One of the most commonly used cricketing statistic in both, batting and bowling, is the average. In this piece we look at the various aspects related to a cricket average, its importance in different formats and some of the best batting and bowling averages in the world of cricket.
For starters, what does a cricket average mean? A batting average is defined as the number of runs scored by a batter for every time he or she is dismissed while a bowling average is the number of runs conceded by a bowler for each wicket taken.
Essentially, while a batting average takes into account the number of innings played by a batter, a bowling average looks at the number of runs given away.
We now look at this in a greater depth to explain the meaning and relevance of averages in cricket.
Batting Average
Batting averages are typically calculated over predefined periods like in a tournament or a series or over a period of the batter’s career. It denotes the number of runs a batter has scored per dismissed innings.
The simple formula to calculate a batter’s average is as follows:
Batting Average = Total Runs Scored/Number of Times Dismissed
For instance, if a batter makes 645 runs in a series and has been dismissed 10 times doing so, his/her average in that series is 645/10 = 64.5. This indicates the batter scores 64.5 runs per innings.
Similarly a batter’s average can be calculated over his/her career too.
If a batter has scored 4856 runs in his/her career and gotten out 100 times in doing that, his/her career average is said to be 4856/100 = 48.56, i.e. the batter scores 48.56 runs per innings.
Higher the batting average number, it’s deemed to be better for the batter.
The role of not-outs in batting average
There’s a bit of a catch here. Players who remain not-out quite often over long periods in their career could have their averages inflated because the not-out innings they have played doesn’t count as a part of the ‘number of times dismissed’ figure.
So two players with the same number of runs in the same number of innings could have different averages if one of them has remained not-out more number of times.
A good example of this could be a statistical comparison between MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, the batsmen. Both have scored similar number of runs in similar number of innings but with vastly different averages in ODI cricket.
Dhoni ended his ODI career on 10773 runs from 297 innings while Ganguly’s career ended on 11363 runs (that’s about 600 more runs than Dhoni). While Dhoni batted in 297 innings, Ganguly was at the crease 300 times – again, not too different.
And yet, Dhoni’s career average was 50.57 while Ganguly ended on 41.02.
This is typically to do with the batting positions – Ganguly was primarily a top-3 batter which made it difficult for him to remain not-out through the course of an ODI while Dhoni came in to bat down the order and often finished a lot of games for India.
Bowling Average
Bowling averages are typically calculated over a pre-defined period like a series or over a career but not so much over an innings or a match. It is defined by the number of runs a bowler has conceded in picking up his/her wickets across that time-frame.
The simple formula to calculate a bowler’s average is as follows:
Bowling Average = No. of Runs Conceded/Wickets Taken
So for example if a bowler ends a career with 110 wickets in his career and conceded 3300 run while doing that, his/her career bowling average will be 3300/110 = 30. This implies, the bowler picks up a wicket for every 30 runs he/she concedes.
Lower the bowling average number, better it is for the bowler.
Why are Averages so important in competitive cricket?
The biggest reason for its importance is it allows one to understand a basic difference in quality between two batters or two bowlers who might have scored similar number of runs or picked up similar number of wickets.
For instance, a batter who has scored 2400 runs in Test cricket and got out 40 times doing so (giving him/her an average of 60) could be indicative of being a better bat than another who has 3000 runs while getting out 100 times (giving him/her an average of 30).
Similarly a bowler who has scalped 100 wickets while conceding 2200 runs (giving him/her a bowling average of 22) could be doing better than a bowler who has picked up 150 wickets but given away 4500 runs in the process (giving him/her a bowling average of 30).
What this does is allows fans and selectors to make comparisons at a very high level before digging deeper into understanding who is a better batter or bowler.
What is considered a good batting & bowling average across the three formats?
Averages count for a lot in Test cricket while in ODIs, it’s a combination of averages and strike-rates in batting and averages and economy-rates in bowling. In T20I cricket, there is a lot more focus on batting strike-rates and bowling economies with averages typically used to understand a batter and bowler’s consistency.
Batting Average in Tests
One of the biggest outliers in this is the batting average of Sir Donald Bradman who finished his Test career on 6996 runs at a batting average of 99.94.
For any player to have scored at least 2000 runs in Test match cricket, that average is 66% more than the next best. Graeme Pollock’s 2256 runs at 60.97 is second on that list.
Typically a Test average of 50 or more, over a considerable period of time has been said to be a hallmark of an excellent batter. At the time of writing, about 40 batters in the history of men’s cricket have or have had a batting average of 50+.
Batting Average in ODIs
Among those who have scored more than 2000 ODI runs, Virat Kohli has, for long held the record for the highest batting average in this format. He scores his runs at around 58 while Babar Azam has a batting average of 57.
Since both of these players, at the time of writing, are active players, expect this to go up and down.
With the format having changed so drastically in favour of batters over the last couple of decades, it’s tough to compare averages between the era gone by but in the 1980s and 1990s, an average of over 40 in ODIs was considered excellent. Now, that has probably changed to 45+.
Batting Average in T20Is
As mentioned earlier, batting averages count for a little less than that in the other formats given the focus of T20 batting is to get the runs quicker.
Again, keeping 2000 T20I runs as the criteria, only one player at the time of writing has an average of more than 50 – Virat Kohli again who averages 52.7 – with Mohammad Rizwan’s 49.07 being the next best.
After that, things taper off drastically with Babar Azam averaging 41.5 and KL Rahul at 37.75.
Bowling Average in Tests
Some of the best bowling averages in Test cricket belong to the late 19th and early 20th century where the pitches were extraordinarily favourable to the bowlers.
George Lohmann (10.75), Sydney Barnes (16.43) and Charles Turner (16.53) are three of the best among those who have picked up at least 100 Test wickets.
In more modern times, i.e. looking at records from 1975 onward, Malcolm Marshall is the best in the business with a bowling average of 20.94 while fellow West Indian speedsters Joel Garner and Curtly Ambrose ended their careers on 20.97 and 20.99.
Among those having played even more recently, it’s Jasprit Bumrah who, at the time of writing has a bowling average of 21.99 closely behind Glenn McGrath’s 21.64.
Bowlers with bowling averages of around 25 in Tests are said to be excellent in quality.
Bowling Average in ODIs
Joel Garner had made the Test bowling average topper list and he is the best in the business in ODIs too, having finished his career at 18.84.
Among those who play the top nations in the world and counting only since 2000, Shane Bond bagged 147 ODI wickets at an average of 20.88 while even more recently, Mitchell Starc has got his 200+ wickets at 22.49.
Bumrah makes this list as well with his average reading 23.67 at the time of writing.
Bowling Average in T20Is
While bowling averages aren’t as important in T20Is as they are in the other formats, they still provide an indicator how well a bowler has done. The figures need to be taken with some conditions applied because any match between two countries is deemed to be an international as far as this format is concerned.
Which is why bowlers from teams ranked outside the top 10 or 15 might not be bowling to high quality batsmen.
Among those with at least 50 T20I wickets, Dhruvkumar Maisuria of Botswana has an average of 8.98, while Kenya’s Vraj Patel is at 10.15.
Looking at only the Full Member nations, with the same 50 wickets threshold, Ajantha Mendis ended his T20I career on 66 wickets at 14.42 while Kuldeep Yadav currently has 52 wickets at 14.57.