Who is better, Close or Bradman?
Don Bradman leads with a GOAT score of 96.8 against 85.4 for Brian Close — a gap of 11.4 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Close vs Bradman
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Don Bradman above Brian Close: 96.8 vs 85.4. Don Bradman leads on Dominance, Honours, Peak. Brian Close leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
BradmanWinner
96.8Bradman wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Close
85.4Close wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to CricketShareable URL · /compare/brian-close-vs-don-bradman
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇦🇺 Don Bradman
96.8
Bradman leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Don Bradman
2. Brian Close
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. 🇦🇺 Don Bradman5 years played · career day 2,191505 runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇬🇧 Brian Close5 years played · career day 1,825255 runs
-49.5% vs Bradman at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 Close | 0 | 0 | 45 | 93 | 255 | 513 |
| 🇦🇺 Bradman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 395 | 803 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 year periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | CloseRetired | BradmanRetired |
|---|---|---|
| First-class runs | 34,994 | — |
| First-class wickets | 1,171 | — |
| First-class catches | 813 | — |
| Tests played | 22 | — |
| Seasons in first-class cricket | 37 | — |
| Test batting average | — | 99.94 |
| Test centuries | — | 29 |
| Test runs | — | 6,996 |
| Test double centuries | — | 12 |
| Ashes series won as captain | — | 4 |
| Dominance w25% | 78 | 100 |
| Peak w20% | 86 | 100 |
| Longevity w20% | 96 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 96 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 100 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Bradman96.8
Close85.4
FAQ
Where does Close beat Bradman?
Close scores higher on longevity. Bradman leads on peak, dominance, honours, statistics.
How is the Close vs Bradman score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Close: 85.4, Bradman: 96.8.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Close vs Bradman. 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.