Club Cricket Stats Explained: Batting Average, Strike Rate, Economy and More
Averages, strike rates, economy, five-fers — cricket produces more numbers than any other sport, and club cricket is no exception. Here's what each stat actually measures, how it's calculated, and what counts as good on a Saturday afternoon.
Batting stats
Batting average
The classic. Note the denominator is dismissals, not innings — not-out innings add runs without adding a dismissal. That's why your No. 9 who finishes 12* every week can quietly sit on an average of 40. Over a full club season, an average of 25+ is a good year for a top-order batter, and 35+ is usually silverware territory.
Batting strike rate
Runs per 100 balls. A strike rate of 70–85 is typical for league cricket on club pitches; 100+ means genuinely quick scoring. Strike rate matters more in win/lose formats and T20 — a slow 40 can cost a chase as surely as a duck. One caveat at club level: strike rates depend on scorers recording balls faced, which isn't always done for every game.
High score, fifties and hundreds
Self-explanatory, but the milestone counts — 50s and 100s — tell you about match-shaping innings in a way averages can't. A batter with 450 runs including two hundreds has won games; a batter with 450 runs in twenty 20-odds has had a nice season. We cover which milestones are worth celebrating in Club Cricket Milestones Worth Celebrating.
Bowling stats
Bowling average
Lower is better. Under 15 over a club season is outstanding; under 20 is very good; 25–30 is honest league bowling. Beware small samples — a bowler with 4 wickets at 9.5 from two games hasn't "got better figures" than the seamer with 40 wickets at 18.
Economy rate
Runs per over — the stat that measures control rather than penetration. In 40–50 over league cricket, under 3.5 is miserly, 4–4.5 is solid, and 5.5+ is expensive. Economy and average together tell the real story: a bowler with a great economy but few wickets is holding an end; one with a great average but high economy is a wicket-taking gamble.
Bowling strike rate
How often you strike — a strike rate of 30 means a wicket every five overs. Unlike batting strike rate, lower is better.
Best figures and five-fers
Best bowling is written wickets/runs — 6/23 beats 6/40, and any five-fer (five wickets in an innings) earns the honours board, the match ball, or at minimum a jug. Five-wicket hauls are the bowling equivalent of hundreds: the innings-defining performances that averages smooth over.
What counts as "good" at club level?
Context is everything — a 2nd XI average isn't a Premier League average — but as a rule of thumb for a full outdoor league season in the UK:
| Stat | Solid season | Very good | Wins the trophy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batting average | 20–25 | 25–35 | 35+ |
| Season runs | 250–400 | 400–600 | 600+ |
| Bowling average | 25–30 | 18–25 | <18 |
| Season wickets | 15–25 | 25–40 | 40+ |
| Economy (40–50 ov) | 4.5–5.5 | 3.5–4.5 | <3.5 |
The traps: reading club stats honestly
- Small samples lie. Three innings tell you almost nothing. Judge seasons, not fortnights — and judge careers over multiple seasons where you can.
- Not-outs inflate averages. Compare finishers on runs and strike rate, not average alone.
- Averages hide opposition strength. Runs against the league leaders are worth more than runs in a friendly — filter by competition when it matters.
- Declaration and cup formats skew bowling figures. A bowler used in death overs will have a worse economy than one who bowls up top with the field in.
These traps matter most when the numbers drive decisions — see How to Use Stats for Team Selection in Club Cricket for how selection committees can use stats without being misled by them.
Where to find these stats for your club
If your club plays league cricket in England or Wales, all the raw numbers live on your club's Play-Cricket site — our Play-Cricket stats guide walks through finding and filtering them. For multi-season records, leaderboards and milestones in one shareable link, that's exactly what a ClubStats dashboard does.
Frequently asked questions
How is a batting average calculated in cricket?
Batting average = total runs scored ÷ number of times dismissed. Not-out innings count towards runs but not dismissals, which is why a batter with lots of not-outs can carry a high average. A club batter averaging 25+ over a season is having a good year; 35+ usually wins the batting cup.
What is a good bowling economy rate in club cricket?
Economy = runs conceded ÷ overs bowled. In 40–50 over league cricket, under 3.5 an over is excellent, around 4–4.5 is solid, and above 5.5 is expensive. In T20 those numbers shift up by roughly 1.5–2 runs per over.
What does strike rate mean for batters and bowlers?
They're different stats sharing a name. Batting strike rate = runs per 100 balls faced (higher is faster scoring). Bowling strike rate = balls bowled per wicket taken (lower means you strike more often).
Why is a not-out innings not counted as a dismissal?
A batting average measures runs per dismissal, and if you weren't out, there is no dismissal to count. The innings and runs still count. This convention flatters lower-order batters who are frequently not out — worth remembering when comparing averages at the club awards night.
Want your club's stats in one shareable link?
ClubStats turns your Play-Cricket statistics into a beautiful dashboard — batting and bowling leaderboards, milestones and multi-season records, refreshed every week. Live in 48 hours, from £125.