Top 30 batsmen of the modern era (1990s -Current)

[Kirkut]

Fully deserves the number one spot, when you think of Smith returning from exile and smashing England bowlers for fun in 2019 Ashes!

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Funny coincidence that I watched that Supersport documentary on YT less than an hour ago.

 

[Athlai]

Can we get a version of this that only includes winners of the world test championship?

 

[Victor Ian]

Nah. It was a contrived win, played in conditions different to the qualifying. Should have been no spare day and shouldn't have changed the ladder midway through. If ever there was an award handed to the perennial losers, this was it.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Nah. It was a contrived win, played in conditions different to the qualifying. Should have been no spare day and shouldn't have changed the ladder midway through. If ever there was an award handed to the perennial losers, this was it.

Yes. SENA conditions. India coming off quarantine with no warm ups. Might as well have handed NZ the trophy. Means about as much as England's 2019 WC win.

 

[venkyrenga]

Pardon me and I'd be the first to admit I didn't even bother to look at the methodology but in the period 1993 to 2003 Lara would've had:

400+ away to Australia at 56 (I think)
798 at home to England at 99
765 away to England at 85
546 at home at 91 vs Australia
688 away to SL at 111
533 at home to Australia at 60 odd
531 away to RSA at 60 odd

I guess these performances are balanced out by his troughs???

Lara likely deserves to be no. 3 on the list. But it is a bit unusual for a batsman of his standards or anyone in the top 5 to have a low as he did in the late 90s. Over a 5 year period, (96-00) he averaged 40 odd and a mere 30 overseas. Otherwise he would have been a notch above Kallis and Waugh. Yes, even Sachin had his lows but it was well after a long good run.

 

[rtramdas]

Lol

why? the huge difference between 'Smith & Lara' ,'Smith & Kallis' etc etc cannot be accepted by any yardstick especially because Smith till date has scored only 7500 runs to Lara's 12000 . That means there is no doubt that the 'weight allotment to each factor' used here is not that sensible.More than that, some one like Lara was rated so highly because of his unique ability of compiling huge individual scores.

 

[Victor Ian]

Using total number of runs is a bit silly, long term. We may never see that again, as tests seem to be getting fewer in number. I remember Australia racking up the mid teens in tests per year. I think they played 16 once. Now they are lucky to push 10. The flow of runs is what matters and once you pass the Bradman amount, you are ready to be legitimately quantified, in my opinion. If Bradman was added to this list he would **** all over everyone. Would you cry foul at his only 6996 runs compared to Lara?

 

[TheJediBrah]

why? the huge difference between 'Smith & Lara' ,'Smith & Kallis' etc etc cannot be accepted by any yardstick especially because Smith till date has scored only 7500 runs to Lara's 12000 . That means there is no doubt that the 'weight allotment to each factor' used here is not that sensible.More than that, some one like Lara was rated so highly because of his unique ability of compiling huge individual scores.

Smith is weighted so highly because he's better at batting

 

[venkyrenga]

For the Dravid fans out there,

Dravid's most valuable series performances:
vs New Zealand, 1998, Away, Runs- 321, Avg- 107.00
vs England, 2002, Away, Runs- 602, Avg- 100.33
vs Australia, 2003, Away, Runs- 490, Avg- 122.50
vs West Indies, 2006, Away, Runs- 496, Avg- 82.66
vs England, 2011, Away, Runs- 461, Avg- 76.83

Isn't that crazy how good he was in overseas conditions throughout his career?

 

[TheJediBrah]

I remember England 2011 well. Genuine one-man show

 

[rtramdas]

Using total number of runs is a bit silly, long term. We may never see that again, as tests seem to be getting fewer in number. I remember Australia racking up the mid teens in tests per year. I think they played 16 once. Now they are lucky to push 10. The flow of runs is what matters and once you pass the Bradman amount, you are ready to be legitimately quantified, in my opinion. If Bradman was added to this list he would **** all over everyone. Would you cry foul at his only 6996 runs compared to Lara?

You yourself would know the reason as to why Bradman is rated very highly, I assume. Despite being from decades back, Bradman is rated so highly
because of his average.That is not the case with Smith-Lara.

On a side note , Sachin has a stretch of 13607 runs(still better than 2nd placed Ponting's 13378) where he averaged a whopping 59.41 with least 'nation wise average' of 44.66 and an astonishing over all abroad average of 61.48 .

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com

stats.espncricinfo.com

So a batsman with mere 7500 runs @ 61.8 better than another one with whopping 13607 runs @59.41

No ....I can't just accept it

 

[Burgey]

Well, he can be if you don't cherry pick the prime period of another player's career to compare it with the first bloke's whole career. After 77 tests (the total Smith has played to date) Tendulkar's average was 6 points less than Smith's. Of course, it was still an awesome number, around 55 or so. We aren't comparing spuds here.

 

[Burgey]

I remember England 2011 well. Genuine one-man show

Yeah he was great that series.

 

[indiaholic]

Yeah needs to filter out the period before Smith entered God mode. Maybe start in 2014.

 

[srbhkshk]

Well, he can be if you don't cherry pick the prime period of another player's career to compare it with the first bloke's whole career. After 77 tests (the total Smith has played to date) Tendulkar's average was 6 points less than Smith's. Of course, it was still an awesome number, around 55 or so. We aren't comparing spuds here.

I know it applies in certain ways to Smith as well, but Tendulkar started playing early - like really early, a guy who isn't even 20 years old shouldn't really be marked down for averaging 35-40 in test cricket at one of the peak bowling eras in history.

 

[venkyrenga]

Yeah needs to filter out the period before Smith entered God mode. Maybe start in 2014.

Smith had a stretch of 6003 runs with an avg of 75.03 from 2014.

 

[subshakerz]

De Villiers definitely elite and imo second to only Smith in the second half of his career in terms of adaptability and playing in unplayable bowling/conditions.

AB was hands down the best player of express pace I have seen. His calm handling of Johnson at Centurion as he was breathing fire and ripping through the rest of the lineup was exemplary. And he had handled peak Johnson before in Australia and South Africa in 2008-2009 very well also.

AB was also the most adaptable player you can imagine. Going from his 360 blast mode to being able to block for hours as he did in India in 2015 and Australia in 2013.

His big weakness was getting out often in soft fashion after settling in. One reason why his century conversion rate is relatively low.

 

[Victor Ian]

I agree with all those who say wait until Smith's career is over. However, for the sake of this exercise, if Smith did not play another day of cricket in his life, then he has scored enough to be considered the clear number 2. Or at least be in the same conversation as the other greats. It is an error to just assume he will have a dip. He might get better. Waugh got better, Sangakara got better. Tendulkar had a dip but then had another surge, Lara had a dip and then another surge.
Lara was the undisputed king of scoring huge runs. That he did not have an average over 60 also testifies that there were some lean patches. Smith might have a lean patch. He might be in one right now. But it is all conjecture.

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

Well, he can be if you don't cherry pick the prime period of another player's career to compare it with the first bloke's whole career. After 77 tests (the total Smith has played to date) Tendulkar's average was 6 points less than Smith's. Of course, it was still an awesome number, around 55 or so. We aren't comparing spuds here.

If a player's whole career is shorter than another ones's peak, there is no issue in comparing whole career and peak.