What this calculator does
Batting average means two entirely different things depending on the sport. In baseball it is hits divided by at-bats, giving a figure between 0 and 1 conventionally written as .300. In cricket it is runs scored divided by times out, giving a figure that can run into the fifties or higher.
The two share a name and nothing else. A baseball average of .300 is excellent; a cricket average of 0.300 would be catastrophic. This calculator asks which sport you mean because there is no way to infer it from the numbers alone.
The formula
For baseball the hits are divided by at-bats and the result formatted to three decimal places without a leading zero, which is the standard convention. For cricket the runs are divided by the number of times dismissed, not by innings played, since not-out innings do not count as a dismissal.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Baseball average | Hits divided by at-bats. .300 is excellent, .250 about average. |
| Cricket average | Runs divided by dismissals. 50 is excellent for a Test batter, 35 to 40 is solid. |
| At-bat | A plate appearance excluding walks, hit-by-pitch and sacrifices. |
| Not out | An innings ending without dismissal, which adds runs to the numerator but nothing to the denominator. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Sport | Which sport, since the two calculations are unrelated despite the shared name. |
| Hits (baseball) / Runs (cricket) | Hits for baseball, or runs scored for cricket. |
| At-bats (baseball) / Times out (cricket) | At-bats for baseball, or times dismissed for cricket. For cricket this is dismissals, not innings played. |
When to use it
Following a baseball season
Batting average remains the most widely quoted hitting statistic despite its known limitations, and .300 is still the recognised benchmark.
Assessing a cricket career
The batting average is the primary summary of a batter record, and the not-out treatment is what makes it a rate rather than a per-innings figure.
Comparing across formats
Test, one-day and Twenty20 averages differ substantially for the same player, since the formats reward different things.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
What does the same input give in each sport?
The same two numbers read as a baseball line and as a cricket one.
Questions
What is a good batting average in baseball?
.300 is the traditional benchmark for an excellent season, .250 to .270 is around average, and below .220 is poor. The figures drift a little between eras as the run environment changes, but .300 has held its meaning for a century.
What is a good batting average in cricket?
In Test cricket, above 50 is excellent and marks a career-defining record, 40 to 50 is very good and 30 to 40 is solid. One-day and Twenty20 averages run lower because the formats trade risk for scoring rate.
Why do not-out innings not count?
Because the batter was not dismissed, so the innings does not represent a completed attempt. Counting it would penalise a player for running out of partners or for the innings being declared. It does mean a player with many not-outs can post an inflated average.
Why is batting average criticised in baseball?
Because it treats a single and a home run identically and ignores walks entirely. On-base percentage and slugging percentage were developed to address those two gaps, and OPS combines them. Batting average persists mostly through familiarity.
For on-base and slugging, see the on-base percentage calculator and the slugging percentage calculator.