara. I am not going by stats here though. Just saying ability wise. I've never seen better players than Lara & ABD. Even with great records, I still think they underachieved. Steven Smith is a monster no doubt but have to wait till he retires. Most insane peak of all time would still of Ponting's though. Ponting playing @3 batted with SR of 60-70+ while averaging over 70. Besides Ponting, I dont think cricket world has ever seen such a dynamic number 3 bar Sir ViV maybe.
Smith is obviously the best test bat of this generation but across formats, Kohli is comfortably ahead of him.
In tests, Smith is probably a top 3-4 level batsman in 150 years of cricket history but Bradman and Tendulkar are still ahead, latter because he has 14000+ test runs during his peak period between 1992-2010 at an average of 58. That in itself is bigger than Smith's entire career.
To surpass Tendulkar, you have to either average close to 65 or if you score 14,000 test runs then 60 average would do it.
By the end of his career, I reckon he will end up with average of 55-57. Will be in discussion for 2nd best Aussie batsman along with Ponting and Gregg.
Smith is a potential GOAT batsman.
As I always say:
He grinds it out when it's tough, and piles it on when it's easy.
No batsman that I have seen does it as well as Smithy.
But hoping he flops badly this series.
No you dont 100 test matches is enough to know who is better more is not necessarily better. If you have played 100 that big enough sample size to judge with anyone. Tendulakar over all average was not even the best among the player he played with he is largely credited above them just because of his over all game and number of games. But smith with his unbelievable numbers is definitely ahead as of now and will be ahead for sure if he average around 60 after 100 matches permanently.
We need to also add that most Indians consider this Indian attack to be ATG and definitely their best of all time whenever he plays against them he spanks a 100 for fun compare that to Sachin record againt Pakistan for instance. So Indians of all people should consider him better than Sachin you cant have it both ways.
Hes got brilliant consistentcy if only he was more pleasing on the eye
He is a better Test batsman than Ponting. Those who claim that he is facing easier bowlers are wrong. In fact, Ponting faced easier attacks in his peak years from 2002 to 2007.
He never faced McGrath and Warne, Wasim and Waqar retired in 2003, Ambrose and Walsh retire by 2001-2002, Donald retired in 2002, Pollock was past his prime years, Bond made his debut against Australia in 2001 and never played a Test against them again.
Steyn’s peak started from 2008 onwards and Ponting was past his best by then. James Anderson also became a legendary bowler in the 2010s.
Apart from Muralitharan and to an extent Kumble and Zaheer, Ponting mostly played against B class attacks during his peak years.
Smith in his peak years (2014 onwards) has played against a better English, Indian, South African and New Zealand attack than Ponting did from 2002 to 2007.
Even West Indies current attack can be considered their best pace attack since the retirement of Ambrose and Walsh.
The only attacks that can be considered genuinely weaker today are Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Ponting was a devastating batsman against slightly weaker attacks, but I would back Smith to outperform Ponting against better attacks more often than not. He is a batting genius and Australian’s greatest since Don.
Smith is better than Kohli, quicker than Kohli to reach 27 centuries, another record for Smith, the pretend Kohli is nothing.
The actual difference between the two is not just numbers.
Smith is so clutch, Smith has already played the most number of brilliant test innings, along with BC Lara.
It was such a joy to watch him bat last night. It was unSmith like to not perform in the 2nd test.
Not even close. Doesn't even rank in the top 5 for me.
The best batsman I've ever seen is Brian Lara.
Steve Smith is the GOAT at scoring runs. He just knows the art of scoring runs. But I don't think he's the best batsman. There are other things apart from scoring runs that goes into being the best batsman.
Smith is better than Ponting for the simple fact that he can play spin.
He is a better Test batsman than Ponting. Those who claim that he is facing easier bowlers are wrong. In fact, Ponting faced easier attacks in his peak years from 2002 to 2007.
He never faced McGrath and Warne, Wasim and Waqar retired in 2003, Ambrose and Walsh retire by 2001-2002, Donald retired in 2002, Pollock was past his prime years, Bond made his debut against Australia in 2001 and never played a Test against them again.
Steyn’s peak started from 2008 onwards and Ponting was past his best by then. James Anderson also became a legendary bowler in the 2010s.
Apart from Muralitharan and to an extent Kumble and Zaheer, Ponting mostly played against B class attacks during his peak years.
Smith in his peak years (2014 onwards) has played against a better English, Indian, South African and New Zealand attack than Ponting did from 2002 to 2007.
Even West Indies current attack can be considered their best pace attack since the retirement of Ambrose and Walsh.
