Cricket Batting Average Explained: What It Means and Why It Matters
A clear explanation of batting average in cricket — how it is calculated, what makes a good average, and why not-out innings complicate the picture.
Batting average is the most fundamental statistic in cricket for measuring a batter's quality and consistency. It represents the average number of runs a batter scores each time they are dismissed. Understanding batting average — and its limitations — is essential for interpreting cricket statistics correctly.
How Batting Average Is Calculated
The formula is straightforward: total runs scored divided by number of times dismissed (not total innings). A batter who scores 500 runs and has been dismissed 10 times has a batting average of 50. Crucially, not-out innings count toward the runs total but not toward the dismissals count, which can inflate the average significantly.
What Is a Good Batting Average?
| Average Range | Level |
|---|---|
| Below 25 | Below average for Test cricket |
| 25–35 | Solid lower-order or developing batter |
| 35–45 | Good Test-level average |
| 45–55 | Excellent — top-order quality |
| Above 55 | Elite — world-class level |
| 99.94 | Sir Donald Bradman — all-time record |
The Not-Out Problem
Because not-out innings are excluded from the denominator, tail-enders who frequently finish unbeaten at the end of a team's innings can have inflated averages relative to their actual scoring ability. Conversely, some statisticians argue this correctly rewards batters who protect their wicket well in the final overs of a T20 innings.
Batting Average in Different Formats
In Test cricket, a career average above 40 is generally considered good for a specialist batter. In ODIs, the benchmark is lower — around 35 — because aggressive run-scoring is prioritised. In T20Is, average alone is a poor metric since strike rate matters equally; analysts typically combine the two into an 'impact' or 'T20 score' metric.
Don Bradman's 99.94
Sir Donald Bradman's Test batting average of 99.94 is the most celebrated statistic in all of sport. The second-highest career Test average belongs to Adam Voges of Australia at around 61. Bradman's figure is so far above the next best that statisticians frequently calculate it represents the largest margin above the mean of any individual athlete's performance in their sport.
Frequently asked questions
How is batting average calculated in cricket?
Batting average = total runs scored divided by the number of times dismissed (not total innings played). Not-out innings are excluded from the denominator.
What is a good batting average in Test cricket?
A batting average above 40 is considered good in Test cricket; above 50 is excellent; above 55 is world-class. Don Bradman's 99.94 remains the all-time record by a vast margin.
Why does batting average not count not-out innings?
The logic is that a not-out innings does not represent a 'failure' — the batter's wicket was not taken. So only dismissals are counted in the denominator, which can inflate averages for players who often bat unbeaten.