The Ashes Preview, Slazenger VS NB

The Ashes. The Ashes. The Ashes. They are around the corner. The greatest rivalry in Test Match Cricket. Although everyone would have been quite happy to watch a few more Test matches between the Kiwis and the English. That wonderful series is now behind us and we are off to the First Ashes Test Match.

One of the biggest battles of this Test series is going to be the battle of the rising stars. The battle between Steve Smith and Joe Root. Cricket equipment and bat experts will tell you that the rise in Steve Smith's star was almost exactly when he switched from Slazenger to New Balance. Here we are with the stats.

Steve Smith made his Test debut on the 13th of July at 2010 in the match that was Australia VS Pakistan at Lord's. His last match that he used a Slazeneger cricket bat was the 3rd Test between South Africa and Australia in Cape Tow in 2014. This means that the first test match that he used a New Balance cricket bat was the 1st Test Match between Australia and Pakistan played at Dubai in October of 2014.

So here is how Steve Smith fared with a Slazenger Cricket Bat. He scored a total of 1361 runs. He was out 34 times during that period, which means that Steve Smith's average while using a Slazenger cricket bat was 40.02. That is still very good for a middle-order player.

Contrast that though with what he has done with his New Balance Cricket Bat. Steve Smith has scored 1226 runs since starting to use his new brand sponsor. During that time he has been out 12 times, this means that Steve Smith's average with a New Balance cricket bat is 102.16. That is better than Sir Donald Bradman.

Of course his rise to World Number 1 is not overly dependent on the cricket bat he uses but those are quite staggering numbers.

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