For example two batsmen have 10 off 10. One has hit two 4's, two singles and faced out 6 dot balls. He would have an activity rate of 0.25 because he hit 2 runs off the 8 balls that he didn't hit a boundary off. The second batsman hit one 4, two 2's and two singles. He would have an activity rate of 0.67 because he hit 6 runs off 9 balls that didn't go to the fence.
Here are the batsmen with the highest activity rates:
Test Matches (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)
| Player | Matches | Boundary runs | Run runs | Activity Rate |
| MJ Prior (Eng) | 8 | 234 | 285 | 0.544 |
| GP Swann (Eng) | 8 | 46 | 49 | 0.516 |
| SCJ Broad (Eng) | 7 | 140 | 99 | 0.452 |
| DL Vettori (NZ) | 4 | 120 | 178 | 0.401 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (Ban) | 5 | 208 | 243 | 0.395 |
| DA Warner (Aus) | 3 | 94 | 101 | 0.388 |
| BRM Taylor (Zim) | 3 | 154 | 204 | 0.370 |
| V Sehwag (India) | 7 | 230 | 154 | 0.364 |
| GC Smith (SA) | 5 | 156 | 166 | 0.360 |
| R Ashwin (India) | 4 | 110 | 72 | 0.348 |
| HMRKB Herath (SL) | 10 | 140 | 154 | 0.347 |
| IR Bell (Eng) | 8 | 478 | 472 | 0.346 |
It's interesting to note the prevalence of spin bowlers in the list. Swann, Vettori, Shakib, Ashwin and Herath as specialist spinners and Warner, Sehwag and Smith as part timers. As a spinner (although not in their class) I normally liked it when batsmen tried to hit boundaries off me (particularly 6's) as it gave me a chance to get them out. I didn't like them milking singles off me (unless it was a really good batsman, in which case I didn't mind them being at the other end). If this is common among other (better) spinners, then this possibly translates into why they are so keen on running.
One Day Internationals (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)
| Player | Matches | Boundary runs | Run runs | Activity Rate |
| JP Duminy (SA) | 15 | 152 | 411 | 0.688 |
| Shahid Afridi (Pak) | 27 | 250 | 212 | 0.688 |
| KS Williamson (NZ) | 9 | 100 | 170 | 0.669 |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 10 | 208 | 259 | 0.652 |
| MN Waller (Zim) | 7 | 120 | 125 | 0.622 |
| MG Johnson (Aus) | 22 | 100 | 108 | 0.621 |
| EJG Morgan (Eng) | 16 | 176 | 267 | 0.611 |
| DA Miller (SA) | 5 | 48 | 69 | 0.611 |
| MEK Hussey (Aus) | 16 | 142 | 272 | 0.606 |
| SK Raina (India) | 29 | 332 | 390 | 0.601 |
| F du Plessis (SA) | 13 | 98 | 190 | 0.59 |
| IJL Trott (Eng) | 29 | 408 | 907 | 0.588 |
| R Dravid (India) | 5 | 36 | 88 | 0.583 |
| IR Bell (Eng) | 25 | 180 | 432 | 0.581 |
| SPD Smith (Aus) | 20 | 70 | 134 | 0.580 |
Again a number of spinners at the top of the list, with Swann, Botha and Ashwin all being in the unfiltered top 15, but missing out on not having a high enough average. This time the spinners and part timers at the top are Duminy, Shahid, Williamson and Waller.
Twenty20 Internationals (min 60 balls faced)
| Player | Matches | Boundary runs | Run runs | Activity Rate |
| Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) | 5 | 26 | 58 | 0.879 |
| KC Sangakkara (SL) | 4 | 46 | 60 | 0.800 |
| Umar Akmal (Pak) | 5 | 44 | 67 | 0.761 |
| TM Dilshan (SL) | 3 | 94 | 42 | 0.737 |
| SPD Smith (Aus) | 6 | 12 | 57 | 0.722 |
| LD Chandimal (SL) | 3 | 40 | 40 | 0.714 |
| CL White (Aus) | 6 | 58 | 61 | 0.709 |
| RG Sharma (India) | 3 | 44 | 36 | 0.706 |
| BB McCullum (NZ) | 2 | 100 | 45 | 0.703 |
| MJ Guptill (NZ) | 2 | 60 | 47 | 0.681 |
| Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) | 5 | 86 | 77 | 0.664 |
There are not many t20 internationals, so there were a much smaller number of players face 100 deliveries. Misbah-ul-Haq is an interesting person to be at the top of the list, as he is not someone that I think of as being quick between the wickets. Likewise Sangakkara. Although both of them have made a test career out of eeking out runs and managing to release pressure. In the t20 game they have obviously found ways of doing this faster. Players like this are actually remarkably useful.
