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	Kane Williamson NZ	108	192	9461	18198	251	54.68	51.98	19	1056	28	38	33
6	Sachin Tendulkar	200	329	15921	0	248	53.78	54.09	33	2058	69	68	51
7	Brian Lara	131	232	11953	19753	400	52.88	60.51	6	1559	88	48	34
8	Javed Miandad	124	189	8832	0	280	52.57	0	21	0	48	43	23
9	Mohammad Yousuf	90	156	7530	14372	223	52.29	52.39	12	957	51	33	24
10	Younis Khan	118	213	10099	19375	313	52.05	52.12	19	1082	70	33	34
11	Ricky Ponting	168	287	13378	22782	257	51.85	58.72	29	1509	73	62	41
12	Michael Hussey	79	137	6235	12436	195	51.52	50.13	16	685	39	29	19
13	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	164	280	11867	27395	203	51.37	43.31	49	1285	36	66	30
14	Sunil Gavaskar	125	214	10122	15327	236	51.12	66.04	16	1016	26	45	34
15	Joe Root ENG	163	298	13943	24242	262	51.07	57.51	25	1492	46	66	41
16	Steve Waugh	168	260	10927	22461	200	51.06	48.64	46	1175	20	50	32
17	Matthew Hayden	103	184	8625	14349	380	50.73	60.1	14	1049	82	29	30
18	AB de Villiers	114	191	8765	16077	278	50.66	54.51	18	1024	64	46	22
19	Allan Border	156	265	11174	0	205	50.56	0	44	1161	28	63	27
20	Sir Viv Richards	121	182	8540	0	291	50.23	0	12	0	84	45	24
21	Mahela Jayawardene	149	252	11814	22959	374	49.84	51.45	15	1387	61	50	34
22	Janette Brittin	27	44	1935	0	167	49.61	0	5	0	0	11	5
23	Virender Sehwag	104	180	8586	10441	319	49.34	82.23	6	1233	91	32	23
24	Michael Clarke	115	198	8643	15456	329	49.1	55.92	22	978	39	27	28
25	Graeme Smith	117	205	9265	15525	277	48.25	59.67	13	1165	24	38	27
26	Saud Shakeel PAK	21	40	1773	3589	208	47.91	49.4	3	177	2	10	4
27	Geoff Boycott	108	193	8114	0	246	47.72	0	23	0	8	42	22
28	Adam Gilchrist	96	137	5570	6796	204	47.6	81.95	20	677	100	26	17
29	Kevin Pietersen	104	181	8181	13255	227	47.28	61.72	8	985	81	35	23
30	Virat Kohli IND	123	210	9230	16608	254	46.85	55.57	13	1027	30	31	30
31	Clive Lloyd	110	175	7515	0	242	46.67	0	14	0	70	39	19
32	Hashim Amla	124	215	9282	18573	311	46.64	49.97	16	1170	14	41	28
33	Misbah ul Haq	75	132	5222	11726	161	46.62	44.53	20	511	81	39	10
34	Dean Jones	52	89	3631	7427	216	46.55	48.88	11	361	10	14	11
35	Dennis Amiss	50	88	3612	0	262	46.3	0	10	427	3	11	11
36	VVS Laxman	134	225	8781	17785	281	45.97	49.37	34	1135	5	56	17
37	Martin Crowe	77	131	5444	12190	299	45.36	44.65	11	659	27	18	17
38	Alastair Cook	161	291	12472	26562	294	45.35	46.95	16	1442	11	57	33
39	Sean Williams ZIM	24	47	1946	3020	154	45.25	64.43	4	222	16	7	6
40	Mohammad Azharuddin	99	147	6215	9852	199	45.03	63.08	9	720	19	21	22
41	Simon Katich	56	99	4188	8483	157	45.03	49.36	6	490	9	25	10
42	Zaheer Abbas	78	124	5062	0	274	44.79	0	11	0	22	20	12
43	Gordon Greenidge	108	185	7558	0	226	44.72	0	16	0	67	34	19
44	Marnus Labuschagne AUS	63	114	4694	8987	215	44.7	52.23	9	524	15	25	11
45	Ross Taylor NZ	112	196	7683	12957	290	44.66	59.29	24	932	55	35	19
46	David Warner AUS	112	205	8786	12517	335	44.59	70.19	8	1036	69	37	26
