List of cricket batting averages

Retired players

Rank	Batsman	Tests	Innings	not out	Runs	Highest	Ave	Years playing
1	D.G. Bradman	52	80	10	6996	334	99.94	1928-1948
2	R.G. Pollock	23	41	4	2256	274	60.97	1963–1970
3	G.A. Headley	22	40	4	2190	270*	60.83	1930–1954
4	H. Sutcliffe	54	84	9	4555	194	60.73	1924–1935
5	E. Paynter	20	31	5	1540	243	59.23	1931–1939
6	K.F. Barrington	82	131	15	6806	256	58.67	1955–1968
7	E.D. Weekes	48	81	5	4455	207	58.61	1948–1958
8	W.R. Hammond	85	140	16	7249	336*	58.45	1927–1947
9	G.S. Sobers	93	160	21	8032	365*	57.78	1954–1974
10	J.B. 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	G.E. Tyldesley	14	20	2	990	122	55.00	1921–1929
14	C.A. Davis	15	29	5	1301	183	54.20	1968–1973
15	V.G. Kambli	17	21	19	1084	227*	54.20	1993–1995
16	G.S. Chappell	87	151	19	7110	247*	53.86	1970–1984
17	A.D. Nourse	34	62	7	2960	231	53.81	1935–1951
18	B.C. Lara	131	232	6	11953	400*	52.88	1990–2006
19	Javed Miandad	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	1976–1993
20	J. Ryder	20	32	5	1394	201*	51.62	1920–1929

* denotes not out

Note - If the 20 innings qualification is removed, the highest career batting average list is topped by Andy Ganteaume, who scored 112 in his only Test innings.

Top 10 active Test batsmen

Rank	Batsman	Tests	Inns	n.o.	Runs	Highest	Ave	100s	50s	Date of debut
1	J.H. Kallis	148	251	39	12036	224	57.44	40	55	14 Dec 1995
2	K.C Sangakkara	104	175	12	9170	287	56.25	27	38	20 July 2000
3	S.R. Tendulkar	184	303	32	15183	248*	56.02	51	63	15 Nov 1989
4	I.J.L. Trott	23	38	4	1965	226	55.75	6	7	20 Aug 2009
5	Rahul Dravid	160	278	32	13094	270	53.22	36	62	20 jun 1996
6	Younis Khan	73	128	11	6205	313	53.20	19	25	26 feb 2000
7	R.T. Ponting	158	270	28	13200	257	53.44	41	61	8 Dec 1995
8	V Sehwag	92	159	6	7980	319	52.21	22	30	3 Nov 2001
9	Thilan Samaraweera	69	110	19	4751	231	52.20	12	27	29 Aug 2001
10	Darren Bravo	13	24	2	1155	195	52.15	3	6	15 Nov 2010
Source: Cricinfo. Last updated: 13 October 2010. By Sathia G

* denotes not out

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.

The rise in number of test matches also appears to accentuate the advantage of playing on what might be regarded as "batsman friendly pitches". Two of the newer test playing nations come from the Indian subcontinent (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) while the other one is African (Zimbabwe). With the exception of Ponting, Kallis and Trott, the other batsman who are active play their home games in the Indian sub-continent. Similarly the players listed as retired would have played in an era when tours to the sub-continent were infrequent and their innings would have predominantly taken place on more neutral or bowler friendly wickets, particularly prior to the introduction of covered wickets.

It's remarkable that throughout one hundred and thirty years batting averages for tests have remained comparable even allowing for differences in the number of tests played, but for players active in the last fifteen years this particular disparity is becoming more apparent.

Top 10 active ODI batsmen

Rank	Batsman	ODIs	Inns	n.o.	Runs	Highest	Ave	S.R.	100s	50s	Debut
1	Ryan ten Doeschate	33	32	9	1541	119	67.00	87.70	5	9	4 July 2006
2	H.M.Amla	52	51	5	2538	140	55.17	91.98	8	15	9 Mar 2008
3	I.J.L. Trott	40	39	4	1798	137	51.37	78.51	3	15	August 27 2009
4	M.E.K.Hussey	166	138	43	4862	109*	51.17	87.76	3	35	1 Feb 2004
5	M.S.Dhoni	196	175	48	6497	183*	51.15	88.52	7	43	23 Dec 2004
6	V Kohli	74	71	10	2860	118	46.88	83.94	8	18	19 Aug 2008
7	AB de Villiers	119	115	16	4523	146	45.68	91.29	11	26	02 Feb 2005
8	J.H. Kallis	317	303	53	11372	139	45.48	72.88	17	84	9 Jan 1996
9	S.R.Tendulkar	453	442	41	18111	200*	45.12	86.26	48	95	18 Dec 1989
10	Michael Clarke	206	188	42	6622	130	45.10	78.11	6	49	19 Jan 2003
Source: Cricinfo. Last updated: 27 Dec 2011.

* denotes not out

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 11 April 2009 — Qualification = 20 innings — (2,839 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	Zaheer Abbas	62	60	6	2572	123	47.62	84.80	1974–1985
3	I.V.A. Richards	187	167	24	6721	189*	47.00	90.20	1975–1991
4	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	D.M. Jones	164	161	25	6068	145	44.61	72.56	1984–1994
7	M.L. Hayden †	161	155	15	6133	181*	43.80	78.96	1993–2008
8	H.H. Dippenaar	107	95	14	3421	125*	42.23	67.78	1999–2007
9	Javed Miandad	233	218	41	7381	119*	41.70	67.01	1975–1996
10	D.L. Haynes	238	237	28	8648	152*	41.37	63.09	1978–1994

* denotes not out

† played for World XI

S.R. = strike rate

External links

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