Van Niekerk vs Smith
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Van Niekerk wins: Longevity, Honours
Smith wins: Dominance
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Van Niekerk leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Long-serving South Africa captain and a leg-spinning all-rounder with a 4 for 0 T20I spell.
Category breakdown
Season form · Centuries per year
Career timeline · Centuries per year
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through year 5 · Centuries per year| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇿🇦 Van Niekerk | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | 108 | 252 |
| 🇦🇺 Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 270 |
Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 years are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.
| Metric | Van NiekerkRetired | SmithActive |
|---|---|---|
| ODI wickets | 100 | — |
| T20I wickets | 68 | — |
| ODI runs | 2,000 | — |
| Matches as captain | 100 | — |
| Best T20I figures | 4 | — |
| Test runs | — | 10,000 |
| Test centuries | — | 36 |
| Test average | — | 56 |
| World Test Championships | — | 1 |
| World Cups | — | 1 |
| ICC Cricketer of the Year | — | 2 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 84 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 80 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
What do you think?
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