Highest Batting Average in Test

Highest Batting Average in Test is the definitive metric of a batter's dominance over their era, a record held by the legendary Sir Donald Bradman.

Bradman’s career average of 99.94 is widely regarded as the most untouchable statistic in all of professional sports, standing far above any other player in history. Among those with at least 20 innings, he is followed by modern greats like Steve Smith, who maintains an elite average of 56.06 as of April 2026, and rising stars like Harry Brook. Even in the modern era of advanced analytics and training, Bradman’s near-century average remains a statistical anomaly and the ultimate symbol of technical perfection and psychological resilience in the sport's longest format.

RANK 1

Graeme Pollock

AVG

60.97

Runs

2256

RANK 2

Kumar Sangakkara

AVG

57.4

Runs

12400

RANK 3

Steven Smith

AUS

AVG

56.05

Runs

10763

Rank	Player	Matches	Innings	Runs	BF	HS	AVG	SR	Not Out	4s	6s	50s	100s
1	Graeme Pollock	23	41	2256	0	274	60.97	0	4	0	11	11	7
2	Kumar Sangakkara	134	233	12400	22882	319	57.4	54.19	17	1491	51	52	38
3	Steven Smith AUS	123	220	10763	19966	239	56.05	53.9	28	1172	67	44	37
4	Jacques Kallis	166	280	13289	28903	224	55.37	45.97	40	1488	97	58	45
5	Harry Brook ENG	35	60	3178	3660	317	54.79	86.83	2	339	52	15	10
6	Kane Williamson NZ	108	192	9461	18198	251	54.68	51.98	19	1056	28	38	33
7	Sachin Tendulkar	200	329	15921	0	248	53.78	54.09	33	2058	69	68	51
8	Brian Lara	131	232	11953	19753	400	52.88	60.51	6	1559	88	48	34
9	Javed Miandad	124	189	8832	0	280	52.57	0	21	0	48	43	23
10	Rahul Dravid	164	286	13288	31258	270	52.31	42.51	32	1655	21	63	36
11	Mohammad Yousuf	90	156	7530	14372	223	52.29	52.39	12	957	51	33	24
12	Younis Khan	118	213	10099	19375	313	52.05	52.12	19	1082	70	33	34
13	Ricky Ponting	168	287	13378	22782	257	51.85	58.72	29	1509	73	62	41
14	Michael Hussey	79	137	6235	12436	195	51.52	50.13	16	685	39	29	19
15	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	164	280	11867	27395	203	51.37	43.31	49	1285	36	66	30
16	Sunil Gavaskar	125	214	10122	15327	236	51.12	66.04	16	1016	26	45	34
17	Joe Root ENG	163	298	13943	24242	262	51.07	57.51	25	1492	46	66	41
18	Steve Waugh	168	260	10927	22461	200	51.06	48.64	46	1175	20	50	32
19	Matthew Hayden	103	184	8625	14349	380	50.73	60.1	14	1049	82	29	30
20	AB de Villiers SA	114	191	8765	16077	278	50.66	54.51	18	1024	64	46	22
21	Allan Border	156	265	11174	0	205	50.56	0	44	1161	28	63	27
22	Sir Viv Richards	121	182	8540	0	291	50.23	0	12	0	84	45	24
23	Mahela Jayawardene	149	252	11814	22959	374	49.84	51.45	15	1387	61	50	34
24	Janette Brittin	27	44	1935	0	167	49.61	0	5	0	0	11	5
25	Inzamam-ul-Haq	120	200	8830	16345	329	49.6	54.02	22	1105	48	46	25
26	Virender Sehwag	104	180	8586	10441	319	49.34	82.23	6	1233	91	32	23
27	Yashasvi Jaiswal IND	28	53	2511	3803	214	49.23	66.02	2	312	45	13	7
28	Michael Clarke	115	198	8643	15456	329	49.1	55.92	22	978	39	27	28
29	Thilan Samaraweera	81	132	5462	11641	231	48.76	46.92	20	633	7	30	14
30	Graeme Smith	117	205	9265	15525	277	48.25	59.67	13	1165	24	38	27
31	Saud Shakeel PAK	21	40	1773	3589	208	47.91	49.4	3	177	2	10	4
32	Geoff Boycott	108	193	8114	0	246	47.72	0	23	0	8	42	22
33	Adam Gilchrist	96	137	5570	6796	204	47.6	81.95	20	677	100	26	17
34	Kevin Pietersen	104	181	8181	13255	227	47.28	61.72	8	985	81	35	23
35	Virat Kohli IND	123	210	9230	16608	254	46.85	55.57	13	1027	30	31	30
36	Clive Lloyd	110	175	7515	0	242	46.67	0	14	0	70	39	19
37	Hashim Amla	124	215	9282	18573	311	46.64	49.97	16	1170	14	41	28
