Who is better, Bedser or Van Niekerk?
Dane van Niekerk leads with a GOAT score of 85.9 against 85.8 for Alec Bedser — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Bedser vs Van Niekerk
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Dane van Niekerk above Alec Bedser: 85.9 vs 85.8. Dane van Niekerk leads on Longevity, Statistics. Alec Bedser leads on Dominance, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
Van NiekerkWinner
85.9Van Niekerk wins: Longevity, Statistics
Bedser
85.8Bedser wins: Dominance, Peak
Candidates
Locked to CricketShareable URL · /compare/alec-bedser-vs-dane-van-niekerk
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇿🇦 Dane van Niekerk
85.9
Van Niekerk leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Dane van Niekerk
2. Alec Bedser
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. 🏴 Alec Bedser5 years played · career day 1,825264 runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇿🇦 Dane van Niekerk5 years played · career day 1,825108 runs
-59.1% vs Bedser at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🏴 Bedser | 0 | 0 | 35 | 79 | 264 | 615 |
| 🇿🇦 Van Niekerk | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | 108 | 252 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 year periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | BedserRetired | Van NiekerkRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Test wickets | 236 | — |
| Tests played | 51 | — |
| Five-wicket hauls | 15 | — |
| Bowling average | 24 | — |
| First-class wickets | 1,924 | — |
| ODI wickets | — | 100 |
| T20I wickets | — | 68 |
| ODI runs | — | 2,000 |
| Matches as captain | — | 100 |
| Best T20I figures | — | 4 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 82 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 78 | 84 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 82 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Van Niekerk85.9
Bedser85.8
FAQ
Where does Bedser beat Van Niekerk?
Bedser scores higher on peak, dominance. Van Niekerk leads on statistics, longevity.
How is the Bedser vs Van Niekerk score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Bedser: 85.8, Van Niekerk: 85.9.
What do you think?
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