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Steve Smith vs George Headley

Steve Smith vs George Headley

  • Steve Smith

    Votes: 14 60.9%

  • George Headley

    Votes: 9 39.1%
  • Total voters
    23
Silver Silva

Silver Silva

International Regular
Slifer said:
We can agree to disagree. Because Headley faced both india and England in all of one test. Now imagine him facing RSA or NZ in his prime in 5 tests or getting a shot at home vs Australia. He's not comparable to the Don but I'm thinking he'd dominate those two minnows and do well at home vs Oz. I mention NZ because Hammond did gorge himself on them.
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It would have been impossible for Headley to face SA , South Africa had a white supremacist regime they did not face any Test XI's that had non white players in them before 1992 .
 
Adorable Asshole

Adorable Asshole

International Regular
Silver Silva said:
It would have been impossible for Headley to face SA , South Africa had a white supremacist regime they did not face any Test XI's that had non white players in them before 1992 .
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I thought they only didn't played non white players in their team. So they also refused to play against non-white players?
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
Yeah absolutely disgusting.

Anyway I wouldn’t call Headley a minnow basher, but its gotta be Smith for me.
 
shortpitched713

shortpitched713

International Captain
Went with Smith, although this honestly does fall into the "crappy comparisons" category. Highly dissimilar contexts for both of their careers, so not sure what exactly to compare, other than to say, "Hey, these guys both had a high average. Isn't that neat?"
 
Adorable Asshole

Adorable Asshole

International Regular
Slifer said:
Don't know about Viv but Sobers definitely has a claim for the 2nd best after the Don. I'd like to see the reasons why you don't think he does.
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Mostly because he batted at 5 and 6. Plus his record against Australia - the best team during most of his career is decent but not what you expect from an ATG.

Compared that to Lara who batted mostly at 3 and 4 and averaged 51 against Aus vs 43 by Sobers. And the Australia which Lara faced was probably the one of the best bowling attack to have ever assembled.
 
P

peterhrt

U19 Vice-Captain
Adorable Asshole said:
I thought they only didn't played non white players in their team. So they also refused to play against non-white players?
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Charlie Llewellyn was the first non-white cricketer to represent South Africa, playing 15 Tests between 1896 and 1912. The second was Omar Henry in 1992.

Duleepsinhji and Subba Row both played for England in Tests against South Africa in England.

Sobers hit 155 for South Australia against the South African tourists at Adelaide in 1963. Indian-born leg-spinner Rex Sellers was also playing and dismissed Graeme Pollock and Bland.
 
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P

peterhrt

U19 Vice-Captain
In Headley's day Test matches involving West Indies were infrequent so their cricketers were often judged by performances in the first-class game around the world. To a certain extent this continued until county cricket welcomed significant numbers of overseas players in the late 1960s, and more Tests were staged.

First-class career averages by host country of some notable West Indian batsmen making their debut before 1960. Roy Marshall and Sydney Smith spent most of their time in county cricket.

In West Indies: Headley 86, Sobers 70, Walcott 58, Weekes 58, Worrell 57, Marshall 51, Kanhai 50, George Challenor 47, Smith 23.
In England: Headley 68, Weekes 50, Walcott 49, Sobers 48, Kanhai 47, Worrell 47, Marshall 35, Challenor 34, Smith 31.
In Australia: Kanhai 57, Sobers 56, Headley 44, Worrell 42, Walcott 41, Marshall 26, Weekes 26.
In New Zealand: Walcott 86, Worrell 84, Weekes 71, Marshall 40. Smith 39, Sobers 24, Kanhai 4 (one innings).
In India, Pakistan and Ceylon: Walcott 75, Sobers 70, Weekes 64, Worrell 64, Kanhai 47, Marshall 36, Headley 22 (four innings).
In South Africa and Rhodesia: Kanhai 87, Marshall 25, Weekes 22.

Overall: Headley 69, Walcott 56, Weekes 55, Sobers 54, Worrell 54, Kanhai 49, Challenor 38, Marshall 35, Smith 31.

Headley has the highest first-class career average of any batsman in the West Indies, the second highest in England after Bradman, and the fourth highest overall.
 
N

number11

State Regular
Comparisons across eras [especially so far removed] are senseless.
Headley was the 2nd best batsman in pre-modern era cricket after the Don.

Smith is in contention with Lara, Viv, Ponting and SRT as the bat of the modern era [1970-].
Sobers technically straddles both eras but obviously the bulk was pre 1970.

For me, Lara, Viv and Sobers are the best batsmen of all time. Allowing for the Don, they would be 2-4.
 
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