Batting average

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Batting average is a simple stat used in cricket and baseball to show how well a batter does. In cricket, it equals total runs scored divided by the number of times the batter has been out. It’s a good measure of individual skill because runs and dismissals mainly reflect the batter’s own ability, not teammates. Most career averages are in the 20s to 40s; the highest Test average belongs to Sir Donald Bradman at 99.94 (minimum 20 innings).

In baseball, batting average is hits divided by at-bats and is read as “batting three-hundred” when it’s .300. A season above .300 is excellent, and a .400 season is extremely rare; Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Ty Cobb holds the highest career average at .366, with Rogers Hornsby next at .358. Sabermetrics shows batting average has limited value for predicting runs scored, so it’s only part of a bigger picture.

Henry Chadwick, influenced by cricket, helped create the baseball version by using hits per at-bats to measure how often a batter gets on base. The idea has since been used in other areas to describe similar simple measures of success.