38	Misbah ul Haq	75	132	5222	11726	161	46.62	44.53	20	511	81	39	10
39	Dean Jones	52	89	3631	7427	216	46.55	48.88	11	361	10	14	11
40	Damien Martyn	67	109	4406	8569	165	46.37	51.41	14	513	10	23	13
41	Dennis Amiss	50	88	3612	0	262	46.3	0	10	427	3	11	11
42	VVS Laxman	134	225	8781	17785	281	45.97	49.37	34	1135	5	56	17
43	Martin Crowe	77	131	5444	12190	299	45.36	44.65	11	659	27	18	17
44	Alastair Cook	161	291	12472	26562	294	45.35	46.95	16	1442	11	57	33
45	Justin Langer	105	182	7696	14192	250	45.27	54.22	12	912	40	30	23
46	Sean Williams ZIM	24	47	1946	3020	154	45.25	64.43	4	222	16	7	6
47	Mohammad Azharuddin	99	147	6215	9852	199	45.03	63.08	9	720	19	21	22
48	Simon Katich	56	99	4188	8483	157	45.03	49.36	6	490	9	25	10
49	Darren Lehmann	27	42	1798	2909	177	44.95	61.8	2	214	10	10	5
50	Zaheer Abbas	78	124	5062	0	274	44.79	0	11	0	22	20	12
51	Gordon Greenidge	108	185	7558	0	226	44.72	0	16	0	67	34	19
52	Marnus Labuschagne AUS	63	114	4694	8987	215	44.7	52.23	9	524	15	25	11
53	Ross Taylor NZ	112	196	7683	12957	290	44.66	59.29	24	932	55	35	19
54	David Warner AUS	112	205	8786	12517	335	44.59	70.19	8	1036	69	37	26
55	Alvin Kallicharran	66	109	4399	0	187	44.43	0	10	0	12	21	12
56	Angelo Mathews SL	119	212	8214	16970	200	44.4	48.4	27	835	90	45	16
57	Sir Richie Richardson	86	146	5949	0	194	44.39	0	12	0	23	27	16
58	Shoaib Mohammad	45	68	2705	0	203	44.34	0	7	0	5	13	7
59	David Gower	117	204	8231	16268	215	44.25	50.59	18	979	10	39	18
60	Charlotte Edwards	23	43	1676	0	117	44.1	0	5	0	0	9	4
61	Jonathan Trott	52	93	3835	8128	226	44.08	47.18	6	451	0	19	9
62	Marcus Trescothick	76	143	5825	10685	219	43.79	54.51	10	831	42	29	14
63	Travis Head AUS	65	111	4592	6576	175	43.73	69.82	6	557	41	20	12
64	Saleem Malik	103	154	5768	0	237	43.69	0	22	0	7	29	15
65	Robin Smith	62	112	4236	9279	175	43.67	45.65	15	558	11	28	9
66	Devon Conway NZ	32	60	2533	4701	227	43.67	53.88	2	320	15	13	7
67	David Boon	107	190	7422	18116	200	43.65	40.96	20	822	2	32	21
68	Cheteshwar Pujara	103	176	7195	16217	206	43.6	44.36	11	863	16	35	19
69	Dinesh Chandimal SL	90	161	6361	12703	206	43.56	50.07	15	668	44	34	16
70	Daryl Mitchell NZ	35	55	2175	4058	190	43.5	53.59	5	208	41	15	5
71	Mark Taylor	104	186	7525	18140	334	43.49	41.48	13	727	9	40	19
72	Shubman Gill IND	40	73	2843	4623	269	43.07	61.49	7	318	46	8	10
73	Dave Houghton	22	36	1464	3221	266	43.05	45.45	2	168	12	4	4
74	Aravinda de Silva	93	159	6361	0	267	42.97	0	11	0	48	22	20
75	Usman Khawaja AUS	88	159	6229	12757	232	42.95	48.82	14	664	28	28	16
76	Rishabh Pant IND	49	86	3476	4682	159	42.91	74.24	5	372	94	18	8
77	Hashan Tillakaratne	83	131	4545	0	204	42.87	0	25	540	1	20	11
78	Chris Rogers	25	48	2015	3982	173	42.87	50.6	1	268	1	14	5
79	Ian Bell	118	205	7727	15622	235	42.69	49.46	24	919	39	46	22
80	Graham Gooch	118	215	8900	18075	333	42.58	49.23	6	1079	25	46	20
81	Mohinder Amarnath	69	113	4378	5119	138	42.5	85.52	10	330	21	24	11
82	Babar Azam PAK	61	112	4366	8017	196	42.38	54.45	9	513	23	30	9
83	Desmond Haynes	116	202	7487	0	184	42.29	0	25	0	24	39	18
84	Azhar Ali	97	180	7142	17033	302	42.26	41.93	11	694	22	35	19
85	Chris Gayle WI	103	182	7214	11970	333	42.18	60.26	11	1046	98	37	15
86	Sourav Ganguly	113	188	7212	14070	239	42.17	51.25	17	900	57	35	16
87	Navjot Sidhu	51	78	3202	7135	201	42.13	44.88	2	358	38	15	9
88	Herschelle Gibbs	90	154	6167	12270	228	41.95	50.26	7	887	47	26	14
89	Gautam Gambhir	58	104	4154	8067	206	41.95	51.49	5	517	10	22	9
90	Mark Waugh	128	209	8029	15360	153	41.81	52.27	17	844	41	47	20