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The legacy of Steve Smith

Flem274*

Flem274*

123/5
Burgey said:
I’d be interested to see the comparative data on average fast bowling speeds between say 2000 and now. I know there hasn’t been anyone clocked as fast as Lee and Akhtar since their day but wonder if the average speed of blokes has gone up a few kph
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Mark Wood is the real world bowler every 50+ year old from club cricket to test cricket insists they faced weekly back in their day.

Hearsay, but broadcasters chatting to Taylor after the Starc Perth quick spell confirmed they get a selection of readings to pick from and pick the quickest if there's a good battle going on (Taylor didn't think that was the quickest ball he'd ever faced).
 
GotSpin

GotSpin

Hall of Fame Member
Flem274* said:
Yep.

I am a bit of a heretic in that I am almost certain modern cricketers are faster, stronger, objectively better etc than their historical mates but it doesn't really matter. In the footy codes it is blatantly obvious but we still pick old school guys in our sides because we don't penalise guys for not seeing 20-50 years into the future, only reward players ahead of their time.

Cricket is weird in that a large portion of the media and the public will insist Edlardo Fartybottom of 1937 bowled just as quickly as Brett Lee and was better than Ponting because he faced dibbly dobblies fast bowlers without a helmet on a soggy lawn.

Even looking back to the 1980s I would not be surprised at all if Richard Hadlee (often called the best fast medium bowler in the word in contemporary commentary footage) was current Tim Southee pace (125-135kph) rather than our modern concept of right arm fast medium being 130-144kph but it doesn't matter how Hadlee would go today, it wasn't his job to bowl in 2022.
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You’re probably right regarding speed but I’m sure most of the players would have traded the cardboard pads, sausage gloves, no helmets, pin dick bats in exchange for something slightly faster
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
Nintendo said:
***ting
Him and his brother where ***ting a girl who had some work relationship with them, dick pic got sent I think and the whole thing was hushed up until the last ashes just started. Was the reason paine stepped down from the captaincy.
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Really? With his brother? Not a fan.
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
Anil said:
smith still hasn't conquered the last frontier, averages < 30 against bangladesh...big hole in his resume...overall he has been pretty decent though...
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Should have a chance in about 4 years. Just hope he doesn’t embarrass himself in 2026 vs Afghanistan. Annoying reading a bunch of tour schedules and only seeing ODI’s and T20’s on many. Apparently we’ll play tests against everyone over the next ~4 years except Ireland and Zimbabwe, so could be much worse.
 
Spark

Spark

Global Moderator
The_CricketUmpire said:
More so then previous eras. Much thicker.
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This happened at the beginning of Ponting's time and became its most extreme around Ponting's peak too; in fact it's been pulled back since then with substantial regulations around maximum bat sizes and restrictions on material since then. Remember this thing?

It's not at all accurate to say that Smith has benefitted more from bigger bats than Ponting. Than someone like Border or Greg Chappell, absolutely, but bat innovation really was an early 2000s phenomenon with new drying procedures for the wood and has since been significantly curtailed with fears over safety and bat/ball balance.

That's even getting before the claim that Smith has benefited more from flat pitches than Ponting when the pitches in the early to mid 2000s were demonstrably the most batting-friendly around the world in generations.
 
Gob

Gob

International Coach
Spark said:
This happened at the beginning of Ponting's time and became its most extreme around Ponting's peak too; in fact it's been pulled back since then with substantial regulations around maximum bat sizes and restrictions on material since then. Remember this thing?

It's not at all accurate to say that Smith has benefitted more from bigger bats than Ponting. Than someone like Border or Greg Chappell, absolutely, but bat innovation really was an early 2000s phenomenon with new drying procedures for the wood and has since been significantly curtailed with fears over safety and bat/ball balance.

That's even getting before the claim that Smith has benefited more from flat pitches than Ponting when the pitches in the early to mid 2000s were demonstrably the most batting-friendly around the world in generations.
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Can't be bothered to go through the whole thread so who said this lol?
 
Gob

Gob

International Coach
haha usual everything was better 20 years ago crap then

Actually that bloke will rate the current players very highly in around 2040.
 
Starfighter

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Spark said:
This happened at the beginning of Ponting's time and became its most extreme around Ponting's peak too; in fact it's been pulled back since then with substantial regulations around maximum bat sizes and restrictions on material since then. Remember this thing?

It's not at all accurate to say that Smith has benefitted more from bigger bats than Ponting. Than someone like Border or Greg Chappell, absolutely, but bat innovation really was an early 2000s phenomenon with new drying procedures for the wood and has since been significantly curtailed with fears over safety and bat/ball balance.

That's even getting before the claim that Smith has benefited more from flat pitches than Ponting when the pitches in the early to mid 2000s were demonstrably the most batting-friendly around the world in generations.
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Don't think so. It peaked around 2015 or so, the maximum thickness rule being brought for the '17 law.

I have a '11/12 Kahuna and new bats belonging to team-mates from around '15 have edges about a centimetre thicker for the same weight (or less). A big increase in only a few years.

In the early 00s you had the period carbon-fibre backed bats that guys like Kemp used, but those were thankfully banned fairly quickly.

Whether the difference between Ponting's and Smith's bats was enough to significantly advantage Smith we'll never know, but they developed quite a bit in short period.
 
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Spark

Spark

Global Moderator
Starfighter said:
Don't think so. It peaked around 2015 or so, the maximum thickness rule being brought for the '17 law.

I have a '11/12 Kahuna and a new bats belonging to team-mates from around '15 have edges about a centimetre thicker. A big increase in only a few years.

In the early 00s you had the period carbon-fibre backed bats that guys like Kemp used, but those were thankfully banned fairly quickly.

Whether the difference between Ponting's and Smith's bats was enough to significantly advantage Smith we'll never know, but they developed quite a bit in short period.
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Weren't some regulations brought in place in the late 00s? Or was that just banning the carbon fibre stuff?
 
TheJediBrah

TheJediBrah

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Anyone who's thinking that Steve Smith has benefited from thicker bats has clearly never seen the way he bats. Would probably make the same runs in Tests with a plank of ply-wood, not exactly someone relying overly on hitting the ball hard
 
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