Bowling Average Calculator

The term "bowling average" is used in two different sports but has completely different meanings. In cricket it refers to the number of runs a bowler allows before taking a wicket and the aim is to lower this figure over the course of a game. In ten-pin bowling, it refers to the number of pins knocked down in a game and the aim is to raise that number.

This calculator takes both cases into account. Selecting the sport above will show you the relevant fields to fill in along with some stats that help make sense of the numbers. For cricket, you can check out your economy rate and strike rate while for bowling it's official average and league handicap.

Bowling average in cricket:

The calculation for cricket is ridiculously simple: a single division.

If a bowler concedes 99 runs and takes 8 wickets his average is 12.375 which is the result of dividing 99 by 8. You can think of it like this "for every wicket he gets, he has given away about 12 runs". As the number of wickets is in the denominator a lower average indicates a better bowler. This is opposite to a high batting average which is good.

If one of the three fields is left blank, then the tool will calculate that value for you. So not only can you work out your own average but also how many wickets you need to take in order to achieve a particular target. A bowler who has conceded 750 runs and wants an average of 25.0 would require 30 wickets.

What points and results are included in the stats?

Not all events that occur during a pitcher's at-bat are recorded in the individual data. It is important to handle this correctly, as adding "byes" to your own records can inadvertently raise your average.

What is a good bowling average in cricket?

The average professional bowler will usually have a rating between 20 and 50, the following breakdown is the most common view of Test matches and first class cricket. In limited overs also economy rate should be considered at least as important.

A high average does not necessarily mean a cricketer is bad; often it means that the player has been selected for his batting strength and bowls only a few overs when the captain needs a change.

As a benchmark for the highest level: of all bowlers who have bowled at least 600 balls, George Lohmann from England has the lowest career average in test matches just under 11. This record was set in the 1890s. It is now very unusual for a bowler to take many wickets and still have a career average in test matches of less than 20, which would normally make headlines.

Three key figures in bowling: average, economy and strike rate.

If you only look at the average, you don't understand how a player gets to that result. Only when you take into account the other two numbers does the overall picture emerge. These values can be calculated by entering the number of throws.

The economy tells how many points the opponent gets per ball thrown. The strike rate shows how often a player achieves a strike, i.e. how many throws lie between two strikes. These three indicators are not independent of each other but stand in a fixed relationship to one another.

If a player gives his opponent 2400 points, makes 90 strikes and throws 4800 shots, then the efficiency is 3.00, the strike rate is 53.33 and the average is 26.67. If you multiply 3.00 by 53.33 and divide it by 6, you always get 26.67.

This equation shows that no one can be at the top of all three metrics simultaneously. A player who has good strikes will score quickly but also lose points between strikes. A defensive player keeps their economy very low, but may not be able to make breakthroughs and therefore throw longer. An improvement in one area always leads to a deterioration of average.

Fallen Strickes: Overthrows, number of throws, 12.3.

On the scorecard an over is shown as 12.3 but this does not mean "twelve and a third". It represents a full number of overs (so twelve) plus three balls, so a total of 75 deliveries. Treating 12.3 as a decimal can inadvertently affect economy.

This calculator avoids this problem by requiring the number of balls bowled. Multiply the full overs by six and add on the extra balls, then both the decimal over count and the notation on the scorecard are shown side-by-side.

Bowling Average

The average bowling score is another statistic that uses the same simple approach.

To calculate the average score for a series of games or an entire season, add up all your scores without handicaps and divide by the number of games. If you have a total of 850 pins in five games, then your average is 170.

In the league standings, decimal places are not rounded but simply truncated. If a team's exact average is 170.8, it will be recorded as 170 and not 171. For this reason, the calculator shows both the exact value and the official truncated value.

These values give a general idea of the performance in the league, but are not set by the governing body. They can also vary greatly depending on track conditions. A score of 180 points on a difficult oil profile is considered better than a score of 200 points on a "wall" track.

League handicap

If a player has a handicap of 140 points then he can compete in the league against a player who scores 200 points on the same night. Part of the difference between his average performance and a fixed reference value is given to him, and these points are added up for each round.

The two most common rules are one with a percentage of 90 and a reference value of 220, and the other with a percentage of 100 and a reference value of 200. If in a rule with a percentage of 90 and a reference value of 220 the average is 170, (the difference between 220 and 170) will be multiplied by 0.9, resulting in adding 45 pins to each round. Both the average and handicaps are rounded down to an integer, never up.

Note that a higher reference value means that even very good players will be given handicap points. If the average reaches the reference value, then the handicap is zero and the player plays without handicap.

How many points do you need to achieve your desired average?

This is a question that every player in any league will have at some point during the season. If you are already playing a few games and your end goal is to achieve a certain average then the required points balance per game to do so would be as follows:

Let's say you have 850 pins and play five games for an average of 170. You have five more games to go, and your target average is 180. To get a total of 1800 pins (calculated as 180 multiplied by 10), you need to subtract the 850 pins you've already got, which means that you need to get 950 more in the remaining five games. That's an average of 190 pins per game.

This calculation is relentless. The more games you've played already, the harder it will be to change your average because of the inertia that weighs on it. If you score 250 points at the beginning of a season, your average will go up significantly, but after twenty weeks this effect will barely be noticeable.

Used symbols:

This tool is for learning, planning and simple checking purposes. Official cricket data follows the point rules in the "Cricket Rules", and league averages and handicaps are subject to the rules of each respective league. The methods for rounding decimals or handling results when players are absent may differ from one league to another.