Best Bowling Average in Test

Best Bowling Average in Test is the "gold standard" for measuring a bowler’s lethal efficiency, representing the average number of runs conceded per wicket taken. This legendary record is held by England’s 19th-century icon George Lohmann.
Lohmann finished his career with a staggering average of 10.75 across 112 wickets—a figure that remains unmatched among bowlers with over 100 wickets. He is followed by historical greats like JJ Ferris (12.70). As of April 2026, when looking at modern benchmarks (200+ wickets), West Indian legend Malcolm Marshall (20.94) and active Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (averaging approximately 20.20) represent the pinnacle of modern efficiency. This statistic is more than just a number; it reflects a bowler's ability to dismantle an opposition with clinical precision, granting the fewest possible runs in exchange for the most crucial breakthroughs.

RANK 1

Matthew Hoggard

AVG

7.27

Wkts

248

RANK 2

Danny Morrison

AVG

8.42

Wkts

160

RANK 3

Robert Croft

AVG

16.19

Wkts

Rank	Player	Matches	Innings	Overs	Balls	Runs	Wkts	AVG	Econ	SR	Bbi	Bbm	4w	5w	10w
1	Matthew Hoggard	67	92	2318.1	13909	473	248	7.27	3.26	22.63	7/61	12/205	13	7	1
2	Danny Morrison	48	71	1677.2	10064	379	160	8.42	3.3	22.34	7/89	8/83	9	10	0
3	Robert Croft	21	34	769.5	4619	421	49	16.19	2.37	36.29	5/95	7/143	1	1	0
4	Mohammad Rafique	33	63	1457.2	8744	1059	100	18.57	2.79	64.96	6/77	9/160	3	7	0
5	Jasprit Bumrah IND	52	99	1671.5	10031	4631	234	19.79	2.77	42.8	6/27	9/86	7	16	0
6	Malcolm Marshall	81	151	2930.4	17584	7876	376	20.94	2.68	46.7	7/22	11/89	19	22	4
7	Joel Garner	58	111	2194.5	13169	5433	259	20.97	2.47	50.8	6/56	9/108	18	7	0
8	Curtly Ambrose	98	179	3683.5	22103	8501	405	20.99	2.3	54.5	8/45	11/84	21	22	3
9	Marco Jansen SA	21	38	568	3408	1880	89	21.12	3.3	38.2	7/13	11/86	5	4	1
10	Glenn McGrath	124	243	4874.4	29248	12186	563	21.64	2.49	51.9	8/24	10/27	28	29	3
11	Kagiso Rabada SA	73	134	2239.2	13436	7493	340	22.03	3.34	39.5	7/112	13/144	15	17	4
12	Pat Cummins AUS	72	134	2398.3	14391	6946	315	22.05	2.89	45.6	6/23	10/62	17	14	2
13	Allan Donald	72	129	2586.3	15519	7344	330	22.25	2.83	47	8/71	12/139	11	20	3
14	Sir Richard Hadlee	86	150	3653	21918	9611	431	22.29	2.63	50.8	9/52	15/123	25	36	9
15	Vernon Philander	64	119	1898.3	11391	5000	224	22.32	2.63	50.8	6/21	10/102	8	13	2
16	Muttiah Muralitharan	133	230	7339.5	44039	18180	800	22.72	2.47	55	9/51	16/220	45	67	22
17	Imran Khan	88	142	3243	19458	8258	362	22.81	2.54	53.7	8/58	14/116	17	23	6
18	Dale Steyn	93	171	3101.2	18608	10077	439	22.95	3.24	42.3	7/51	11/60	27	26	5
19	Chris Lewis	32	51	1142	6852	1105	93	23.02	3.05	45.64	6/111	7/114	3	3	0
20	Shaun Pollock	108	202	4058.5	24353	9733	421	23.11	2.39	57.8	7/87	10/147	23	16	1
