viriya
International Captain
Slow day at work so thought of playing around with some numbers..
This is probably not news for most but the defining characteristic that separated Bradman from mere mortal batsmen was that once he got set, he really cashed in. He had a similar % of scores below 50 as any other batsmen, but his average 50+ score was an amazing 154.
Checking this stat for the "second" tier of batsmen, an interesting name comes up second.
Complete list: Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo
Bradman is still far ahead of the rest but Sehwag is second on the list with an average 50+ score that's 26% lower than Bradman's. Fellow big hundred scorers Lara, Hammond, Sangakkara and Mahela all feature high on the list.
This ties in well with one of Ian Chappell's comments I recall about how Sehwag probably dominates when he is set similar to how Bradman used to. Another similarity is that they both have a much higher strike rate than was the norm of their time. Sehwag striked at 82 in an era where ~55 was typical, Bradman striked at ~60 in an era where ~35-40 was typical.
This makes me think that if there is ever going to be a Bradmanesque batsman in the future he would have a close to run-a-ball strike rate (which takes fatigue out of the equation when building high-scoring innings), with even better shot selection than Sehwag (hand-eye coordination).
This is probably not news for most but the defining characteristic that separated Bradman from mere mortal batsmen was that once he got set, he really cashed in. He had a similar % of scores below 50 as any other batsmen, but his average 50+ score was an amazing 154.
Checking this stat for the "second" tier of batsmen, an interesting name comes up second.
Player | Avg 50+ Score | Avg 100+ Score |
Don Bradman | 154 | 193 |
Virender Sehwag | 114 | 173 |
Brian Lara | 110 | 167 |
Wally Hammond | 110 | 168 |
Kumar Sangakkara | 105 | 167 |
Mahela Jayawardene | 105 | 162 |
Ricky Ponting | 101 | 151 |
Rahul Dravid | 98 | 152 |
Garry Sobers | 98 | 146 |
Sachin Tendulkar | 98 | 145 |
Complete list: Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo
Bradman is still far ahead of the rest but Sehwag is second on the list with an average 50+ score that's 26% lower than Bradman's. Fellow big hundred scorers Lara, Hammond, Sangakkara and Mahela all feature high on the list.
This ties in well with one of Ian Chappell's comments I recall about how Sehwag probably dominates when he is set similar to how Bradman used to. Another similarity is that they both have a much higher strike rate than was the norm of their time. Sehwag striked at 82 in an era where ~55 was typical, Bradman striked at ~60 in an era where ~35-40 was typical.
This makes me think that if there is ever going to be a Bradmanesque batsman in the future he would have a close to run-a-ball strike rate (which takes fatigue out of the equation when building high-scoring innings), with even better shot selection than Sehwag (hand-eye coordination).
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