Batting_average_(cricket) Knowpia

In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out, usually given to two decimal places. Since the number of runs a player scores and how often they get out are primarily measures of their own playing ability, and largely independent of their teammates, batting average is a good metric for an individual player's skill as a batter (although the practice of drawing comparisons between players on this basis is not without criticism^[1]). The number is also simple to interpret intuitively. If all the batter's innings were completed (i.e. they were out every innings), this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings (i.e. some innings they finished not out), this number is an estimate of the unknown average number of runs they score per innings.

Each player normally has several batting averages, with a different figure calculated for each type of match they play (first-class, one-day, Test matches, List A, T20, etc.), and a player's batting averages may be calculated for individual seasons or series, or at particular grounds, or against particular opponents, or across their whole career.

Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players' relative skills since the 18th century.

ValuesEdit

International cricket career batting averages (as of 14 September 2019). Note Bradman's Test average of 99.94.

Most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the desirable range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short and make up for it with keeping skill. Until a substantial increase in scores in the 21st century due to improved bats and smaller grounds among other factors, players who sustained an average above 50 through a career were considered exceptional, and before the development of the heavy roller in the 1870s (which allowed for a flatter, safer cricket pitch) an average of 25 was considered very good.^[2]

All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30.
15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers.
A small number of players have averaged less than 5 for a complete career, though a player with such an average is a liability unless an exceptional bowler as Alf Valentine, B. S. Chandrasekhar or Glenn McGrath were.

Career records for batting average are usually subject to a minimum qualification of 20 innings played or completed, in order to exclude batsmen who have not played enough games for their skill to be reliably assessed. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australia's Sir Donald Bradman, with 99.94. Given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only 4 other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradman's average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest athlete in any sport.^[3]

Disregarding this 20 innings qualification, the highest career test batting average is 112, by Andy Ganteaume, a Trinidadian Keeper-batsman, who was dismissed for 112 in his only test innings.^[4] Amongst active players, Kurtis Patterson has the highest average, having scored 144 runs for the loss of one wicket in his two test innings, giving him a batting average of 144. He then fell out of the Australian squad due to a loss of form and injury.

Batting averages in One Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) cricket tend to be lower than in Test cricket because of the need to score runs more quickly. Consequently, batters tend to play riskier strokes and less emphasis is placed on building an innings in order to amass a high individual score. It should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI and T20I histograms above, that there were no ODI or T20I matches when Bradman played.

InterpretationEdit

If a batter has been dismissed in every single innings, then this statistic gives exactly the average number of runs they score per innings.

However, for a batter with one or more innings which finished not out, the true mean or average number of runs they score per innings is unknown as it is not known how many runs they would have scored if they could have completed all their not out innings. In this case, this statistic is an estimate of the average number of runs they score per innings. If their scores have a geometric distribution, then this statistic is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average.^[5]

Batting averages can be strongly affected by the number of not outs. For example, Phil Tufnell, who was noted for his poor batting,^[6] has an apparently respectable ODI average of 15 (from 20 games), despite a highest score of only 5 not out, as he scored an overall total of 15 runs from 10 innings, but was out only once.^[7]

A batter who has not been dismissed in any of the innings over which their average is being calculated does not have a batting average, as division by zero does not give a result.^[8]

Leading male batting averagesEdit

Test matchesEdit

Sir Donald Bradman

A batting average of above 50 is considered by many as a benchmark to distinguish between a good and a great batsman.^[9] Highest male career batting averages in Test matches as follows:

Rank	Batter	Tests	Innings	No	Runs	High Score	Average	Test career dates
1	Don Bradman	52	80	10	6,996	334	99.94	1928–48
2	Adam Voges	20	31	7	1,485	269*	61.87	2015–16
3	RG Pollock	23	41	4	2,256	274	60.97	1963–70
4	George Headley	22	40	4	2,190	270*	60.83	1930–54
5	Herbert Sutcliffe	54	84	9	4,555	194	60.73	1924–35
6	Steve Smith	96	169	22	8,792	239	59.80	2010–present
7	Eddie Paynter	20	31	5	1,540	243	59.23	1931–39
8	Ken Barrington	82	131	15	6,806	256	58.67	1955–68
9	Everton Weekes	48	81	5	4,455	207	58.61	1948–58
10	Wally Hammond	85	140	16	7,249	336*	58.45	1927–1947

Source: Cricinfo. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed. * denotes not out. Last updated: 20 March 2023.

