Cricket conversations usually steer clear of Don Bradman and his numbers. Batsmen in every generation go through stellar phases, establishing themselves above their peers, but they’re hardly ever compared to the great Australian. Several have even earned the tag of the ‘best ever’ or the ‘greatest’, but that’s after keeping the Don and his feats aside.

However, the past month or so has seen Bradman’s name come up on more occasions than it usually does. Obviously, his numbers haven’t been surpassed but they’ve been forced into consideration. And the reason for that is the genius of another Australian.

Advertisement

Steve Smith finished the 2019 Ashes with 774 runs. This, despite walking out to bat only seven of the ten times Australia did. He scored 35.5% of his team’s runs through the five matches. These are astonishing numbers by any standard and thus, brought attention to Bradman’s statistics.

As one would expect, though, Smith’s aggregate of runs came short of Bradman’s best in a five-Test series. But the fact that the two’s averages in their finest series are so close is telling.

Here’s a look at the most runs scored by a batsman in a series:

Advertisement

Note: Swipe/scroll horizontally on the tables to view all columns

Most runs in a Test series

Player Opponent Matches / Innings Runs Avg 100s / 50s
Don Bradman (AUS), 1930 England (Away) 5 / 7 974 139.14 4 / 0
Wally Hammond (ENG), 1928/29 Australia (A) 5 / 9 905 113.12 4 / 0
Mark Taylor (AUS), 1989 England (A) 6 / 11 839 83.90 2 / 5
Neil Harvey (AUS), 1952/53 South Africa (Home) 5 / 9 834 92.66 4 / 3
Vivian Richards (WI), 1976 England (A) 4 / 7 829 118.42 3 / 2
Clyde Walcott (WI), 1955 Australia (H) 5 / 10 827 82.70 5 / 2
Garry Sobers (WI), 1957/58 Pakistan (H) 5 / 8 824 137.33 3 / 3
Don Bradman (AUS), 1936/37 England (H) 5 / 9 810 90.00 3 / 1
Don Bradman (AUS), 1931/32 South Africa (H) 5 / 5 806 201.50 4 / 0
Brian Lara (WI), 1993/94 England (H) 5 / 8 798 99.75 2 / 2
Everton Weekes (WI), 1948/49 India (A) 5 / 7 779 111.28 4 / 2
Steve Smith (AUS), 2019 England (A) 4 / 7 774 110.57 3 / 3
Sunil Gavaskar (IND), 1970/71 West Indies (A) 4 / 8 774 154.80 4 / 3
Steve Smith (AUS), 2014/15 India (H) 4 / 8 769 128.16 4 / 2
Alastair Cook (IND), 2010/11 Australia (A) 5 / 7 766 127.66 3 / 2

As mentioned above, Smith’s total in the recently-concluded Ashes doesn’t rank too high in the all-time list for most runs in a series, but what’s impressive is his average of 110.57 despite not remaining unbeaten even once.

It isn’t just his run in the Ashes that has compelled people to pause and think of his place among the game’s greatest, Smith has been in a league of his own for a while now. He’s the highest run-scorer in Tests this year despite not playing a single game for the first seven months. And it’s jaw-dropping consistency such as this that has pushed his numbers considerably higher than his peers. He has by far the highest average among active players who have scored 2000 runs.

Highest avg of current players (Min 2000 runs)

Player Matches / Innings Runs Avg 100s / 50s
Steve Smith (AUS) 68 / 124 6973 64.56 26 / 27
Virat Kohli (IND) 79 / 135 6749 53.14 25 / 22
Kane Williamson (NZ) 74 / 130 6163 52.22 20 / 30
Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) 70 / 118 5486 49.87 18 / 20
Joe Root (ENG) 86 / 159 7043 47.91 16 / 45

To put Smith’s statistics in perspective, he has the second-highest average among all batsmen who’ve played a minimum of 30 Test matches. So it isn’t just the likes of Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson who’re struggling to catch up with him, the Australian is only second to Bradman in the all-time list.

Overall highest avg (Min 30 Tests)

Player Matches / Innings Runs Avg 100s / 50s
Don Bradman (AUS) 52 / 80 6996 99.94 29 / 13
Steve Smith (AUS) 68 / 124 6973 64.56 26 / 27
Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) 54 / 84 4555 60.73 16 / 23
Ken Barrington (ENG) 82 / 131 6806 58.67 20 / 35
Everton Weekes (WI) 48 / 81 4455 58.61 15 / 19
Wally Hammond (ENG) 85 / 140 7249 58.45 22 / 24
Garry Sobers (WI) 93 / 160 8032 57.78 26 / 30
Kumar Sangakkara (SL) 134 / 233 12400 57.40 38 / 52
Jack Hobbs (ENG) 61 / 102 5410 56.94 15 / 28
Clyde Walcott (WI) 44 / 74 3798 56.68 15 / 14

Now, let’s take a closer look at Smith’s impact on the game and on the Australian team. The right-hander scores a significantly high percentage of his team’s total runs. Since making his Test debut in 2010, he has scored 19.02% percent of Australia’s total runs in the longest format.

