Is Steve Smith the modern-day Don Bradman? The statistics paint a clear picture
The biggest topic discussed in the cricketing fraternity among cricket lovers, media and former players after Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement speech in 2013 has to be this: “Is Steve Smith the modern-day Don Bradman?"
There have been other contenders for that title since the turn of the millennium, like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. The likes of Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and AB de Villiers also cropped up in the discussion every now and then.
But all of a sudden, we have a new name in that league. Many even feel he has already overtaken these great players in Test cricket and is only behind the great Sir Don Bradman.
Well, the numbers at least say that he is head and shoulders above these great batsmen. Let's look more closely at the stats to understand what he has achieved as a Test batsman in the last few years.
Highest batting averages after Bradman
Smith has played 68 Tests, which is quite a big sample size, and his batting average is almost 6 runs more than the next best on the list, Ken Barrington.
1. Steven Smith (Aus) - M: 68; Avg: 64.56
2. Ken Barrington (Eng) - M: 82; Avg: 58.67
3. Wally Hammond (Eng) - M: 85; Avg: 58.45
4. Gary Sobers (WI) - M: 93; Avg: 57.78
5. Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - M: 34; Avg: 57.4
The Australian right-hander also leads in the list of the highest runs per innings with 56.23, and is followed by Sangakkara at 53.21, Jack Hobbs at 53.03 and Ken Barrington at 51.95.
For the record, Lara is at No. 6 with 51.52 and Tendulkar is at 10 with 48.39. And Smith’s current challenger Virat Kohli is at 9 with 49.99.
Frequency of Test 100s
There are 27 players in the 50-plus average bracket right now and Smith has the best frequency of Test hundreds (apart from of course Don Dradman) among them.
His 26 hundreds in 68 Test matches equates to a hundred once every 2.61 matches, while India’s run machine Kohli is next with a frequency of 3.16 matches.
Below is the list of top 5 players with the best frequency rates in Test cricket.
1. Steven Smith (Aus) - 100s: 26 (Every 2.61 match)
2. Virat Kohli (Ind) - 25 (3.16)
3. Mathew Hayden (Aus) - 30 (3.43)
4. Younis Khan (Pak) - 34 (3.47)
5. Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - 38 (3.53)
For the record again, Tendulkar scored a hundred once in every 3.92 matches while West Indian left-hander Lara in every 3.85 matches.
Smith also has an incredible record in the first innings of a match - a whopping average of 93.64, which means he is putting Australia in a winning position almost every time he plays. The next best on that list is Lara’s 70.17.
Fastest to 6,000 and time spent in the middle
Smith achieved the 6,000 run mark in Tests in 111 innings, which is the second fastest (along with Gary Sobers) after Bradman.
To put things into perspective, Sangakkara got there in 116 innings, Tendulkar took 120 while Kohli got there in 119 and Lara in 126.
The real greatness of Smith lies in the fact that he is in the top 5 for batsmen with most number of balls faced per innings. With the advent of T20, the biggest challenge that every batsman faces in Test cricket these days is occupation of the crease, and that is where Smith is unique when compared to other batsmen of this era.
Smith has faced almost 100 balls every time he has gone out to bat for Australia; 99.73 to be precise. Only Rahul Dravid (109.29), Jacques Kallis (103.23) and Allan Border (101.89) have faced more deliveries per innings.
The numbers say it all: Smith is far and away the best Test batsman since Bradman.
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