<P> Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batsmen in cricket and batters in baseball . The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic . </P> <P> In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out . Since the number of runs a player scores and how often they get out are primarily measures of their own playing ability, and largely independent of their teammates, batting average is a good metric for an individual player's skill as a batsman . The number is also simple to interpret intuitively . If all the batsman's innings were completed (i.e. they were out every innings), this is the average number of runs they score per innings . If they did not complete all their innings (i.e. some innings they finished not out), this number is an estimate of the unknown average number of runs they score per innings . Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players' relative skills since the 18th century . </P> <P> Most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40 . This is also the desirable range for wicket - keepers, though some fall short and make up for it with keeping skill . Until a substantial increase in scores in the 21st century due to improved bats and smaller grounds among other factors, players who sustained an average above 50 through a career were considered exceptional, and before the development of the heavy roller in the 1870s (which allowed for a flatter, safer cricket pitch) an average of 25 was considered very good . </P> <Ul> <Li> All - rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30 . </Li> <Li> 15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers . </Li> <Li> A small number of players have averaged less than 5 for a complete career, though a player with such an average is a liability unless an exceptional bowler as Alf Valentine or B.S. Chandrasekhar were . </Li> </Ul>

Who had the best batting average in 2016