The Steven Smith Question

[Flem274*]

haha, i know you're kidding fj but mastering the art of the play and miss is an underrated part of batting.

that's not a crack at smith's knock either. everyone plays and misses when scoring a ton against good bowling. you want to miss good balls if they're not at the stumps.

 

[TheJediBrah]

haha, i know you're kidding fj

is he? he's been saying a lot of dumb **** over the last few days

maybe he's just been joking this whole time and I haven't been getting it

 

[Gob]

is he? he's been saying a lot of dumb **** over the last decade

maybe he's just been joking this whole time and I haven't been getting it

Fixed

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

Only 4 batsmen averaged 50+ in 90s ( minimum 25 tests )
19 batsmen avgd 50+ in 00s
12 in 2010s so far.

Smith is the only Undisputable ATG today , I think.

 

[mr_mister]

Yeah smith has no chance of his average dropping below 50 at this point. So we may as well call him an ATG already. If he retired tomorrow due to an injury we wouldn't hesitate to do it

 

[stephen]

Calling Smith an ATG now was like calling Steyn an ATG in 2011. It's plain that he is, the question is what his career will end up producing.

 

[stephen]

Only 4 batsmen averaged 50+ in 90s ( minimum 25 tests )
19 batsmen avgd 50+ in 00s
12 in 2010s so far.

Smith is the only Undisputable ATG today , I think.

Kohli and Williamson are IMO. ATG players don't necessarily have to be the absolute best in their era or against all opposition.

 

[Groundking]

It doesn't work that easily. You can't just look at their age and say "they will all be exactly this good for this amount of years". One of them might decline rapidly within a year, one might dominate for another 10. People aren't robots.

Root will be the first one that is done imo.

 

[TheJediBrah]

When predicting Smith's potential fall from his "peak" similar to other greats, it's important to remember that his current career stats and average are already weighed down by the start of his career where he was pretty ordinary, and even played a bit as a bowler.

If you only look at his last 5 years, when he was recalled as a batsman and really hit his peak he actually averages 73. Even if he drops his average by 10-15 runs when falling from his peak he still finishes with an average about 60.

 

[Flem274*]

how many tests did he actually play as a norounder? i remember him looking terrible and getting punted very quickly.

 

[TheJediBrah]

how many tests did he actually play as a norounder? i remember him looking terrible and getting punted very quickly.

not many tbh. Only a few in 2008-09 IIRC. Maybe only a couple. But then he played a bit around 2010-11 as a "batsman" mostly but he was pretty crap. Wasn't until he was recalled in 2013-14 that he actually looked like making international runs.

 

[Flem274*]

of the fab 4, i think only root came into test cricket and imediately looked at home. the other 3 were all in too early, and smith in a random role.

 

[trundler]

I remember him touring India as a leggie in the early 10s.

 

[TimAngas]

By comparison Ponting had 9239 runs @ 59.99 after 107 tests after which he was almost universally hailed as the best Australian bat since Bradman, so there's a way to go for Smith still. Smith has 6130 runs @ 65.91 in 60 tests since his return to the test side as a batsman. Similar or better such runs include Ponting for 69 tests 1 Jan 2001 to 1 Dec 2006 where he had 6829 @ 66.95. Sangakarra had a run of 74 tests between 1 Jan 2006 to 6 Aug 2014 where he had 8085 @ 67.37!!. Tendulkar had 6073 @ 63.92 in 65 tests between April 1993 and Feb 2002. These are the best runs I could find of some certified ATG players so Smith certainly is on the verge of ATG status, if we use this is a measure. As illustrated by these players though, end of career averages often pale in comparison to averages during peak periods.

 

[Slifer]

But the entirety of Smith's career has seen him average 60+ not just any random number of tests.

 

[OverratedSanity]

The entirety of Smith's career is 60 odd tests

 

[stephen]

I rate Smith's peak higher than Ponting's peak though. Ponting's peak coincided with the worst fast bowling stocks and flattest pitched in world cricket in my lifetime. Smith's peak has coincided with extremely good fast bowling - Rabada/Philander, Broad/Anderson, Bumrah, Boult/Southee. That's almost as good as the 90s bowling attacks.

 

[social]

Couple of random stats

If Smith gets out today without adding to his score and follows it with 17 consecutive ducks, his career average will still be higher than Greg Chappell

His first innings test average for the last 6 years is over 100

 

[stephen]

Couple of random stats

If Smith gets out today without adding to his score and follows it with 17 consecutive ducks, his career average will still be higher than Greg Chappell

His first innings test average for the last 6 years is over 100

He does love to bat first.

 

[Slifer]

I rate Smith's peak higher than Ponting's peak though. Ponting's peak coincided with the worst fast bowling stocks and flattest pitched in world cricket in my lifetime. Smith's peak has coincided with extremely good fast bowling - Rabada/Philander, Broad/Anderson, Bumrah, Boult/Southee. That's almost as good as the 90s bowling attacks.

Awta. And for me he's had many a good/great series imo but for me the stand outs are the 2014 series vs rsa and India 2017. Both times he faced atg attacks away and did outstandingly (India at home with jadeja, ashwin and co are a great attack).