21	Mohammad Abbas PAK	27	48	925.4	5554	2318	100	23.18	2.5	55.5	6/54	10/95	6	5	1
22	Ryan Harris	27	52	956	5736	2658	113	23.52	2.78	50.7	7/117	9/106	4	5	0
23	Waqar Younis	87	154	2704	16224	8788	373	23.56	3.25	43.4	7/76	13/135	28	22	5
24	Wasim Akram	104	181	3771.1	22627	9779	414	23.62	2.59	54.6	7/119	11/110	20	25	5
25	Michael Holding	60	113	2113.2	12680	5898	249	23.68	2.79	50.9	8/92	14/149	11	13	2
26	Stuart Clark	24	48	857.4	5146	2243	94	23.86	2.61	54.7	5/32	9/89	6	2	0
27	Ravichandran Ashwin	106	200	4541	27246	12891	537	24	2.83	50.7	7/59	13/140	25	37	8
28	Josh Hazlewood AUS	76	143	2570.3	15423	7144	295	24.21	2.77	52.2	6/67	9/79	11	13	0
29	Mohammad Asif	23	44	861.5	5171	2583	106	24.36	2.99	48.7	6/41	11/71	6	7	1
30	Courtney Walsh	132	242	5003.1	30019	12688	519	24.44	2.53	57.8	7/37	13/55	32	22	3
31	Noman Ali	21	40	779.4	4678	2378	97	24.51	3.05	48.2	8/46	11/147	3	9	3
32	Bruce Reid	27	42	1040.4	6244	2784	113	24.63	2.67	55.2	7/51	13/148	11	5	2
33	Ravindra Jadeja IND	89	167	3373.3	20241	8741	348	25.11	2.59	58.1	7/42	10/110	17	15	3
34	Shane Warne	145	273	6784.1	40705	17995	708	25.41	2.65	57.4	8/71	12/128	48	37	10
35	Shoaib Akhtar	46	82	1357.1	8143	4574	178	25.69	3.37	45.7	6/11	11/78	10	12	2
36	Derek Underwood	86	151	3643.4	21862	7674	297	25.83	2.1	73.6	8/51	13/71	13	17	6
37	Jayden Seales WI	26	49	721.3	4329	2458	95	25.87	3.4	45.5	6/61	9/106	4	3	0
38	Wiaan Mulder SA	24	40	337	2022	988	38	26	2.93	53.2	4/32	6/67	2	0	0
39	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	21	37	558	3348	1644	63	26.09	2.94	53.1	6/82	8/96	3	4	0
40	Jason Gillespie	71	137	2372.2	14234	6770	259	26.13	2.85	54.9	7/37	9/80	8	8	0
41	James Pattinson AUS	21	38	660.3	3963	2133	81	26.33	3.22	48.9	5/27	8/105	4	4	0
42	James Anderson	188	350	6672.5	40037	18627	704	26.45	2.79	56.8	7/42	11/71	32	32	3
43	Mitchell Starc AUS	105	202	3335.3	20013	11481	433	26.51	3.44	46.2	7/58	11/94	20	18	3
44	John Lever	21	38	738.5	4433	1951	73	26.72	2.64	60.7	7/46	10/70	3	3	1
45	Winston Benjamin	21	35	615.4	3694	1648	61	27.01	2.67	60.5	4/46	6/105	2	0	0
46	Kemar Roach WI	88	159	2567.4	15406	7968	294	27.1	3.1	52.4	6/48	10/146	14	12	1
47	Matt Henry NZ	33	65	1216.3	7299	3799	140	27.13	3.12	52.1	7/23	9/55	6	6	0
48	Terry Alderman	41	73	1696.5	10181	4616	170	27.15	2.72	59.8	6/47	10/151	5	14	1
49	Angus Fraser	46	79	1812.4	10876	4836	177	27.32	2.66	61.4	8/53	11/110	5	13	2
50	Asitha Fernando SL	24	41	620.1	3721	2187	80	27.33	3.52	46.5	6/51	10/144	5	2	1
51	Darren Lehmann	27	25	162.2	974	412	15	27.46	2.53	64.9	3/42	6/92	0	0	0
52	Trent Boult	78	149	2902.5	17417	8717	317	27.49	3	54.9	6/30	10/80	18	10	1
53	Neil Wagner	64	122	2287.3	13725	7169	260	27.57	3.13	52.7	7/39	9/73	13	9	0
54	Morne Morkel	86	160	2749.4	16498	8550	309	27.66	3.1	53.3	6/23	9/110	18	8	0
55	Hasan Ali PAK	25	48	725.5	4355	2213	80	27.66	3.04	54.4	5/27	10/114	2	6	1
