Who is better, Davidson or Close?
Brian Close leads with a GOAT score of 85.4 against 85.3 for Alan Davidson — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Davidson vs Close
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Brian Close above Alan Davidson: 85.4 vs 85.3. Brian Close leads on Longevity. Alan Davidson leads on Dominance, Peak, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
CloseWinner
85.4Close wins: Longevity
Davidson
85.3Davidson wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to CricketShareable URL · /compare/alan-davidson-vs-brian-close
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇬🇧 Brian Close
85.4
Close leads in 1 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Brian Close
2. Alan Davidson
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through year 5 · Form index per season1. 🇦🇺 Alan Davidson5 years played · career day 1,825264 runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇬🇧 Brian Close5 years played · career day 1,825255 runs
-3.4% vs Davidson at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 Davidson | 0 | 0 | 35 | 79 | 264 | 604 |
| 🇬🇧 Close | 0 | 0 | 45 | 93 | 255 | 513 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 year periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | DavidsonRetired | CloseRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Test wickets | 186 | — |
| Bowling average | 21 | — |
| Test runs | 1,328 | — |
| Five-wicket hauls | 14 | — |
| Tests played | 44 | 22 |
| First-class runs | — | 34,994 |
| First-class wickets | — | 1,171 |
| First-class catches | — | 813 |
| Seasons in first-class cricket | — | 37 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 78 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 86 |
| Longevity w20% | 74 | 96 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 80 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Close85.4
Davidson85.3
FAQ
Where does Davidson beat Close?
Davidson scores higher on peak, dominance, honours, statistics. Close leads on longevity.
How is the Davidson vs Close score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Davidson: 85.3, Close: 85.4.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Davidson vs Close. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.