Match maths
Bowling Strike Rate Calculator
Balls bowled per wicket, the measure of how quickly a bowler breaks through.
Overs and balls, so 34.4 means 34 overs and 4 balls.
Bowling strike rate
19.00
balls per wicket
Balls bowled
57
Wickets
3
Overs per wicket
3.17
Beyond the calculator
Crickslab works these numbers out ball by ball while the match is on, so nobody is doing arithmetic in the scorebook.
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How this was worked out
- 1Convert overs to balls9.3 overs = 57 balls
- 2Divide balls by wickets57 / 3 = 19.00
How the number is worked out
The formula
Bowling strike rate = balls bowled / wickets taken- balls bowled
- Legal deliveries. Wides and no balls are re-bowled, so they do not count.
- wickets taken
- Wickets credited to the bowler.
Lower is better. It is the number of balls it takes, on average, to take a wicket.
A worked example: a wicket taking spell
A bowler takes 3 for 44 from 9.3 overs.
- 1Convert overs to balls9 overs and 3 balls = 57 balls
- 2Divide balls by wickets57 / 3 = 19.00 balls per wicket
A strike rate of 19.00, which is roughly a wicket every three overs. In one day cricket that is a genuine wicket taking spell.
Rules and edge cases
The situations that change the answer, and the ones most calculators get wrong.
Wides and no balls do not count as balls bowled
They are not legal deliveries and have to be bowled again, so they never appear in the denominator. They do count against economy, which is why a bowler who sprays them looks worse on economy than on strike rate.
Strike rate and economy often disagree
An attacking bowler who buys wickets can have an excellent strike rate and a poor economy. A containing bowler can have the reverse. Neither number is the truth on its own, and a captain usually needs both to pick the right bowler for the situation.
No wickets means no strike rate
With no wickets there is nothing to divide by. The figure is undefined rather than very large.
Format changes what good looks like
A strike rate of 30 is fine in Twenty20, where a bowler only gets 24 balls, and is unremarkable in multi day cricket, where there is time to work a batter out. Read it against the format rather than against a universal number.
Frequently asked questions
Divide the balls bowled by the wickets taken. Convert overs to balls first, so 9.3 overs is 57 balls.
For players and coaches
See where the wickets actually come from
Crickslab records every ball, so a bowler's strike rate can be read by phase, by batter type and by ground rather than as a single career number.
See player profilesLast reviewed 17 August 2026. Playing conditions change, so if your competition uses a different rule, its regulations take precedence over anything here.