Advertisement

To understand just how high this number is, here’s a look at how the five highest run-scorers among active cricketers, apart from Smith, have contributed for their countries.

% of team runs by highest scorers (active)

Player Player's runs Team's runs Player's contribution %
Joe Root (ENG) 7043 44201 15.93
Steve Smith (AUS) 6973 36661 19.02
Ross Taylor (NZ) 6839 46791 14.62
Virat Kohli (IND) 6749 40750 16.56
David Warner (AUS) 6458 42787 15.09
Kane Williamson (NZ) 6163 37299 16.52
Note: The team's totals are of the matches in which the player took part

And once again, it isn’t just his contemporaries who are falling behind him, Smith has a higher percentage than even the top five run-scorers in Test cricket.

% of team runs by highest scorers (all-time)

Player Player's runs Team's runs Player's contribution %
Steve Smith (AUS) 6973 36661 19.02
Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 15921 101033 15.76
Ricky Ponting (AUS) 13378 93100 14.37
Jacques Kallis (SA) 13289 83423 15.93
Rahul Dravid (IND) 13288 84359 15.75
Alastair Cook (ENG) 12472 82922 15.04

As one can see in the above table, Smith is nearly 5% ahead of the great Ricky Ponting when it comes to contribution in the team’s total.

And yes, Smith is right there in the top three when it comes to the overall highest percentage of team runs scored by a player. Only Bradman, who has a ridiculously high 25.33%, and Brian Lara are ahead of Smith in the all-time list. It is also interesting to note how high Sunil Gavaskar and Kumar Sangakkara’s percentages are. They’re well ahead of the greats of the past few decades.

Overall highest % of team runs

Player Player's Runs Team's runs Player's contribution %
Don Bradman (AUS) 6996 27624 25.33
Brian Lara (WI) 11953 58789 20.33
Steve Smith (AUS) 6973 36661 19.02
Len Hutton (ENG) 6971 36653 19.02
Jack Hobbs (ENG) 5410 28849 18.75
Kumar Sangakkara (SL) 12400 68973 17.98
Sunil Gavaskar (IND) 10122 57078 17.73
Wally Hammond (ENG) 7249 41265 17.57
Ken Barrington (ENG) 6806 39485 17.24
Neil Harvey (AUS) 6149 36727 16.74

Lastly, let’s take a look at how Smith’s excellence in this decade compares with that of the dominance by players in the past. In the table below, we compare batsmen with the highest average, who have scored a minimum of 2000 runs, in each decade since 1910.

Decade-wise highest avg (Min 2000 runs)

Decade Player Matches / Innings Runs Avg
1910s Jack Hobbs (ENG) 21 / 35 2031 65.51
1920s Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) 32 / 50 2960 64.34
1930s Don Bradman (AUS) 33 / 49 4625 102.77
1940s Denis Compton (ENG) 28 / 48 2664 61.95
1950s Clyde Walcott (WI) 33 / 57 3129 61.35
1960s Garry Sobers (WI) 49 / 86 4563 60.03
1970s Javed Miandad (PAK) 25 / 43 2059 64.34
1980s Greg Chappell (AUS) 33 / 55 2712 55.34
1990s Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 69 / 109 5626 58.00
2000s Andy Flower (ZIM) 24 / 42 2214 63.25
2010s Steve Smith (AUS) 68 / 124 6973 64.56

As one can see, if we put Bradman’s numbers from the 1930s aside, Smith only has Jack Hobbs ahead of him on this list. But the great Englishman played just 21 Tests in the 1910s, less than one-third of the amount Smith has played in this decade and yet, the Australian’s average is just a little behind his.

Advertisement

An honourary mention must also be given to Jacques Kallis. Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower has the highest average among batsmen who scored a minimum of 2000 runs in the 2000s, but it was Kallis who was the standout batsman of that decade. The South African played 99 Tests in that period and scored 8428 runs at an average of 58.93.

At the end, it’s safe to say that Smith is well on his way to establishing his name among the greatest of the game. He’s been around for nearly a decade now so we know for sure that his consistency isn’t an aberration. The 30-year-old may not be too big a force to reckon with in white-ball cricket, but he can achieve remarkable feats if he keeps going at this rate in the longest format. While discussing the best batsmen, we may just end up putting Smith’s numbers aside along with Bradman’s.

All statistics courtesy ESPNCricinfo Statsguru