First-classEdit

Highest career batting averages in first-class cricket as follows:

Rank	Batter	Matches	Innings	N.O.	Runs	Highest	Ave	First Class career dates
1	Don Bradman	234	338	43	28,067	452*	95.14	1927–49
2	Sarfaraz Khan	37	54	10	3,505	301*	79.65	2014–present
3	Vijay Merchant	150	234	46	13,470	359*	71.64	1929–51
4	George Headley	103	164	22	9,921	344*	69.86	1927–54
5	Ajay Sharma	129	166	16	10,120	259*	67.46	1984–2001
6	Kamindu Mendis	34	52	5	3,065	200*	65.21	2018–present
7	Bahir Shah	33	56	13	2,804	303*	65.20	2017–present
8	Bill Ponsford	162	235	23	13,819	437	65.18	1920–34
9	Bill Woodfull	174	245	39	13,388	284	64.99	1921–34
10	Shantanu Sugwekar	85	122	18	6,563	299*	63.10	1987–2002

Source: Cricinfo. Table shows players with at least 50 innings completed, note this table has no requirement for minimum number of runs scored. * denotes not out. Last updated: 12 February 2023.

One Day InternationalsEdit

Highest career batting averages in One Day International cricket as follows:

Rank	ODIs	Batter	Innings	N.O.	Runs	Highest	Ave	ODI career dates
1	41	Rassie van der Dussen	35	10	1,679	134	67.16	2019–present
2	33	Ryan ten Doeschate	32	9	1,541	119	67.00	2006–11
3	21	Shubhman Gill	21	4	1254	208	65.55	2019-present
4	95	Babar Azam	93	12	4,813	158	59.41	2015–present
5	271	Virat Kohli	262	40	12,809	183	57.69	2008–present
6	232	Michael Bevan	196	67	6,912	108*	53.58	1994–2004
7	26	Harry Tector	25	5	1,071	113	53.55	2020–present
8	228	AB de Villiers	218	39	9,577	176	53.50	2005–18
9	68	Jonathan Trott	65	10	2,819	137	51.25	2009–13
10	56	Imam-ul-Haq	56	6	2,545	151	50.90	2017–present

Source: Cricinfo. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed. * denotes not out. Last updated: 13 March 2023.

T20 InternationalsEdit

Rank	Batsmen	T20Is	Innings	N.O.	Runs	Highest	Ave	T20I career dates
1	Virat Kohli	115	107	31	4,008	122*	52.73	2010–present
2	Muhammad Rizwan	80	69	15	2,635	104*	48.79	2015–present
3	Suryakumar Yadav	48	46	10	1,675	117	46.52	2021–present
4	Devon Conway	38	35	8	1,234	99*	45.70	2016–present
5	Manish Pandey	39	33	17	709	79*	44.31	2015–2020
6	Navneet Dhaliwal	23	22	5	748	69*	44.00	2019–present
7	Sabawoon Davizi	28	28	3	1,093	115*	43.72	2019–present
8	Muhammad Waseem	23	23	1	942	112	42.81	2019–present
9	Babar Azam	99	94	13	3,355	122	41.41	2016–present
10	Ryan ten Doeschate	24	23	10	533	59	41.00	2008–2021

Source: Cricinfo. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed. * denotes not out. Last updated: 13 March 2023.

Leading female batting averagesEdit

Test matchesEdit

One Day InternationalsEdit

T20 InternationalsEdit

AlternativesEdit

Alternative measures of batting effectiveness have been developed, including:

Strike rateEdit

Strike rate measures a different concept to batting average – how quickly the batsman scores (i.e. average number of runs from 100 balls) – so it does not supplant the role of batting average. It is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batter scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket. Strike rate may also be used to compare a player's ability to score runs against differing types of bowling (i.e. spin, fast bowling).

Player rankingsEdit

A system of player rankings was developed to produce a better indication of players' current standings than is provided by comparing their averages.

ReferencesEdit

^ Date, Kartikeya (29 May 2014). "The calculus of the batting average". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
^ Rae, Simon (1998). W.G. Grace: A Life. London: Faber and Faber. p. 26. ISBN 0571178553.
^ "Sir Donald Bradman". Players and Officials. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 27 April 2006.
^ "Andy Ganteaume | West Indies Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPNcricinfo". statsguru. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
^ Das, S. (2011). "On Generalized Geometric Distributions: Application to Modeling Scores in Cricket and Improved Estimation of Batting Average in Light of Notout Innings". Social Science Research Network. SSRN 2117199.
^ "The Jack of all rabbits". 23 July 2007.
^ "Phil Tufnell". Cricinfo.
^ "Why did Stuart Law only play one Test for Australia?". Wisden. 28 March 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022. However, only 54 of those runs came in Australian Test whites, with Law making an unbeaten half-century in his only Test innings, meaning he finished his career without a Test average.
^ "A genuine matchwinner".