The only attacks that can be considered genuinely weaker today are Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Ponting was a devastating batsman against slightly weaker attacks, but I would back Smith to outperform Ponting against better attacks more often than not. He is a batting genius and Australian’s greatest since Don.
Ponting was a very good player of spin bowling, his failures in India in Tests are exaggerated.
Ponting was a very good player of spin bowling, his failures in India in Tests are exaggerated.
Exaggerated? He scored 662 runs in 25 innings at an average of 26.48 in India. That's exaggeration?
Exaggerated? He scored 662 runs in 25 innings at an average of 26.48 in India. That's exaggeration?
Exaggerated? He scored 662 runs in 25 innings at an average of 26.48 in India. That's exaggeration?
That's because of the 2001 tour where he averaged only 3 in the series.
Check his averages by every series in India - https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...art;template=results;type=batting;view=series
Ponting made his Test debut in 95/96; he played all the fast bowlers you mentioned for a good 3-4 years when they were still great bowlers.
Smith has faced only Anderson + Broad (in ENG), AUS (Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc), Bumrah, and Rabada, who can be compared to those greats.
Other than that, the pace and spin attacks of this era are weaker than those Ponting faced.
For example, Ashwin is the best spinner today but he can’t be compared to Murali.
I am referring to Ponting’s peak years, not his entire career.
Ponting averaged mid 40s until 2000-2001, and his career took off from 2002 onwards where he averaged 70+ over a 6-7 year period where he established himself as one of the most devastating batsmen of all time.
He did not enter the league of Tendulkar and Lara until the great bowlers of 90s retired or were past their best.
Now there are two possibilities: (1) he was yet to peak as a batsman until his late 20s and early 30s, and his peak simply coincided with the retirement of the aforementioned bowlers
OR
(2) He peaked only because those bowlers retired around 2001-2002. Had he faced the same class of bowling from 2002 to 2007, he would not be averaging 70+.
Either way, Smith’s peak has come at a time where only Pakistan and Sri Lanka have weaker bowling attacks than they did from 2002 to 2007 period. All other teams have better attacks now than they did at that time.
I already marked Sri Lanka as having an inferior attack now than they did at that time, but I think Ashwin would have troubled Ponting considerably. He is comfortably better than Harbhajan and the latter had his number in Test cricket.
I am referring to Ponting’s peak years, not his entire career.
Ponting averaged mid 40s until 2000-2001, and his career took off from 2002 onwards where he averaged 70+ over a 6-7 year period where he established himself as one of the most devastating batsmen of all time.
He did not enter the league of Tendulkar and Lara until the great bowlers of 90s retired or were past their best.
Now there are two possibilities: (1) he was yet to peak as a batsman until his late 20s and early 30s, and his peak simply coincided with the retirement of the aforementioned bowlers
OR
(2) He peaked only because those bowlers retired around 2001-2002. Had he faced the same class of bowling from 2002 to 2007, he would not be averaging 70+.
Either way, Smith’s peak has come at a time where only Pakistan and Sri Lanka have weaker bowling attacks than they did from 2002 to 2007 period. All other teams have better attacks now than they did at that time.
I already marked Sri Lanka as having an inferior attack now than they did at that time, but I think Ashwin would have troubled Ponting considerably. He is comfortably better than Harbhajan and the latter had his number in Test cricket.
Their middle order is very weak and one opening spot is unsettled. With the arrival of Green and Pucovski. They might become very hard to beat. Next Aus tour to Ind will be a crackerBoth Smith and Cummins are GOAT test players but still Australia aren't the best team going around in the world.
Their middle order is very weak and one opening spot is unsettled. With the arrival of Green and Pucovski. They might become very hard to beat. Next Aus tour to Ind will be a cracker
Their middle order is very weak and one opening spot is unsettled. With the arrival of Green and Pucovski. They might become very hard to beat. Next Aus tour to Ind will be a cracker
Pucovski and Green will be devoured by Ashwin and Jadeja on Indian tracks at this stage of their careers. It is very unfair to expect them to perform in India at this point.
They will need 2-3 Asian tours to get going in such conditions.
India will walk over Australia. It would be surprising if that series is as competitive as the 2017 one, mainly because Kohli couldn’t buy a run in that series.
I agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION].
Steve Smith is better test batsmen than Ponting.
Smith dominated spinners, he had fabulous 100 on square turning pune pitch. I never seen Ponting domination against spin.
Order wise:
Bradman
Steve Smith
Ponting
"I'd love to be part of the World Cup, for sure," he added.
"But from my point of view, Test cricket, that's my main goal -- to be right for the Ashes and try to emulate what I've done in the last few Ashes series I've been involved in."