47	Alvin Kallicharran	66	109	4399	0	187	44.43	0	10	0	12	21	12
48	Angelo Mathews SL	119	212	8214	16970	200	44.4	48.4	27	835	90	45	16
49	Sir Richie Richardson	86	146	5949	0	194	44.39	0	12	0	23	27	16
50	Shoaib Mohammad	45	68	2705	0	203	44.34	0	7	0	5	13	7
51	David Gower	117	204	8231	16268	215	44.25	50.59	18	979	10	39	18
52	Charlotte Edwards	23	43	1676	0	117	44.1	0	5	0	0	9	4
53	Jonathan Trott	52	93	3835	8128	226	44.08	47.18	6	451	0	19	9
54	Marcus Trescothick	76	143	5825	10685	219	43.79	54.51	10	831	42	29	14
55	Travis Head AUS	65	111	4592	6576	175	43.73	69.82	6	557	41	20	12
56	Saleem Malik	103	154	5768	0	237	43.69	0	22	0	7	29	15
57	Robin Smith	62	112	4236	9279	175	43.67	45.65	15	558	11	28	9
58	Devon Conway NZ	32	60	2533	4701	227	43.67	53.88	2	320	15	13	7
59	David Boon	107	190	7422	18116	200	43.65	40.96	20	822	2	32	21
60	Cheteshwar Pujara	103	176	7195	16217	206	43.6	44.36	11	863	16	35	19
61	Dinesh Chandimal SL	90	161	6361	12703	206	43.56	50.07	15	668	44	34	16
62	Daryl Mitchell NZ	35	55	2175	4058	190	43.5	53.59	5	208	41	15	5
63	Mark Taylor	104	186	7525	18140	334	43.49	41.48	13	727	9	40	19
64	Dave Houghton	22	36	1464	3221	266	43.05	45.45	2	168	12	4	4
65	Aravinda de Silva	93	159	6361	0	267	42.97	0	11	0	48	22	20
66	Usman Khawaja AUS	88	159	6229	12757	232	42.95	48.82	14	664	28	28	16
67	Rishabh Pant IND	49	86	3476	4682	159	42.91	74.24	5	372	94	18	8
68	Hashan Tillakaratne	83	131	4545	0	204	42.87	0	25	540	1	20	11
69	Chris Rogers	25	48	2015	3982	173	42.87	50.6	1	268	1	14	5
70	Ian Bell	118	205	7727	15622	235	42.69	49.46	24	919	39	46	22
71	Graham Gooch	118	215	8900	18075	333	42.58	49.23	6	1079	25	46	20
72	Mohinder Amarnath	69	113	4378	5119	138	42.5	85.52	10	330	21	24	11
73	Babar Azam PAK	61	112	4366	8017	196	42.38	54.45	9	513	23	30	9
74	Desmond Haynes	116	202	7487	0	184	42.29	0	25	0	24	39	18
75	Azhar Ali	97	180	7142	17033	302	42.26	41.93	11	694	22	35	19
76	Chris Gayle WI	103	182	7214	11970	333	42.18	60.26	11	1046	98	37	15
77	Sourav Ganguly	113	188	7212	14070	239	42.17	51.25	17	900	57	35	16
78	Navjot Sidhu	51	78	3202	7135	201	42.13	44.88	2	358	38	15	9
79	Herschelle Gibbs	90	154	6167	12270	228	41.95	50.26	7	887	47	26	14
80	Gautam Gambhir	58	104	4154	8067	206	41.95	51.49	5	517	10	22	9
81	Mark Waugh	128	209	8029	15360	153	41.81	52.27	17	844	41	47	20
82	Ashwell Prince	66	104	3665	8385	162	41.64	43.7	16	397	13	11	11
83	Michael Vaughan	82	147	5719	11184	197	41.44	51.13	9	742	22	18	18
84	Dilip Vengsarkar	116	185	6868	11450	166	41.37	59.98	22	560	17	35	17
85	Mayank Agarwal	21	36	1488	2782	243	41.33	53.48	0	189	28	6	4
86	Graham Yallop	39	70	2756	0	268	41.13	0	3	276	1	9	8
87	Greg Matthews	33	53	1849	4178	130	41.08	44.25	8	166	5	12	4
88	Kepler Wessels	40	71	2788	5998	179	41	46.48	3	304	3	15	6
89	Tillakaratne Dilshan	87	145	5492	8379	193	40.98	65.54	11	677	24	23	16
90	Mohammad Rafique	33	48	4076	1630	0	40.76	87.4	6	110	34	4	1