56	Stuart Broad	167	309	5616.2	33698	16719	604	27.68	2.97	55.7	8/15	11/121	28	20	3
57	Mohammad Shami	64	122	1919.1	11515	6346	229	27.71	3.3	50.2	6/56	9/118	12	6	0
58	Shaheen Afridi PAK	33	56	1066.5	6401	3378	121	27.91	3.16	52.9	6/51	10/94	13	4	1
59	Jeff Thomson	51	90	1755.5	10535	5601	200	28	3.18	52.6	6/46	9/105	16	8	0
60	Roger Harper	25	39	602.3	3615	1291	46	28.06	2.14	78.5	6/57	6/90	2	1	0
61	Rangana Herath	93	170	4332.1	25993	12157	433	28.07	2.8	60	9/127	14/184	20	34	9
62	Saeed Ajmal	35	67	1932	11592	5003	178	28.1	2.58	65.1	7/55	11/111	9	10	4
63	Iqbal Qasim	50	86	2169.5	13019	4807	171	28.11	2.21	76.1	7/49	11/118	13	8	2
64	Chris Old	46	81	1476.2	8858	4020	143	28.11	2.72	61.9	7/50	9/88	7	4	0
65	Heath Streak	65	102	2259.5	13559	6079	216	28.14	2.69	62.7	6/73	9/72	16	7	0
66	Ryan Sidebottom	22	36	802	4812	2231	79	28.24	2.78	60.9	7/47	10/139	5	5	1
67	Merv Hughes	53	97	2047.3	12285	6017	212	28.38	2.93	57.9	8/87	13/217	14	7	1
68	Darren Gough	58	95	1970.1	11821	6503	229	28.39	3.3	51.6	6/42	9/92	14	9	0
69	Sir Ian Botham	102	168	3635.5	21815	10878	383	28.4	2.99	56.9	8/34	13/106	17	27	4
70	Mitchell Johnson	73	140	2666.5	16001	8891	313	28.4	3.33	51.1	8/61	12/127	16	12	3
71	Rodney Hogg	38	66	1272.1	7633	3503	123	28.47	2.75	62	6/74	10/66	7	6	2
72	Ben Hilfenhaus	27	49	1013	6078	2822	99	28.5	2.78	61.3	5/75	8/97	7	2	0
73	Craig McDermott	71	124	2764.2	16586	8332	291	28.63	3.01	56.9	8/97	11/157	17	14	2
74	Makhaya Ntini	101	190	3472.2	20834	11242	390	28.82	3.23	53.4	7/37	13/132	19	18	4
75	Ajaz Patel	22	39	836.4	5020	2623	91	28.82	3.13	55.1	10/119	14/225	2	7	2
76	Stuart MacGill	44	85	1872.5	11237	6038	208	29.02	3.22	54	8/108	12/107	9	12	2
77	Keshav Maharaj SA	62	106	2051.2	12308	6370	218	29.22	3.1	56.4	9/129	12/283	6	12	1
78	Mushtaq Mohammad	57	70	876.4	5260	2309	79	29.22	2.63	66.5	5/28	9/119	6	3	0
79	Abdur Rehman	22	43	1148.4	6892	2910	99	29.39	2.53	69.6	6/25	8/92	8	2	0
80	Chris Cairns	62	104	1949.4	11698	6410	218	29.4	3.28	53.6	7/27	10/100	11	13	1
81	Jomel Warrican	23	39	757.4	4546	2302	78	29.51	3.03	58.2	7/32	10/101	6	2	1
82	Chaminda Vaas	111	194	3906.2	23438	10501	355	29.58	2.68	66	7/71	14/191	20	12	2
83	Chris Woakes	62	118	1869.5	11219	5686	192	29.61	3.04	58.4	6/17	11/102	5	5	1
84	Kapil Dev	131	227	4623.2	27740	12867	434	29.64	2.78	63.9	9/83	11/146	17	23	2
85	Anil Kumble	132	236	6808.2	40850	18355	619	29.65	2.69	65.9	10/74	14/149	31	35	8
86	Mohammed Siraj IND	45	84	1167.5	7007	4124	139	29.66	3.53	50.4	6/15	9/190	8	5	0
87	Graham Dilley	41	65	1365.2	8192	4107	138	29.76	3	59.3	6/38	9/128	11	6	0
88	Dominic Cork	37	62	1279.4	7678	3906	131	29.81	3.05	58.6	7/43	9/162	9	5	0
89	Saqlain Mushtaq	49	86	2345	14070	6206	208	29.83	2.64	67.6	8/164	10/155	12	13	3
90	Andy Caddick	62	105	2259.4	13558	6999	234	29.91	3.09	57.9	7/46	10/215	9	13	1