Which cricketer has the worst Test match bowling average?

According to ESPNcricinfo, the cricketer with the worst Test match bowling average is the splendidly-named Sri Lankan Ellawalakankanamge Asoka Ranjit de Silva, thankfully listed on cricket scorecards as E.A.R. De Silva and referred to hereafter as ‘Asoka de Silva’. A right-arm, leg-spin/googly bowler by trade, Asoka de Silva had a relatively short playing career, featuring in ten Test matches between 1985 and 1991.

He made his Test debut against India at the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) Cricket Ground in August, 1985 and, although wicketless, bowled entirely respectably for match figures of 27-11-38-0. It was a similar story on his final Test appearance, against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland in March, 1991, when he finished with match figures of 54-12-128-2, although his did manage to record his career-best bowling figures of 2/67 in the first innings.

All told, Asoka de Silva bowled 2,328 deliveries in Test cricket, conceding 1,032 runs and taking eight wickets at an average of 129.0. That is not to say that he was an altogether poor or wildly inaccurate bowler; in fact, his Test match economy rate of 2.66 is positively miserly compared with many bowlers. However, he evidently had difficulties making a breakthrough, judged by his strike rate of 291.0, or the equivalent of one wicket every 48.6 overs, or over half a day’s play in a typical Test match.