Ollie Robinson overtakes Jasprit Bumrah for best bowling average in 112 years of Test cricket

English pacer Ollie Robinson now holds the best bowling average among all bowlers with a minimum of 20 Tests across the last 112 years of Test cricket, moving past India's Jasprit Bumrah with a four-wicket burst in Pakistan's second innings at Lord's on August 30, 2026.

Robinson's career figures stand at 19.53 from 23 Tests, 43 innings and 99 wickets, with best figures of 5/39. Bumrah's previous benchmark was 19.79, accumulated across 52 Tests and 234 wickets with best figures of 6/27. Robinson has surpassed that mark having played fewer than half the number of Tests.

At Lord's, Robinson returned with impressive figures of 4/24 in Pakistan's second innings, bringing his match haul to 8/35. His spell dismantled a 97-run partnership between Saud Shakeel and Shan Masood that had given Pakistan genuine hope of a comeback. Masood, who contributed 26 to that stand, was dismissed lbw by Robinson, and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan followed for just 1. Shakeel top-scored in the innings with 78, his second half-century of the series, but Robinson's intervention proved decisive.

How does Robinson's average compare with the all-time greats?

The 112-year qualifier places Robinson's 19.53 in a historically significant bracket. Among bowlers with at least 20 Tests, the four superior averages on record all belong to cricketers from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century: W Barnes at 15.54 from 21 Tests, SF Barnes at 16.43 from 27 Tests, R Peel at 16.98 from 20 Tests and J Briggs at 17.75 from 33 Tests. No bowler from the modern era has matched any of those figures, making Robinson's achievement the finest of the past 112 years.

Robinson is also one wicket away from reaching 100 Test wickets.

What is the match situation at Lord's?

England posted 290 in their first innings, and Pakistan were dismissed for 110 in reply, conceding a first-innings deficit of 180 runs. England then declared or were bowled out for 208 in their second innings, setting Pakistan a target of 389 to win.

Pakistan's second innings stood at 140/5 at tea on day four, with the visitors requiring 253 more runs. Robinson's four-wicket burst had reduced Pakistan from a position of recovery to one of considerable difficulty.