Bowling Economy Rate Calculator
Calculate runs conceded per over — T20, ODI & Test
Use the runs and overs from one bowler's scorecard row to find their average runs conceded per six-ball over. An unfinished over counts too. Enter the runs already charged to the bowler; this tool does not work out extras from a ball-by-ball record.
Copy runs conceded from the bowling analysis, not the team total.
8.3 means eight overs and three balls. Use a digit from 0 to 5 after the dot.
Economy is rounded to two decimal places. The decimal-overs display is rounded separately; the calculation uses the full conversion. Rating labels use fixed thresholds and do not assess the match situation.
Enter the runs charged to the bowler, including wides and no-ball penalties but excluding byes and leg-byes.
Enter cricket overs notation: 8.3 means eight complete overs and three legal balls.
Click Calculate Economy to see runs per over, the converted overs and runs per ball. Reset clears both inputs.
Formula: Runs Conceded ÷ Decimal Overs Bowled
Example: 42 runs in 8.3 overs = 4.94 runs per over
Start with the bowling figures, then count the balls
A bowling row headed O–M–R–W gives overs, maidens, runs and wickets. For figures of 8.3–1–42–2, enter 42 runs and 8.3 overs. You do not subtract the maiden or divide by the two wickets. Those figures answer different questions about the spell.
Economy rate = runs conceded × 6 ÷ legal balls bowled
Work through 42 runs in 8.3 overs
- Eight complete overs contain 48 balls. Add the three remaining balls to get 51.
- Divide 42 × 6 by 51: 4.941176… .
- Round at the end: 4.94 runs per over.
You can also convert the overs first: 8 + 3 ÷ 6 = 8.5 decimal overs, then 42 ÷ 8.5. Dividing directly by 8.3 gives 5.06, because ordinary decimal notation treats the part after the dot as tenths.
The input expects the scorecard version, 8.3. The result labels the conversion as Decimal Overs, alongside the exact ball count. Do not feed a rounded decimal result back into the overs field.
A spell need not contain a completed over. Four runs from two legal balls is 4 × 6 ÷ 2 = 12.00. Enter 0.2 for the overs. That rate describes the brief passage so far; it does not predict the cost of the next four balls.
Why the team can add more runs than the bowler concedes
The easiest input is the runs-conceded entry in the bowling analysis. When checking it against a scorebook, keep runs charged to the bowler separate from the other extras.
| Where the runs came from | Team runs added | Bowler charged |
|---|---|---|
| Off the bat | 19 | 19 |
| Wide runs | 3 | 3 |
| No-ball penalties | 2 | 2 |
| Byes | 4 | 0 |
| Leg-byes | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 29 | 24 |
The correct entry is 24 in 4.0 overs, giving 6.00. Using the full 29 would give 7.25 and charge the bowler for five runs that belong outside their figures. The 19 off the bat already includes any batting runs made from no-balls; do not add them twice.
A no-ball struck for four usually adds five against the bowler: four batting runs and the one-run no-ball penalty. Byes or leg-byes from a no-ball remain separate. Wides and no-balls add no legal ball to the over.
Separate five-run penalty awards, such as a helmet penalty, are not charged to the bowler. Do not confuse those with wide and no-ball penalties. For unusual incidents, use the scorer’s recorded bowling figures and the competition rules.
The NSWCUSA scoring manual explains how extras are recorded. The calculator does the division after you supply the correct run total.
A dot ball, a wide and a single: what changes?
A bowler has conceded 18 after 2.4 overs, or 16 legal balls. The next delivery is a dot, followed by a wide with no running, then a legal delivery hit for a single. Here is how the cumulative economy changes.
| Position | Runs conceded | Overs input | Legal balls | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting figures | 18 | 2.4 | 16 | 6.75 |
| After the dot | 18 | 2.5 | 17 | 6.35 |
| After the wide | 19 | 2.5 | 17 | 6.71 |
| After the single | 20 | 3.0 | 18 | 6.67 |
The wide raises the rate without increasing its denominator. The single then adds both a run and a legal ball. Even though another run was conceded, the rate falls slightly because that delivery cost less than the preceding average per ball.
Check the whole spell, not only the last over
Suppose four completed overs cost 2, 3, 4 and 9 runs. The spell finishes at 18 from four, or 4.50. The last over cost 9, while the first three averaged 3.00. All three numbers are useful, but they describe different periods. A single final economy cannot show when the runs came.
Set a simple target for the next over
At 26 runs from three overs, finishing four overs at an economy of 8.00 means a maximum total of 32 runs. That leaves six runs for the next over, including bowler extras. This is a way to check the arithmetic of a target, not a recommendation about which delivery to bowl.
