Steve Smith vs Brian Lara

[Johan]

almost equal but Smith.

 

[Sliferxxxx]

But did Smith ever have to deal with dodgy umpiring? How much of an impact would that have had on his career because legends of the past would get poor decisions especially "away" from home in almost every prominent series. We already deal with small sample sizes when it comes to record in a particular country. A few poor decisions can significantly downgrade your away record. Lara faced poor decisions, while the number of poor decisions Tendulkar faced away from home is literally unprecedented. I stumbled upon India's 2007-2008 tours and recalled these-

2007 England v India, Nottingham Test-

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2008 Australia v India - Perth Test

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He had 493 runs in Australia 07/08. He was looking set for a ton in Perth as well until that decision. So we can safely assume 500+ in the series. In fact he could have done the same in 99/00 BGT as well. i just wonder how ridiculous Tendulkar's away record would've been if opposition and certain umpires didn't hold a grudge against him. Cricket is a game of momentum. 1 bad decision can derail your series and your team's. It's hardly a surprise that teams like Australia would never lose at home. And I bet Windies and Viv suffered enough decisions as well. So we really make a mistake of taking records pre-DRS on face value. We can't. Cricket was very different.

Yeah didn't watch Sachin that much but damn that's bad. But Lara I know for sure got some howlers. Examples being Healey claiming a stumping when he didn't have the ball in hand and also claiming a grassed catch in the 92-93 series. In SL in 2001, lara survived one or two close lbw shouts but he also literally smashed a ball into the ground (2nd test i believe) and was given out...smh. The whole 2005 series in Australia was also pretty horrendous etc

 

[centurymaker]

Australia was notorious for bad umpiring against touring sides top players.

Even ignoring the shoulder before wicket dismissal, Tendulkar still had 2 other bad decisions in 99/00 plus Gabba in 03/04 plus Perth 07/08. If you even take off 4 outs from his record in Australia, his average there rises by 7-8 points.

So when I judge a batsman it is not just average but complete "batsmanship". How good they are when batting, how good is their defence, their technique, how do they handle top bowlers, how dominant they are, how is their stroke making, how adaptable they are. Can't just go off numbers alone as cricket is greatly influenced by chance/luck and even bad decisions before.