Match maths
Career Milestone Calculator
How many innings it takes to lift a batting average to a target, at a given scoring rate.
Innings needed
20
at 60.00 runs each
Current average
40.00
Target average
45.00
Runs to add
1200
Average after
45.00
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
- 1Solve for innings(2400 + n x 60.00) / (60 + n) = 45.00
- 2Rounded up to a whole inningsn = 20.00, so 20 innings
How the number is worked out
The formula
(runs + n x runs per innings) / (dismissals + n) = target average- n
- The number of further innings needed, solved for and rounded up.
- runs, dismissals
- The career record so far.
- runs per innings
- What you assume the batter scores from here, each time out.
The assumed scoring rate must be above the target average. If it is not, the average settles at the scoring rate and never reaches the target, however many innings are played.
A worked example: lifting an average to 45
A batter has 2400 runs from 60 dismissals, which is an average of 40.00.
Assume 60 runs an innings from here, dismissed each time.
- 1Set up the equation(2400 + 60n) / (60 + n) = 45
- 2Rearrange2400 + 60n = 2700 + 45n
- 3Solve15n = 300, so n = 20
Twenty innings at 60 apiece lifts the average from 40.00 to 45.00. The arithmetic also shows why averages move so slowly late in a career: the denominator is already large.
Rules and edge cases
The situations that change the answer, and the ones most calculators get wrong.
The scoring rate has to beat the target
Scoring 30 an innings pulls an average towards 30, whatever it started at. If the assumed rate is at or below the target, the target is unreachable and this tool says so rather than returning a large number.
Averages move slowly once a career is long
Lifting an average by five points takes twenty innings after sixty dismissals and only a handful after ten. That is the denominator at work, and it is why early career figures swing so much more than late ones.
Not outs make the real answer lower
This assumes a dismissal every innings, which is the pessimistic case. Every not out adds runs without adding to the divisor, so a batter with a few unbeaten innings gets there sooner than the figure here suggests.
This is arithmetic, not a forecast
It answers what would happen if a batter scored at a given rate. It knows nothing about form, conditions, opposition or how long a career has left.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on how long the career already is and how far above the target the batter scores. Enter the current record and an assumed scoring rate and this works it out.
For players
Your record, updated every time you play
Crickslab computes your career figures from every match rather than from a spreadsheet you have to maintain, across every club and competition you turn out for.
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.