Steve Smith: Is the 'best since Bradman' on decline? A look into numbers

Star Australian batter Steve Smith has not been having best of the times as an opening batter as his downward slump continued during the first Test against New Zealand in WellingtonDuring the first Test he was dismissed for 31 in 71 balls by Matt Henry and then later for a threeball duck in the second inning by Kiwi skipper Tim Southee This has added to Smiths lean run that started just during the start of the new ICC World Test Championship cycleIs opening really an ideal spot for Smith Have we seen the best of this maestro in white clothing One needs to dive into statisticsEver since opening Steve Smith has registered scores of 12 11 6 91 31 and 0 which equals to 151 runs in six innings at an average of 3775 Though the sample size is really short Smith still has not looked at his best while openingComing to his overall Test numbers since the start of the WTC cycle 202325 they have been pretty underwhelming for someone who is really well the measuring stick to define consistency and greatness in Tests In 11 Tests under the new cycle Smith has scored just 718 runs across 22 innings at an average of 3778 with just a century and four fifties His best score is 110Though he is still the fourthhighest rungetter in the current cycle he has been outscored by Englands Zak Crawley 808 runs in nine matches at an average of 4752 Usman Khawaja 916 runs in 11 matches at an average of 4361 and most recently Indias young opening sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal 971 runs in eight Tests at an average of 6935During this period Smith has often failed to make most of his fine starts often failing in 30s and 40s or without converting a halfcentury into a century Also this whole time Smiths strike rate has been 5042 lower than his career strike rate of 5354 His average has taken a hit as well going down to 5752 from 6004 just after his matchwinning ton in the ICC World Test Championship final against IndiaAlso ReadBig battles in this warThe 34yearold batters peak years from 2014 to 2019 during which he transitioned from a potential leg spin bowling great to the Best Since Don Bradman in Tests are some of the greatest for a player in the longer format In this time period Smith scored 6194 runs in just 56 Tests and 99 innings at an average of 7202 with 24 centuries and 23 fifties His best score was 239 During these years his strike rate was 5692Since January 1 2020 though Smiths Test numbers have declined sharply scoring 2501 runs in 36 Tests at an average of 4631 with six centuries and 13 fifties in 63 innings His best score is 200 Though these numbers are still dreamlike for any other worldclass batter it just does not seem enough for Smith The batters strike rate in this period has gone down to 4842Smiths average has gone down drastically since the Ashes of 2019 which is arguably the last time he dropped an alltime great campaign during a big tournamentseries During the time of completion of his fourth appearance Smith averaged 6456 which has dropped to 5752 now a big drop of around seven runs in five yearsComing to alltime great campaigns it has been a while since Smith has set the cricketing world ablaze with an alltime great campaign in a big bilateral series or an ICC tournamentSince 202223 this has been Smiths numbers during big tournamentsbig seriesAshes 202122 244 runs in five matches at an average of 305 with two fiftiesBorder Gavaskar Trophy 145 runs in four matches at an average of 29 with the best score of 45Ashes 2023 373 runs in five matches at an average of 3730 with a century and two fifties in 10 inningsICC Cricket World Cup 2023 302 runs in 10 matches at an average of 3355 with two fifties in 10 inningsIs the best of Smith past him or will he be able to rediscover his Midas touch with the home BorderGavaskar Trophy series coming around late this year Only time will tellWith agency inputs