List of cricket batting averages

The following lists are based on a minimum qualification of 20 innings.

Career Test average leaders

Top 20 retired Test batsmen

Rank	Batsman	Tests	Innings	not out	Runs	Highest	Career average	Career span
1	Don Bradman	52	80	10	6996	334	99.94	1928-1948
2	Graeme Pollock	23	41	4	2256	274	60.97	1963–1970
3	George Headley	22	40	4	2190	270*	60.83	1930–1954
4	Herbert Sutcliffe	54	84	9	4555	194	60.73	1924–1935
5	Eddie Paynter	20	31	5	1540	243	59.23	1931–1939
6	Ken Barrington	82	131	15	6806	256	58.67	1955–1968
7	Everton Weekes	48	81	5	4455	207	58.61	1948–1958
8	Wally Hammond	85	140	16	7249	336*	58.45	1927–1947
9	Garfield Sobers	93	160	21	8032	365*	57.78	1954–1974
10	Jack Hobbs	61	102	7	5410	211	56.94	1908–1930
11	C.L. Walcott	44	74	7	3798	220	56.68	1948–1960
12	L. Hutton	79	138	15	6971	364	56.67	1937–1955
13	Jacques Kallis	166	280	40	13289	224	55.37	1995–2013
14	G.E. Tyldesley	14	20	2	990	122	55.00	1921–1929
15	C.A. Davis	15	29	5	1301	183	54.20	1968–1973
16	V.G. Kambli	17	21	2	1084	227*	54.20	1993–1995
17	G.S. Chappell	87	151	19	7110	247*	53.86	1970–1984
18	Dudley Nourse	34	62	7	2960	231	53.81	1935–1951
19	Sachin Tendulkar	200	329	33	15921	248*	53.78	1989–2013
20	B.C. Lara	131	232	6	11953	400*	52.88	1990–2006

* denotes not out

Note: if the 20 innings qualification is removed, the highest career batting average amongst retired players is held by Andy Ganteaume, who scored 112 in his only Test innings.

Top 10 active Test batsmen

Rank	Batsman	Test	Innings	Not out	Runs	Highest	Batting Average	100s	50s	Debut
1	Mominul Haque	12	23	4	1198	200	63.05	4	7	8 Mar 2013
2	Kumar Sangakkara	128	221	17	11988	319	58.76	37	51	20 Jul 2000
3	Joe Root	24	43	7	2056	200*	57.11	6	9	13 Dec 2012
4	Younis Khan	93	166	15	8078	313	53.49	27	28	26 Feb 2000
5	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	158	269	49	11684	203*	53.10	30	65	17 Mar 1994
6	Angelo Mathews	44	74	16	3054	160	52.65	4	18	4 Jul 2009
7	Faf du Plessis	17	28	4	1262	137	52.58	3	6	22 Nov 2012
8	Steven Smith	26	50	6	2304	192	52.36	8	10	13 Jul 2010
9	Hashim Amla	79	137	12	6415	311*	51.32	22	27	28 Nov 2004
10	AB de Villiers	95	159	16	7296	278*	51.02	19	36	17 Dec 2004

Source: Cricinfo. Last updated: 9 January 2015

* denotes not out

Note: This list again has a 20 innings qualification. Gary Ballance, for example, currently has an average of 67.93 after 17 test innings.^[1]

There are some striking differences between the two groups:

• English and West Indian players are prominent in the retired list.
• The top retired players have played significantly fewer Tests than the top active players. The retired players who have played in a number of Tests comparable to today's top active players generally had very long Test careers (for example, Garry Sobers' Test career spanned 20 years).

However, at the same time, an equally striking similarity can be seen:

• Apart from Bradman, the two lists cluster around very similar averages, with the retired batsmen being slightly higher than the active ones.

Career One Day International average leaders

The first ODI was on 5 January 1971, but it was a year or two before the genre took off elsewhere than England.

Current as of 6 January 2013 — Qualification = 20 innings — (3,315 ODIs – Source Cricinfo Statsguru).

Top 10 retired ODI batsmen

Rank	Batsman	ODIs	Inns	n.o.	Runs	Highest	Ave	S.R.	Career dates
1	M.G.Bevan	232	196	67	6912	108*	53.58	74.16	1994–2004
2	M.E.K. Hussey	185	157	44	5442	109*	48.15	87.16	2004–2012
3	Zaheer Abbas	62	60	6	2572	123	47.62	84.80	1974–1985
4	I.V.A. Richards	187	167	24	6721	189*	47.00	90.20	1975–1991
	G.M. Turner	41	40	6	1598	171*	47.00	68.05	1973–1983
5	C.G. Greenidge	128	127	13	5134	133*	45.03	64.92	1975–1991
6	S.R. Tendulkar	463	452	41	18426	200*	44.83	86.23	1989-2012
7	D.M. Jones	164	161	25	6068	145	44.61	72.56	1984–1994
8	J.H. Kallis	328	314	53	11579	139	44.36	72.89	1996-2014
9	M.L. Hayden †	161	155	15	6133	181*	43.80	78.96	1993–2008
10	Misbah-ul-Haq	161	149	31	5122	96*	43.40	73.75	2002–2015

* denotes not out

† played for World XI

S.R. = strike rate

Top 10 ODI batsmen

Rank	Batsman	ODIs	Inngs	N.O	Runs	Highest	Ave	S.R.	100s	50s	Debut
1	M.S. Dhoni	262	228	66	8499	183*	52.46	89	9	58	23 Dec 2004
2	H.Amla	110	107	9	5457	153*	55.68	89.13	19	28	09 Mar 2008
3	Michael Bevan	232	196	67	6912	108*	53.58	74.16	6	46	14 Apr 1994
4	Virat Kohli	153	145	30	6418	183*	52.17	90.01	20	43	05 Feb 2009
5	IJL Trott	68	65	10	2819	137	51.25	77.06	4	22	27 Aug 2009
6	TLW Cooper	23	22	2	976	101	48.80	70.16	1	8	15 Jun 2010
7	MEK Hussey	185	157	44	5442	109*	48.15	87.16	3	39	01 Feb 2004
8	JP Faulkner	38	29	13	770	116	48.12	111.11	1	4	01 Feb 2013
9	Zaheer Abbas	62	60	6	2572	123	47.62	84.80	7	13	31 Aug 1974
10	IVA Richards		167	24	6721	189*	47.00	90.20	11	45	07 Jun 1975

Source: [Cricinfo http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/ranking/odi/batting/]. Last updated: 27 February 2015.

* denotes not out

References

External links

• List of batsmen who have scored over 10000 One Day International cricket runs
• Test averages at Cricinfo
• ODI averages at Cricinfo