The Block-Bash players:
At the other end of the spectrum are the players who specialise in blocking the good balls and cashing in on the bad ones. These players don't see a lot of value in singles, and prefer to get their runs in multiples of 4 or 6.
Test Matches (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)
| Player | Matches | Boundary runs | Run runs | Activity Rate |
| Nazimuddin (Ban) | 2 | 76 | 45 | 0.153 |
| MJ Guptill (NZ) | 5 | 182 | 134 | 0.172 |
| Naeem Islam (Ban) | 2 | 38 | 46 | 0.174 |
| Yuvraj Singh (India) | 3 | 92 | 44 | 0.184 |
| TMK Mawoyo (Zim) | 3 | 156 | 154 | 0.190 |
| BJ Watling (NZ) | 1 | 20 | 22 | 0.195 |
| Asad Shafiq (Pak) | 9 | 208 | 201 | 0.197 |
| SR Watson (Aus) | 6 | 184 | 81 | 0.198 |
| Tanvir Ahmed (Pak) | 3 | 60 | 26 | 0.203 |
| JL Pattinson (Aus) | 3 | 44 | 44 | 0.206 |
| Nasir Hossain (Ban) | 4 | 122 | 87 | 0.208 |
| CR Ervine (Zim) | 2 | 56 | 40 | 0.211 |
| NT Paranavitana (SL) | 11 | 246 | 334 | 0.212 |
A surprising member of this list is Martin Guptill, in that he is probably the quickest between the wickets in world cricket. If he was to ever bat with Inzamam-Ul-Haq he could be turning for the third before Inzy was even thinking about the second. But he has tended to get bogged down in test matches recently, and he really needs to add an extra quick single finding shot.
One Day Internationals (min 100 balls faced, average of 20)
| Player | Matches | Boundary runs | Run runs | Activity Rate |
| W Barresi (Neth) | 10 | 126 | 123 | 0.339 |
| R Rampaul (WI) | 15 | 84 | 46 | 0.341 |
| TM Odoyo (Kenya) | 5 | 56 | 46 | 0.354 |
| Ahmed Shehzad (Pak) | 15 | 208 | 163 | 0.357 |
| Imrul Kayes (Ban) | 18 | 206 | 215 | 0.358 |
| S Randiv (SL) | 7 | 50 | 33 | 0.359 |
| Shahriar Nafees (Ban) | 11 | 96 | 129 | 0.365 |
| AS Hansra (Can) | 10 | 116 | 176 | 0.367 |
| CH Gayle (WI) | 8 | 132 | 70 | 0.368 |
| BJ Haddin (Aus) | 24 | 350 | 284 | 0.377 |
| Usman Limbada (Can) | 4 | 50 | 51 | 0.378 |
| CO Obuya (Kenya) | 8 | 138 | 166 | 0.384 |
| V Sibanda (Zim) | 13 | 262 | 216 | 0.385 |
| Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) | 32 | 578 | 497 | 0.391 |
Both of the West Indians in this list, Gayle and Rampaul, score their runs at a strike rate over 80, and yet are poor at taking singles. To be fair, when Chris Gayle is on strike, it's probably better for him to see as much ball as possible, so a quick single is often not as good an idea as blocking one and hitting the next ball for 6.
Twenty20 Internationals (min 60 balls faced)
| Player | Matches | Boundary runs | Run runs | Activity Rate |
| J Charles (WI) | 2 | 28 | 29 | 0.475 |
| DM Bravo (WI) | 3 | 54 | 36 | 0.529 |
| AD Hales (Eng) | 4 | 38 | 37 | 0.536 |
| SR Watson (Aus) | 5 | 150 | 45 | 0.549 |
| DA Warner (Aus) | 6 | 76 | 53 | 0.558 |
| SK Raina (India) | 4 | 80 | 35 | 0.574 |
| CJ Chibhabha (Zim) | 4 | 70 | 42 | 0.583 |
| DJ Hussey (Aus) | 6 | 28 | 53 | 0.596 |
| EJG Morgan (Eng) | 4 | 98 | 55 | 0.604 |
| LMP Simmons (WI) | 3 | 58 | 39 | 0.609 |
| Asad Shafiq (Pak) | 5 | 68 | 56 | 0.629 |
The name that surprised me this time was David Hussey. He seems like a busy player who is always looking for runs. On closer inspection, he was still scoring a large proportion of his runs in singles, but was generally having a bad run. Still some of his knocks were vital. His 25 off 27, with an activity rate of 0.6 actually carried Australia home for a win.
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