The Dilemma of batting and bowling averages

The Dilemma of batting and bowling averages: Statistics are an integral and inseparable aspect of cricket. They connect even the grassroot level fan to the adventures of the game. Stats are nothing but parameters to estimate the impact of the bat and the ball in different circumstances. Averages are considered the pedestal of those estimations when determining the quality of a player. So much so that 99.94 almost became synonymous to Sir Don Bradman. But many wonder how do batting averages acquire such high numbers and how are these averages actually calculated. Here we intend to remove all those doubts explaining

The Dilemma of batting and bowling averages:

Batting average –

Genuine queries like Dhoni and Kohli having similar ODI averages despite Dhoni batting much lower in the batting order are part of daily discussion among the fans. Let us see how it is actually arrived at.

Average = Total runs scored / Number of times a player is dismissed

So it is contrary to the general perception of average where we would have divided the total runs by the number of innings played. This method is basically adopted to value the contribution of a player remaining not out in his average. It is clear from the formula that the lesser number of times a batsman is dismissed the lesser would be the denominator and hence more the average. Thus if two batsmen have scored the same runs but one of them is dismissed lesser number of times he will have a higher average than the other. Example a/b > a/c if b < c.

Bowling averages –

Quite opposite to the batsmen a bowler aspires his average to be lower. The lower the average the better the bowler. This is because bowling average are calculated by the following formula –

Average = Total number of runs conceded / Total number of wickets taken

So the average is inversely proportional to the number of wickets a bowler takes. Quite naturally the more the wickets the better the bowler and therefore the less the average the better the bowler. So if two bowlers have conceded the same amount of runs but one has taken more wickets than the other, he will have a lower but in cricketing terms a better average. Example -a/b < a/c if b > c.