View source for Not out

{{Short description|In cricket, a batter who is not dismissed}}
{{CSS image crop|Image=Lords Test Match, England v NZ Score Board.jpg |bSize=450 |cWidth=300 |cHeight=210 |oTop=60 |oLeft=40 |Location=right |Description=The scoreboard at [[Lord's]] during the Test match between England and New Zealand in 2013, showing [[Trent Boult]] as the Not Out batsman at the end of New Zealand's second innings.}}
In [[cricket]], a batsman is '''not out''' if they come out to bat in an [[innings]] and have not been [[dismissal (cricket)|dismissed]] by the [[end of an innings]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Complete Guide To Understanding Cricket|url=https://deadspin.com/the-complete-guide-to-understanding-cricket-1788456326|access-date=2020-09-10|website=Deadspin|date=2 November 2016 |language=en-us}}</ref> The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.

==Occurrence==
At least one batter is not out at the end of every innings, because once ten batters are out, the eleventh has no partner to bat on with, so the innings ends. Usually, two batters finish not out if the batting side [[declaration (cricket)|declares]] in [[first-class cricket]], and often at the end of the scheduled number of overs in [[limited overs cricket]].  

Batters further down the [[batting order (cricket)|batting order]] than the not out batters do not come out to the crease at all and are noted as ''did not bat'' rather than ''not out'';<ref>{{Cite web|title=Full Scorecard of England vs Australia 3rd T20I 2020 - Score Report {{!}} ESPNcricinfo.com|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19496/scorecard/1198237/england-vs-australia-3rd-t20i-england-v-australia-2020|access-date=2020-09-10|website=www.espncricinfo.com|language=en}}</ref> by contrast, a batter who comes to the crease but faces no balls is ''not out''.  A batter who ''retires hurt'' is considered not out; an uninjured batter who retires (rare) is considered ''[[retired out]]''.

==Notation==
In standard notation a batter's score is appended with an [[asterisk]] to show the not out final status; for example, ''10*'' means '10 not out'.

==Effect on batting averages==
[[Batting average (cricket)|Batting averages]] are personal and are calculated as runs divided by dismissals, so a player who often ends the innings not out may get an inflated batting average, on the face of it.<ref name="bbc4906060"/> Examples of this include [[MS Dhoni]] (84 not outs in [[One Day International|ODIs]]), [[Michael Bevan]] (67 not outs in [[One Day International|ODIs]]), [[James Anderson (cricketer)|James Anderson]] (101 not outs in 237 [[Test cricket|Test]] innings), and [[Bill Johnston (cricketer)|Bill Johnston]] topping the batting averages on the [[Australian cricket team in England in 1953|1953 Australian tour of England]].<ref name="bbc4906060">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/stump_bearders/4906060.stm|title=Stump the Bearded Wonder No 120|last=Frindall|first=Bill|date=13 April 2006|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=8 July 2010}}</ref>

Using the formula of runs divided by innings understates performance for the following reasons:
*If not outs were counted as dismissals a usually high-scoring batter could bat briefly. They may regularly make a low score, not out, facing a low number of balls from a [[bowler (cricket)|bowler]] and thus be penalized for factors out of their control.
*A batter will tend to be at their most vulnerable early in the innings before they have "got their eye in"; as a result, it may be a greater achievement to achieve two scores of 20 not out (i.e. averaging 40) than to make one score of 40, since in the latter instance the batter will only have had to deal with one set of variables (see [[ceteris paribus]], all things remaining approximately equal).

These counterbalancing elements have been at the heart of the rationale of keeping the existing formula (runs divided by dismissals) in the 21st century among cricket statisticians, who have used this method of collecting batting averages since the 18th century, after some intervening controversy.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Cricket statistics}}

[[Category:Cricket terminology]]
[[Category:Batting (cricket)]]
[[Category:Cricket laws and regulations]]