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Steve Smith vs Brian Lara

Who is the better test batsman?

  • Total voters
    51
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Slifer said:
Umm no way is Sachin an A in the WI

And him and Lara are identical in RSA stats wise

And Lara in SL is more than A+ he's S tier there.

The rest, I can live with.
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Tendulkar in WI is basically a very good series against Walsh and Ambrose and a good series against a mid attack. Deserves at least an A-.

Tendulkar scored two tons against Donald and two against Steyn and played them more which is why he has a better record in SA for me than Lara.

Lara only played a single series in SL. But we can say A++.
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
Slifer said:
Umm no way is Sachin an A in the WI

And him and Lara are identical in RSA stats wise

And Lara in SL is more than A+ he's S tier there.

The rest, I can live with.
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I agree with the SL one. But in RSA, Sachin conquered prime Steyn, so he’s better. I’d also add Lara at home was better than Sachin(especially with the 99 series and all).
 
Slifer

Slifer

International Captain
subshakerz said:
How I grade them when it comes to their away performances:

SL: Lara A+, Tendulkar A, Smith A
Pak/UAE: Tendulkar B-, Lara B, Smith B+
India: Lara C (single series), Smith A
Aus: Tendulkar A, Lara B-
Eng: Tendulkar A-, Lara B+, Smith A+
SA: Tendulkar B+, Lara B, Smith B
NZ: Tendulkar A-, Lara C+, Smith A
WI: Tendulkar A, Smith A

Overall: Tendulkar A, Smith A, Lara B

Lara only really was excellent overall in SL thank to just one series, albeit an ATG one.
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I'm in a trolly/bored mood so let's do the home ratings while we're at it:

Vs

SL: Lara A+, Sachin A, Smith n/a
Pak: Lara A, Sachin B, Smith A
India: Lara C-, Smith A+
Aus: Lara A+, Sachin A
Eng: Lara A++, Sachin B+, Smith A
SA: Lara A, Sachin C, Smith A
NZ: Lara B+, Sachin B, Smith B+
WI: Sachin A, Smith A+++

Lara excelled vs everyone at home, curiously except for India. Sachin was mixed great vs some, good vs a few and poor vs RSA. Smith generally good to great vs all at home.
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
Slifer said:
I'm in a trolly/bored mood so let's do the home ratings while we're at it:

Vs

SL: Lara A+, Sachin A, Smith n/a
Pak: Lara A, Sachin B, Smith A
India: Lara C-, Smith A+
Aus: Lara A+, Sachin A
Eng: Lara A++, Sachin B+, Smith A
SA: Lara A, Sachin C, Smith A
NZ: Lara B+, Sachin B, Smith B+
WI: Sachin A, Smith A+++

Lara excelled vs everyone at home, curiously except for India. Sachin was mixed great vs some, good vs a few and poor vs RSA. Smith generally good to great vs all at home.
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Agreed for Sachin vs Lara. Smith I wouldn’t rate that high for dominating weak Pak and WI teams
 
Slifer

Slifer

International Captain
subshakerz said:
Tendulkar in WI is basically a very good series against Walsh and Ambrose and a good series against a mid attack. Deserves at least an A-.

Tendulkar scored two tons against Donald and two against Steyn and played them more which is why he has a better record in SA for me than Lara.

Lara only played a single series in SL. But we can say A++.
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"Mid attack?" You're being wayyy too generous for the sake of being right, that attack in 2002 was horrible. The explanation for RSA is fair though.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Slifer said:
"Mid attack?" You're being wayyy too generous for the sake of being right, that attack in 2002 was horrible. The explanation for RSA is fair though.
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Well Tendulkar delivered the goods when they had a quality attack which matters more to me.

HouHsiaoHsien said:
Agreed for Sachin vs Lara. Smith I wouldn’t rate that high for dominating weak Pak and WI teams
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I didn't for Pakistan. Yeah I should put him down for WI but he did dominate them.
 
Slifer

Slifer

International Captain
Coronis said:
How is life in India for you with this opinion? Legitimately curious
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I went to an aviation school and quite a few of my classmates were Indian. Most rated Sachin better but all of them loved Lara even allowing for his poor record vs India and more than a handful rated Lara higher.
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
Slifer said:
I went to an aviation school and quite a few of my classmates were Indian. Most rated Sachin better but all of them loved Lara even allowing for his poor record vs India and more than a handful rated Lara higher.
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OverratedSanity said:
It's hardly a very rare opinion even here. Indian fans love Lara.
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Hmm, interesting. Wouldn’t have thunk it.

Would @shortpitched713 get a pass too cos India likes Hayden?
 
Slifer

Slifer

International Captain
Well Lara is Trinidadian b4 anything else so even though technically WI is home, only really Trinidad is. He does benefit from having two of the flattest wkts on earth to play on ie the arg and bourda but Sabina and Kensington at least in his time were spicy (not 80s spicy but spicy enough) and Trinidad a mixed bag.

And it's not as though the great bowlers he faced at home were bad in the WI: Donald, McGrath, Murali, Waqar, Pollock etc all head good to stellar records vs in the Caribbean. Are Caribbean grounds much smaller than those in other countries? Or Maybe there was something in the water....
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
Slifer said:
Well Lara is Trinidadian b4 anything else so even though technically WI is home, only really Trinidad is. He does benefit from having two of the flattest wkts on earth to play on ie the arg and bourda but Sabina and Kensington at least in his time were spicy (not 80s spicy but spicy enough) and Trinidad a mixed bag.

And it's not as though the great bowlers he faced at home were bad in the WI: Donald, McGrath, Murali, Waqar, Pollock etc all head good to stellar records vs in the Caribbean. Are Caribbean grounds much smaller than those in other countries? Or Maybe there was something in the water....
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I mean, he would still get insane support at other grounds surely? I don’t think any inter-island rivalries would come into it at international level. It might feel more special for him at Trinidad but I imagine the Windies fans being just as rabid everywhere.
 
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