Jason Behrendorff has taken 205 wickets in 170 T20 matches in the CricMind database, at an average of 22.27 and an economy rate of 7.57. Add the 16 wickets from his 12 One-Day Internationals for Australia and the left-arm seamer's recorded career reaches 221 wickets. Most of them came early in an innings, with the new ball swinging into right-handers or away from left-handers, which made him one of the most sought-after powerplay bowlers on the franchise circuit.
His record covers seven teams: Australia, Mumbai Indians, Perth Scorchers, Melbourne Renegades, Pretoria Capitals, Sussex and Middlesex. That spread tells the story of a specialist: a bowler hired for one job, the first six overs, in four countries.
Career at a glance
| Format | Mat | Runs | Bat Avg | Bat SR | HS | 100s | Wkts | Bowl Avg | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI | 12 | 21 | 7.00 | 91.3 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 35.50 | 5.28 |
| T20 | 170 | 165 | 12.69 | 103.8 | 26 | 0 | 205 | 22.27 | 7.57 |
| Total | 182 | 186 | — | — | 26 | 0 | 221 | — | — |
The T20 row combines his Twenty20 internationals with every franchise and county T20 game in the ball-by-ball archive. The ODI row is Australia only.
Where Behrendorff stands in the game
A haul of 205 T20 wickets puts Behrendorff in a well-established bracket of fast bowlers who have carried a new ball for a decade. What separates him from many in that bracket is the shape of the numbers rather than their size.
He has bowled 3,621 balls in T20 cricket, about 21 per match, so he usually bowled close to his full four overs. He took a wicket every 17.7 balls. In a format where an innings lasts 120 balls, a strike rate under 18 means a wicket roughly every three overs he bowled. For a bowler who did most of his work while the fielding restrictions were on and the batters were at their most aggressive, that is a strong return.
His average of 22.27 compares well with most specialist T20 seamers. Bowlers who regularly operate at the death tend to average higher, because they bowl to set batters swinging at everything. Powerplay bowlers face a different trade-off: there are wickets on offer against openers playing across the line, but with only two fielders outside the ring any width disappears for four. Behrendorff's figures suggest he won that trade-off more often than he lost it.
Format by format
T20: the core of the career
Everything that defines Behrendorff sits in the T20 row. He took 1.21 wickets per match across 170 games, a steady return that kept him in demand across leagues. His economy of 7.57 is the number that matters most for a new-ball bowler. Conceding just over seven and a half an over across a decade of T20 cricket, much of it in the most expensive phase of the innings, is how a seamer keeps his place in a side.
The left-arm angle was central. A left-arm seamer swinging the ball into right-handed openers brings lbw and bowled into play, and moving it away from them brings the edge into play. Captains at Mumbai Indians and in the Big Bash League used that angle to open the bowling and attack, not merely to contain.
His teams also show how the market valued him. Franchise sides pick overseas bowlers sparingly, because each team has only a few overseas slots. Earning those slots at Mumbai Indians and Pretoria Capitals, and county contracts at Sussex and Middlesex, required a clear and repeatable skill. For Behrendorff that skill was early wickets.
ODI: a short international chapter
Behrendorff played 12 ODIs for Australia and took 16 wickets. That is 1.33 wickets per match, slightly better than his T20 rate. His one-day economy of 5.28 shows the control he offered across a longer spell. His average of 35.50 and strike rate of a wicket every 40.3 balls are more ordinary, and reflect how hard it is for a new-ball bowler in the 50-over game once the ball stops swinging.
He bowled 645 deliveries in those 12 matches, almost exactly nine overs per game. Australia used him as a front-line bowler when he played, not as a part-timer. The full context of the format is on the ODI hub.
Batting: a tail-ender's record
Behrendorff was never selected for his batting. His 186 recorded runs came in 41 innings across both formats, with a top score of 26 in T20 cricket and 11 in ODIs. His T20 strike rate of 103.8 shows he swung when he did get a few balls at the end of an innings: six sixes and seven fours in 159 balls faced. In 35 T20 innings he was dismissed only 13 times, which says more about how often he walked out to face the last ball or two than about his defence.
What the numbers show
Taken together, the figures describe a precise kind of cricketer:
- A volume wicket-taker in T20. Two hundred and five wickets is a career's work, and he kept taking them at better than one per match across 170 games.
- A strike bowler, not a container. A wicket every 17.7 balls is attacking bowling. His economy was solid, but sides picked him for wickets.
- A travelling specialist. Seven teams in four countries means his skill worked in very different conditions: pace and bounce in Perth, slower surfaces in India, English county grounds and the South African highveld.
- A shorter-form bowler first. His ODI economy is excellent but his one-day strike rate is ordinary. His strength is clearly the 20-over game.
For comparison with the all-time leaders, see the all-time records hub, which ranks the leading wicket-takers across formats, and the T20I hub for international T20 cricket.
Why left-arm new-ball bowlers are prized
Left-arm seamers are rarer than right-armers in every country, and that rarity is worth something. Batters face right-arm pace far more often and are more used to its angles. A left-armer who can swing the new ball creates a different line into the pads and a different channel outside off stump, which is why franchise analysts look for them.
Behrendorff fits that profile. The angle gets a bowler noticed. A 7.57 economy over 3,621 balls is what keeps him in a team for ten years.
FAQ
How many T20 wickets has Jason Behrendorff taken?
In the CricMind database, Jason Behrendorff has taken 205 wickets in 170 T20 matches, at an average of 22.27 and an economy rate of 7.57. This includes his T20 internationals for Australia and his franchise and county T20 cricket.
What is Jason Behrendorff's ODI record?
He played 12 ODIs for Australia and took 16 wickets at an average of 35.50 and an economy rate of 5.28. He bowled 645 balls, almost nine overs per match.
Which teams has Jason Behrendorff played for?
His recorded career covers Australia, Mumbai Indians, Perth Scorchers, Melbourne Renegades, Pretoria Capitals, Sussex and Middlesex.
What is Jason Behrendorff's highest score?
His highest recorded score is 26 in T20 cricket. In ODIs his best is 11. He is a specialist bowler, and his 186 career runs came at a T20 strike rate of 103.8.
Full career figures are on the Jason Behrendorff player page.