Jimmy Neesham’s average of 277.00: Highest average achieved by a New Zealand batsman
Neesham achieves highest average by a Kiwis batsman

Jimmy Neesham, during his century knock against West Indies reached an average of 277.00 before he was dismissed. His average is the highest achieved by a New Zealand batsman. Bharath Seervi provides a statistical analysis on highest averages achieved in Test cricket.
Having scored back-to-back centuries in his first two Tests, Jimmy Neesham has written his name into record books by reaching an average of 277.00 in his career. Neesham had scored 33 and 137 not out in his debut Test against India at Wellington in February earlier this year.
Thus he averaged 170.00 before his second Test which was against West Indies at Kingston. Batting at No 6, he added another 107 runs to his tally before being dismissed. Hence his average reached 277.00 before he walked back to the pavilion.
Neesham’s batting average of 277.00 is the highest achieved by any New Zealand batsman at any point in Test career. He overcame Hamish Marshall, who was averaging 255.00 before he was dismissed in the first inning of his third Test. The table below lists the highest batting averages achieved by the Kiwi batsmen.
Highest batting average achieved by any New Zealand batsman:
Batsman | Avg | Scores | Period |
Jimmy Neesham | 277 | 33, 137*, 107 | 2014 |
Hamish Marshall | 255 | 40*, 69, 146 | 2000-2005 |
Mathew Sinclair | 222 | 214, 8 | 1999-2000 |
Hamish Rutherford | 194 | 171, 23 | 2013 |
Tim McIntosh | 194 | 34, 24*, 136 | 2008 |
The batting average achieved by Neesham is the ninth highest average achieved by any player in a Test career. The highest average achieved by a player in his Test career is 336 by Lawrence Rowe who had scored 214, 100 not out and 22 runs in his first three Test innings. There are four others who managed to pull up their average above 300. Below is the table listing the highest averages in Test career.
Highest batting average achieved by a player in Test career:
Batsman | Team | Avg | Scores | Period |
Lawrence Rowe | West Indies | 336 | 214, 100*, 22 | 1972 |
David Lloyd | England | 308 | 46, 214*, 48 | 1974 |
Tip Foster | England | 306 | 287, 19 | 1903 |
Jacques Rudolph | South Africa | 303 | 222*, 71 | 2003 |
Ian Bell | England | 303 | 70, 65*, 162*, 6 | 2004 |
Rohit Sharma | India | 302 | 177, 111*, 14 | 2013 |
Frank Worrell | West Indies | 294 | 97, 28*, 131*, 38 | 1948 |
Faf du Plessis | South Africa | 293 | 78, 110*, 78*, 27 | 2012 |
Jimmy Neesham | New Zealand | 277 | 33, 137*, 107 | 2014 |
Yasir Hameed | Pakistan | 275 | 170, 105 | 2003 |
With Neesham setting up a new record for New Zealand, below is the list of highest averages achieved by a batsman for each Test team.
Highest averaged achieved by batsmen for each Test team:
Batsman | Team | Avg | Scores | Period |
Shaun Marsh | Australia | 222 | 141, 81 | 2011 |
Aminul Islam | Bangladesh | 151 | 145, 6 | 2000 |
David Lloyd | England | 308 | 46, 214*, 48 | 1974 |
Rohit Sharma | India | 302 | 177, 111*, 14 | 2013 |
Jimmy Neesham | New Zealand | 277 | 33, 137*, 107 | 2014 |
Yasir Hameed | Pakistan | 275 | 170, 105 | 2003 |
Brendan Kuruppu | Sri Lanka | 223 | 201*, 19, 3 | 1987-1988 |
Jacques Rudolph | South Africa | 303 | 222*, 71 | 2003 |
Lawrence Rowe | West Indies | 336 | 214, 100*, 22 | 1972 |
Dave Houghton | Zimbabwe | 198 | 121, 41*, 36 | 1992 |
(Bharath Seervi is cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)