For several spells, add balls instead of averaging rates
When reviewing two matches or two spells, combine the runs conceded and legal balls first. Taking the average of the displayed economies gives each spell equal weight even when one was longer.
| Match | Runs conceded | Overs input | Legal balls | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | 12 | 2.2 | 14 | 5.14 |
| Second | 25 | 3.4 | 22 | 6.82 |
| Combined | 37 | 6.0 | 36 | 6.17 |
Fourteen plus 22 is 36 balls, so the combined entry is 37 runs and 6.0 overs. The rate is 37 × 6 ÷ 36 = 6.166666… , rounded to 6.17. Averaging 5.14 and 6.82 gives 5.98, which is not the combined economy.
Notice the over addition too: 2.2 plus 3.4 becomes 6.0, not 5.6. The two spare balls and four spare balls complete another over. The overs-to-balls converter can help you check each entry before adding it.
Use the same group of matches for both totals, and keep different formats separate when you want a fair comparison. If one match has runs recorded but no reliable overs figure, leave that match out of both totals until the missing figure can be checked.
Economy is one part of a bowling performance
Two bowlers can both finish four overs for 28 and have an economy of 7.00. One may have taken three wickets and the other none. The economy calculation cannot tell those performances apart.
Keep the three bowling rates distinct
- Economy: runs per over. For 3/28 from four overs, 28 ÷ 4 = 7.00.
- Bowling average: runs per wicket credited to the bowler. Here, 28 ÷ 3 = 9.33.
- Bowling strike rate: legal balls per wicket credited to the bowler. Here, 24 ÷ 3 = 8.00.
With no wickets, the last two rates have no finite value for that spell, but economy still works. This page calculates economy and runs per ball; it does not have a wickets input.
Judge the number against the job
Bowling at the end of a T20 innings, defending a small ODI total and building pressure in a Test ask different things of a bowler. Look at the phase, pitch, field restrictions and opposition. Lower economy means fewer runs conceded per over, but a low rate alone does not establish who bowled better.
The labels in the result are fixed ranges used by this tool. They do not adjust to those conditions. For example, “Average” is a label attached to a number, not a measured average for your league. Compare relevant scorecards before using it to assess a player.
For a team’s scoring pace, including all team extras, use the run-rate calculator. It answers a different question from an individual bowler’s economy.
If the result does not match your scorecard
Check the bowling runs, then the over notation. These are the first things to revisit when the calculation looks unexpected.
Why is 5.6 rejected as an overs entry?
After five overs and five balls comes six complete overs, written as 6.0. The digit after the dot counts remaining balls, so it must be 0 to 5. If you mean five and a half overs, enter 5.3 rather than 5.5.
Can economy be calculated before a legal ball is bowled?
No. With zero legal balls, the denominator is zero and economy is undefined. This is still true if wides or no-balls have already added runs. The calculator requires overs greater than zero; after one legal ball, use 0.1.
Is zero economy a valid result?
Yes. Zero runs conceded over any positive number of legal balls gives 0.00. The runs input can be zero. This does not necessarily mean the team added no runs, because byes and leg-byes are outside the bowler’s conceded runs.
Should I subtract maiden overs before dividing?
No. Maidens are part of the overs bowled. A spell of six overs with two maidens and 18 runs has economy 18 ÷ 6 = 3.00. Dividing by only the four non-maiden overs would overstate it.
Does the calculator automatically remove byes and leg-byes?
No. There is no separate extras input. Copy the runs already charged to the bowler in the scorecard, or separate the extras yourself before entering the total.
Why does the result show different overs from my input?
The input uses overs-and-balls notation; the result’s Decimal Overs line shows the conversion rounded to one decimal place. For 1.1, the result shows 1.2 alongside seven balls. The calculation uses the full 7 ÷ 6 overs, not the rounded 1.2.
Can I enter the batter’s balls faced instead of bowling overs?
No. Use the bowler’s legal-delivery count converted to overs. A batter’s balls faced can include no-balls and can cover several bowlers. It is a different statistic from one bowler’s overs.
Does a shortened match use the original bowling allocation?
No. Individual economy uses the overs the bowler actually delivered. If rain ends a spell after 2.1 overs, use 2.1, not the four or ten overs they might otherwise have bowled. Tournament net run rate has separate rules and is not calculated here.
Sources, assumptions and corrections
Published by CricketCals. The spells on this page are fictional examples with the inputs shown so you can repeat the calculation. All over conversions assume six legal balls per over. Economy is displayed to two decimal places; runs per ball uses three.
- MCC’s Laws of Cricket: Laws 17, 18, 21, 22 and 23 cover overs, run attribution and extras.
- NSWCUSA: Cricket Scoring — The Basics and Beyond: practical guidance for recording extras and balancing a scorebook.
The six-ball assumption is not suitable for a historical eight-ball over or a five-ball set treated as one over. Use the relevant competition’s scoring convention. For a discrepancy, send the runs, overs, result and source scorecard so the example can be checked.
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