Statistic used to compare cricket bowlers
Of bowlers who have bowled at least 600 balls in
Test cricket
,
George Lohmann
has the lowest career bowling average, 10.75.
[1]
In
cricket
, a player's
bowling average
is the number of
runs
they have conceded per
wicket
taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the
bowler
is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly used alongside the
economy rate
and the
strike rate
to judge the overall performance of a bowler.
When a bowler has taken only a small number of wickets, their bowling average can be artificially high or low, and unstable, with further wickets taken or runs conceded resulting in large changes to their bowling average. Due to this, qualification restrictions are generally applied when determining which players have the best bowling averages. After applying these criteria,
George Lohmann
holds the record for the lowest average in
Test cricket
, having claimed 112 wickets at an average of 10.75 runs per wicket.
Calculation
[
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]
A cricketer's bowling average is calculated by dividing the numbers of
runs
they have conceded by the number of
wickets
they have taken.
[2]
The number of runs conceded by a bowler is determined as the total number of runs that the opposing side have scored while the bowler was bowling, excluding any
byes
,
leg byes
,
[3]
or
penalty runs
.
[4]
The bowler receives credit for any wickets taken during their bowling that are either
bowled
,
caught
,
hit wicket
,
leg before wicket
or
stumped
.
[5]
A number of flaws have been identified for the statistic, most notable among these the fact that a bowler who has taken no wickets cannot have a bowling average, as
dividing by zero
does not give a result. The effect of this is that the bowling average cannot distinguish between a bowler who has taken no wickets and conceded one run, and a bowler who has taken no wickets and conceded one hundred runs. The bowling average also does not tend to give a true reflection of the bowler's ability when the number of wickets they have taken is small, especially in comparison to the number of runs they have conceded.
[6]
In his paper proposing an alternative method of judging batsmen and bowlers, Paul van Staden gives an example of this:
Suppose a bowler has bowled a total of 80 balls, conceded 60 runs and has taken only 2 wickets so that.. [their average is] 30. If the bowler takes a wicket with the next ball bowled (no runs obviously conceded), then [their average is] 20.
[6]
Due to this, when establishing records for bowling averages, qualification criteria are generally set. For
Test cricket
, the
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
sets this as 75 wickets,
[7]
while
ESPNcricinfo
requires 2,000
deliveries
.
[8]
Similar restrictions are set for
one-day cricket
.
[9]
[10]
Variations
[
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]
A number of factors other than purely the ability level of the bowler have an effect on a player's bowling average. Most significant among these are the different eras in which cricket has been played. The bowling average tables in Test and
first-class cricket
are headed by players who competed in the nineteenth century,
[11]
a period when
pitches
were uncovered and some were so badly looked after that they had rocks on them. The bowlers competing in the
Howa Bowl
, a competition played in South African during the apartheid-era, restricted to non-white players,
[12]
during which time, according to
Vincent Barnes
: "Most of the wickets we played on were underprepared. For me, as a bowler, it was great."
[13]
Other factors which provided an advantage to bowlers in that era was the lack of significant
safety equipment
; batting gloves and
helmets
were not worn, and batsmen had to be warier. Other variations are caused by frequent matches against stronger or weaker opposition, changes in the
laws of cricket
and the length of matches.
[14]
Records
[
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]
A. N. Hornby
is one of three players to have a bowling average of zero in Test cricket.
Due to the varying qualifying restrictions placed on the records by different statisticians, the record for the lowest career bowling average can be different from publication to publication.
Test cricket
[
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]
In
Test cricket
,
George Lohmann
is listed as having the superior average by each of the
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
,
ESPNcricinfo
and CricketArchive. Though all three use different restrictions, Lohmann's average of 10.75 is considered the best.
[1]
[7]
[8]
If no qualification criteria were applied at all, three players?
Wilf Barber
,
A. N. Hornby
and
Bruce Murray
?would tie for the best average, all having claimed just one wicket in Test matches, without conceding any runs, thus averaging zero.
[15]
ESPNcricinfo list
Betty Wilson
as having the best
Women's Test cricket
average with 11.80,
[16]
while CricketArchive accept
Mary Spear
's average of 5.78.
[17]
One Day Internationals
[
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]
In
One Day Internationals
, the varying criteria set by ESPNcricinfo and CricketArchive result in same player being listed as holding the record. ESPNcricinfo has the stricter restriction, requiring 1,000 deliveries whereas CricketArchive has more relaxed requirement of 400 deliveries. By both measures,
Sandeep Lamichhane
is the record-holder, having claimed his wickets at an average of 18.06.
[9]
[18]
In
women's One Day International cricket
,
Caroline Barrs
tops the CricketArchive list with an average of 9.52,
[19]
but by ESPNcricinfo's stricter guidelines, the record is instead held by
Gill Smith
's 12.53.
[20]
T20 Internationals
[
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]
The record is again split for the two websites for
Twenty20 International
cricket. In this situation ESPNcricinfo has the lower boundary, requiring just 30 balls to have been bowled,
Dhruv Maisuria
's average of 9.46 holds the record using those criteria. But the stricter 200 deliveries required by CricketArchive results in
Andre Botha
being listed as the superior, averaging 8.76.
[10]
[21]
First Class cricket
[
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]
Domestically, the records for
first-class cricket
are dominated by players from the nineteenth century, who make up sixteen of the top twenty by ESPNcricinfo's criteria of 5,000 deliveries.
William Lillywhite
, who was active from 1825 to 1853 has the lowest average, claiming his 1,576 wickets at an average of just 1.54. The leading players from the twentieth century are
Stephen Draai
and
Vincent Barnes
with averages of just under twelve,
[11]
both of whom claimed the majority of their wickets in the South African
Howa Bowl
tournament during the apartheid era.
[22]
[23]
See also
[
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References
[
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]
Bibliography
[
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]