- Feb 18, 2017
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He went on too long, averaged 30 in his last two years
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AFLW 2024 - Round 10 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Where does Steve Smith rate?
- Thread starter Tyberious Funk
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- Jan 7, 2018
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Batting at 3 as well.
Smith will most likely finish with more attractive stats but to what my eyes have seen Ponting is the better batsman.
- Jan 7, 2018
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Looks better with Ponting at 4, Smith at 5 and Border at 6.
managed to track down those ponting numbers between the 2001/2 home summer and through to 2009 he played 90 tests averaged 62 with 31 tons, thats amazing really cant even call that just a purple patch 90 tests is a full career for many.
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How good was the slips catch yesterday
- Jun 16, 2012
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Ponting has the question mark over performance in Asia though. Hard to beat Smith as a complete package in any conditions
Yes, I wait to see how career rounds out but at moment he at least in contention with likes of Ponting and Chappell.
At the end of day, do not think he as good as them but he likely to still end with better average by some margin.
It's tricky to rate because on one hand his average is awesome but on other hand he never had to face West Indies bowling of late 70's and the 80's that Chappell and Border did. I rate some of the Border innings against the Windies as incredible. Just premium value in terms of rating because you are facing the hardest attack to survive against in my time of watching cricket.
It is also very hard to rate in terms of the bats they use now because the ball can fly for way less effort, which actually changes some of your approach to batting that you would not have the luxury of with a bat from a few decades back. I mean, I just giggle inside at a six like yesterday that Marnus had go for six behind the keeper with the bats now.
If I try to imagine what Smith would be like facing Garner, Holding, Roberts and Marshall of early 80's and it hard to imagine he survives with his technique against that lot. He would have to use the same bats of the time and fear he would be humbled like most batsmen would and struggle to average 30 against them. The reality is he could average 60 in his career and I will probably still take Border, Steve Waugh, Ponting and Greg Chappell over him. But the fact he gets in conversation with those guys is brilliant in itself. He's done absolutely brilliantly in this era and hope he can continue to be brilliant. Like , I do not think he could have done much more. He's batting has been awesome in this era and love his appetite to want to get better.
- May 5, 2016
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Agreed but still hard to fault what Ponting did. May have been helped record wise by the fact that his position took a while early on to become permanent though Lara had 18-24 months of that too.
Curiously Lara struggled in India but had no trouble in Pakistan against some good spin attacks and dominated Murali on some very difficult pitches
- May 5, 2016
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In fairness while Ponting did face his fair share of guns, he didn’t really cover himself in glory by the time these guys came along from memory - Shoaib yes. I have a recollection of him absolutely tearing him apart on a very fast Perth wicket
97ish?
We were 5 down at lunch, only Langer got through unscathed and scored a big hundred.
Shoaib very, very quick that day.
- May 5, 2016
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That’s the one
- May 5, 2016
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This is such a tired, baseless trope…such a casual take
It’s really not
Take out his India 2001 series and he averaged 38 when he set foot outside of Australia. Still decent enough but 19 lower than his average at home. Still keeps him in the discussion and it’s not like home runs just make themselves but it’s a fair indicator of his penchant for friendlier climes
Im no fan of Hayden but you’re a better poster than going down the ‘take out player x’s best performance from their statistics because I don’t like them’ path.
- Jan 7, 2018
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There is footage on youtube of Ponting smashing McGrath around in a shield game.
Obviously not the same as the pressure of Test cricket but it shows he might have gone ok against McGrath.
- Jan 7, 2018
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Hayden was really good but I don't think I'd put him in an all time best Australian team.
- May 5, 2016
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It was 3 matches. It makes a 4 run impact.
It’s not saying take out this series, that series, this other series. It’s a month of cricket. It’s pretty fair to say it was the exception rather than the rule
- Jan 20, 2014
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I would rate Smith's peak period (2014-18) as the best I've seen from an Australian batsman in test cricket. Not only based on the weight of runs he scored but because he was in a worse team than comparable streaks from players before him. Ponting's golden streak was glorious to watch but he didn't have to carry the weight of carrying the team on his shoulders the way Smith did. The flipside however is Ponting was also arguably the best ODI batsman in the world at the same period of time whereas Smith has never been in the conversation as the best ODI batsman.
But then also go find his worst overseas series and get rid of that.
The fact you are willing to write off one of the best series from an overseas batsman in India ever suggests you have some strong personal biases in the matter
- May 5, 2016
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No, it means I watched his entire career and have formulated an opinion based on that, and numbers.
I dislike Justin Langer more than Matthew Hayden but I would consider ranking him higher.
What personal bias exactly do you think I have that surrounds players from Australia?
Would have torched Pigeon everywhere if he had more chances to face him.
Yes, he's a very good player but I do not rate him super highly in terms of all time thinking.
Looks better with Chappell at 4, Ponting at 5 and Border at 6.
