The previous posts raise an issue that may occur to anyone not familiar with cricket, viz. maybe Bradman looks so good because no-one else was/is terribly good. This is difficult to address across sports but let me say that the echelon below Bradman has players every bit as good as Brown, Payton, Sanders, Smith (& OJ - forgot him last time, but despite any moral distaste, he must be acknowledged as a great RB) etc.. For example, the best batsman in the World for the last ten years has been/is Sachin Tendulkar. He is a brilliant batsman. On a comparative scale, he is what you would get if you could combine Payton and Sanders. He can demolish any bowlers when on form, incuding current great bowlers, such as, Warne, Pollock and Muralitharan. At both their best, Bradman could not have been better, except by a hair. The difference that makes all the difference is consistency. Over a twenty year career, interrupted by WW2, Bradman averaged a test century every 2.25 innings and never went more than 11 innings without a century. As superb as Tendulkar is, he has not matched that degree of consistent domination. That is not to denigrate him but, rather, to appreciate the incredible career of the Don.

The injury to Emmitt Smith has provided a useful pause to evaluate judiciously his career and to assess it in the shadow of Bradman. Bradmetrics barely suppressed a rant or two during the period Smith passed Payton on the total rushing yardage chart. This was out of deference to the family of the great “Sweetness”, with whom Smith has maintained a close relationship, by all accounts. A mere sports blog should not second-guess the Payton family.

It is, however, clear that Smith’s crown is tainted. For the last two seasons with the Cowboys, Smith was not the best Dallas running back yet he was given that spot, so we believe, just so he could take Payton’s record. His fall from grace has been further amplified by his woeful performance with the wretched Cards. This is not the way records should be set, much less the record of a true sports legend.

Yet, it is already clear that rants were not in order. Yes, Smith has the record but everyone knows who was the greatest all-round back - Walter Payton. Barry Sanders’ revelation of his reasons for quitting only amplify the relative insignificance of records when assessments of sporting glory are at stake. Sanders was the best pure runner, Brown the best power runner but Payton remains the gold standard for an all-round RB. In that company, Smith had a great career, in fairness; group him with Dickerson, Harris and Dorsett.

Statistically, we’re comparing performances within a few percentage points. Brown’s career average yardage is about 20% than the others named above. Adjusted for average size of defensive players our guess is that shrinks a fair bit. Which again goes to emphasize the yawning gap between Bradman and his nearest statistical challengers (around 60 Test batting average - a cool 60% difference, approximately.)

The announcement of Steve Waugh’s plan to retire from Test cricket has led to a number of media stories that bracket his career with the Don. This is an ideal opportunity, therefore, to remind sportsfans of how incomparable Bradman was.

Waugh will retire with either the record for total Test runs or will remain second to countryman Alan Border, depending on how he fares in the series against India. His average will be about 51.
Bradman’s Test average was 100 (rounded).

Are the bowlers Waugh faced or the fielding that much more superlative than were the case for Bradman that these factors could account for an average almost half of the Don’s? We think not. This is not to denigrate Steve Waugh, clearly an all-time great and arguably among the top 2 or 3 of the last 25 years. Rather, let us ponder the stupendous feats of the Bowral Boy!