Ricky Ponting rates Steve Smith ahead of himself, and second to Don Bradman

Steve Smith has scored 8947 runs in 97 test matches at an average of 60.04 for Australia.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has rated Steve Smith highly in Australian cricket. Steve Smith played a magnificent role in Australia’s World Test Championship Final win against India at The Oval. Smith scored a century in the first innings of the WTC Final and added 285 runs with Travis Head for the fourth wicket to put Australia on top for the entire game. Steve Smith scored 121 runs against India and helped Australia put up 469 runs on the board in the first innings. After his consistent good work for Australian cricket, Former captain Ricky Ponting has rated Steve Smith after Sir Don Bradman in the Australian cricket. 

Ponting rates Steve Smith second to Bradman

Ponting spoke about Steve Smith in detail on Sky Sports network and said, “On the Australian list, there’s Bradman there and certainly there’s Steve Smith behind it. He has got 31 hundred in 97 games, that strike rate is phenomenal. No doubt in my mind that right now he is in the Number 2 spot (behind Bradman). To have that average stretched out for so many games, and he hasn’t finished either”. Sir Don Bradman finished with a never to match average of 99.96 in test cricket while playing in the 1930s, and 1940s mostly. Smith remained consistent throughout his comeback in the test team as a batter. 

The former Australian captain also compared Steve Smith with himself and admitted that Steve Smith is currently above him. Ponting said, “Yes he has a tip on me at the moment. After a hundred test matches, I averaged 60, But I fell off after that pretty quickly. There’s no doubt that he solves problem quicker than most. He is also not too scared to try and change things. When I look back at my career I was a bit scared to change things”. In 97 Tests, Smith has scored 8947 runs with an outstanding average of 60.04. He has also smashed 31 centuries and 37 half-centuries. His conversion rate also looks stunning in the red-ball format.