Guide · Test bowling
What is a good Test bowling average?
A Test bowling average is the number of runs a bowler concedes for each wicket he takes. Unlike batting, lower is better. Below are real benchmarks from 218 Test bowlers in the Beat My 11 data who played at least 20 Tests and took at least 40 wickets.
The short version: the median is 30.7, the best quarter average 27.5 or less and the best tenth 23.5 or less.
Career figures as held in the Beat My 11 Test database (bowlers with 20 or more Tests and 40 or more wickets).
Short answer. In Tests a bowling average of about 30.7 is average, 27.5 or lower is good (best quarter) and 23.5 or lower is elite (best tenth). Lower is better.
- Benchmarks
- Is my average good?
- Pace, spin and all-rounders
- By era
- The lowest averages
- How we counted
The benchmarks
“Median” is the middle bowler: half average more runs per wicket, half fewer. The best quarter and best tenth are the lowest averages. All 218 bowlers played at least 20 Tests and took 40+ wickets, so a few cheap wickets cannot flatter an average.
| Bowlers | Best tenth at or below | Best quarter at or below | Median | Weaker quarter from | Weakest tenth from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 218 | 23.5 | 27.5 | 30.7 | 35.1 | 39.4 |
Is my average good?
Here is how many of the 218 bowlers average at or below each mark:
| Average of at most | Share of bowlers | Bowlers |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | 75% | 163 |
| 30 | 44% | 96 |
| 28 | 28% | 61 |
| 25 | 15% | 33 |
| 22 | 6% | 12 |
So an average of 35 is not unusual (75% of bowlers are at or below it), 30 is a little better than the middle, and 25 is rare. In the Beat My 11 game these same career numbers are on every bowler’s card, so you can judge a pick as this page does.
Pace, spin and all-rounders
Fast bowlers in our data have a median average of 29.5, spinners 32.8 and all-rounders 33.0. Spinners average more runs per wicket than fast bowlers here, and all-rounders, who have a second job, sit with the spinners.
| Type | Bowlers | Best tenth at or below | Median | Weaker quarter from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinners | 57 | 28.1 | 32.8 | 36.9 |
| Fast bowlers | 124 | 22.8 | 29.5 | 33.6 |
| All-rounders | 37 | 24.7 | 33.0 | 37.4 |
The type is the one the game uses for each player, so a bowler counts under his main job.
By era
Bowlers in the Legends group have the lowest median average (23.6) and those in the 2000s the highest (34.0). The Legends group is a hand-picked set of the game’s greatest names, so its low median says more about who is in that group than about the pitches of the time. Treat the table as a description of the players we hold, not as a ranking of eras.
| Main era | Bowlers | Median | Best quarter at or below | Best tenth at or below |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legends group | 23 | 23.6 | 22.0 | 21.0 |
| 1970s | 29 | 29.9 | 27.5 | 25.5 |
| 1980s | 24 | 33.2 | 28.6 | 27.4 |
| 1990s | 30 | 30.2 | 28.4 | 25.9 |
| 2000s | 39 | 34.0 | 31.3 | 27.5 |
| 2010s | 53 | 30.4 | 27.7 | 25.5 |
| 2020s | 20 | 27.4 | 23.2 | 20.2 |
The lowest averages
The twelve lowest career averages among the 218 bowlers, then the same list for the 95 who played at least 50 Tests (a long career is harder to keep cheap).
| Bowler | Nation | Tests | Wickets | Average | 5W hauls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Barnes | England | 27 | 189 | 16.4 | 24 |
| Ollie Robinson | England | 24 | 104 | 19.3 | 5 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 52 | 234 | 19.8 | 16 |
| Kyle Jamieson | New Zealand | 21 | 90 | 20.2 | 6 |
| Malcolm Marshall | West Indies | 81 | 376 | 20.9 | 22 |
| Curtly Ambrose | West Indies | 98 | 405 | 21.0 | 22 |
| Joel Garner | West Indies | 58 | 259 | 21.0 | 7 |
| Marco Jansen | South Africa | 21 | 89 | 21.1 | 4 |
| Jim Laker | England | 46 | 193 | 21.2 | 9 |
| Glenn McGrath | Australia | 124 | 563 | 21.6 | 29 |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 74 | 322 | 21.9 | 14 |
| Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 73 | 340 | 22.0 | 17 |
| Bowler | Nation | Tests | Wickets | Average | 5W hauls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 52 | 234 | 19.8 | 16 |
| Malcolm Marshall | West Indies | 81 | 376 | 20.9 | 22 |
| Curtly Ambrose | West Indies | 98 | 405 | 21.0 | 22 |
| Joel Garner | West Indies | 58 | 259 | 21.0 | 7 |
| Glenn McGrath | Australia | 124 | 563 | 21.6 | 29 |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 74 | 322 | 21.9 | 14 |
| Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 73 | 340 | 22.0 | 17 |
| Allan Donald | South Africa | 72 | 330 | 22.2 | 20 |
| Richard Hadlee | New Zealand | 86 | 431 | 22.3 | 36 |
| Vernon Philander | South Africa | 64 | 224 | 22.3 | 13 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan | Sri Lanka | 133 | 800 | 22.7 | 67 |
| Imran Khan | Pakistan | 88 | 362 | 22.8 | 23 |
An average is not the whole story. It ignores how quickly a bowler takes wickets and how many five-wicket hauls he collects, which is why the game also counts wickets per match and five-wicket rate. The full method is on how it works, and positions in a Test XI explains what pace and spin each add to a side.
How we counted
- Who is counted: spinners, fast bowlers and all-rounders with at least 20 Tests, at least 40 Test wickets and a recorded bowling average. Specialist batters are left out. The 40-wicket line is a display filter to keep tiny samples out.
- Who is in the data: 582 Test players, the “Legends” group and players from the 1970s onwards. It is not every Test cricketer, and the figures are career totals.
- Which average: the career figure as held in our database, runs conceded divided by wickets. Lower is better.
- Percentiles use linear interpolation, as a spreadsheet’s PERCENTILE function does.
Questions people ask
What is a good bowling average in Test cricket?
Lower is better. Among the 218 bowlers in our data with 20+ Tests and 40+ wickets, the median average is 30.7. An average of 27.5 or less puts a bowler in the best quarter and 23.5 or less in the best tenth.
What does a bowling average mean?
A bowling average is the number of runs conceded per wicket taken: runs conceded ÷ wickets. A bowler who has conceded 3,000 runs for 100 wickets averages 30. The lower the number, the cheaper each wicket.
Is a bowling average of 25 good in Tests?
Yes, it is excellent. Only 15% of the bowlers in our data average 25 or less, so 25 is inside the best quarter (the best-quarter line is 27.5).
Is a bowling average of 35 bad in Tests?
It is on the high side. 25% of the bowlers in our data average more than 35, so 35 is around the weaker quarter (the weaker-quarter line is 35.1 or more).
Who has the best Test bowling average?
Among the 218 bowlers in our data, Sydney Barnes has the lowest career average at 16.4 from 27 Tests. Among those with 50+ Tests it is Jasprit Bumrah at 19.8.
Bowling wins Test matches. Draft an all-time Test XI and see if your attack can beat the World XI.
Draft a Test XISources and data
Test career totals are held in the Beat My 11 database, edited by hand and extended from tables exported by the site owner from HowSTAT. They cover 582 Test players: the “Legends” group and players from the 1970s onwards, not every Test cricketer.
Averages are career figures. Percentiles are worked out by linear interpolation, the same way a spreadsheet’s PERCENTILE function does it.