page_title: Batting average (cricket)
section_title: Test matches
hierarchical_section_title: Batting average (cricket) / Leading male batting averages / Test matches
context_page_description: In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out, usually given to two decimal places. Since the number of runs a player scores and how often they get out are primarily measures of their own playing ability, and largely independent of their teammates, batting average is a good metric for an individual player's skill as a batter. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively. If all the batter's innings were completed, this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings, this number is an estimate of the unknown average number of runs they score per innings.
  Each player normally has several batting averages, with a different figure calculated for each type of match they play, and a player's batting averages may be calculated for individual seasons or series, or at particular grounds, or against particular opponents, or across their whole career.
  Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players' relative skills since the 18th century.
context_section_description: Highest male career batting averages in Test matches as follows:
  Source:  Cricinfo. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed. * denotes not out. Last updated: 8 January 2020.
caption: Sir Donald Bradman
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