Batting Records

List: Leading Run-Scorers in Test Cricket – Year by Year

This is a year by year list of Test batsmen who are the highest run scorers in Test cricket. This list covers the batters who have topped the most runs chart in every calendar year since 1877 when the inaugural Test match took place.

Charles Bannerman of Australia topped the chart in the first year of Test cricket.

YEAR BATTER TEAM MATCHES INNS RUNS HS AVG 100s/50s
1877 Charles Bannerman Australia 2 4 209 165* 69.66 1/0
1879 Alec Bannerman Australia 1 1 73 73 73.00 0/1
1880 WG Grace England 1 2 161 152 161.00 1/0
1881 Tom Horan Australia 1 2 150 124 75.00 1/0
1882 George Ulyett England 4 8 365 149 45.62 1/2
1883 Allan Steel England 3 5 218 135* 54.50 1/0
1884 Percy McDonnell Australia 4 6 366 124 61.00 2/1
1885 Arthur Shrewsbury sr England 4 7 275 105* 55.00 1/1
1886 Arthur Shrewsbury sr England 3 4 243 164 60.75 1/0
1887 Harry Moses Australia 2 4 116 33 29.00 0/0
1888 Billy Barnes England 3 4 90 62 22.50 0/1
1889 Bobby Abel England 2 3 189 120 94.50 1/0
1890 JJ Lyons Australia 2 4 122 55 30.50 0/1
1892 JJ Lyons Australia 3 6 287 134 47.83 1/1
1893 Arthur Shrewsbury sr England 3 5 284 106 71.00 1/2
1894 George Giffen Australia 2 4 277 161 69.25 1/0
1895 John Brown England 3 6 231 140 57.75 1/0
1896 Arthur Hill England 3 4 251 124 62.75 1/1
1897 KS Ranjitsinhji England 1 2 183 175 183.00 1/0
1898 Joe Darling Australia 4 6 429 178 71.50 2/0
1899 Tom Hayward England 5 7 413 137 68.83 2/1
1901 Archie MacLaren England 1 1 116 116 116.00 1/0
1902 Clem Hill Australia 12 21 1060 142 55.78 2/7
1903 Tim Foster England 1 2 306 287 153.00 1/0
1904 Victor Trumper Australia 4 8 388 113 48.50 1/3
1905 Stanley Jackson England 5 9 492 144* 70.28 2/2
1906 Gordon White South Africa 5 9 437 147 54.62 1/2
1907 CB Fry England 3 5 221 129 44.20 1/1
1908 Warwick Armstrong Australia 4 8 359 133* 51.28 1/1
1909 Warren Bardsley Australia 5 10 396 136 39.60 2/0
1910 Aubrey Faulkner South Africa 7 14 862 204 66.30 2/4
1911 Victor Trumper Australia 5 10 583 214* 72.87 2/2
1912 Jack Hobbs England 9 14 832 187 64.00 3/3
1913 Herbie Taylor South Africa 2 4 186 109 46.50 1/0
1914 Jack Hobbs England 3 6 338 97 67.60 0/3
1920 Jack Hobbs England 2 4 250 122 62.50 1/1
1921 Herbie Collins Australia 9 14 730 203 56.15 2/2
1922 Herbie Taylor South Africa 1 2 197 176 98.50 1/0
1923 Jack Russell England 4 7 436 140 62.28 2/1
1924 Jack Hobbs England 5 7 527 211 75.28 2/2
1925 Herbert Sutcliffe England 4 7 560 176 80.00 3/1
1926 Jack Hobbs England 5 7 486 119 81.00 2/2
1927 Herbert Sutcliffe England 2 4 271 102 90.33 1/1
1928 Wally Hammond England 9 14 879 251 67.61 2/3
1929 Wally Hammond England 6 12 702 177 78.00 4/1
1930 Don Bran Australia 6 8 978 334 122.25 4/0
1931 Don Bran Australia 7 9 950 226 105.55 5/0
1932 Don Bran Australia 3 3 402 299* 402.00 2/0
1933 Wally Hammond England 8 11 934 336* 103.77 3/2
1934 Don Bran Australia 5 8 758 304 94.75 2/1
1935 Bruce Mitchell South Africa 7 14 579 164* 52.63 2/1
1936 Wally Hammond England 4 6 645 231* 161.25 3/0
1937 Don Bran Australia 3 5 690 270 138.00 3/0
1938 Wally Hammond England 6 9 666 240 74.00 2/3
1939 Len Hutton England 6 11 728 196 72.80 2/3
1946 Don Bran Australia 2 2 421 234 210.50 2/0
1947 Denis Compton England 9 15 1159 208 82.78 6/3
1948 Don Bran Australia 8 13 1025 201 113.88 5/2
1949 Len Hutton England 7 12 800 206 66.66 3/3
1950 Neil Harvey Australia 5 9 584 151* 83.42 3/2
1951 Len Hutton England 10 18 903 156* 64.50 2/6
1952 Vijay Hazare India 9 13 576 146* 52.36 1/4
1953 Neil Harvey Australia 8 15 948 205 63.20 4/3
1954 Denis Compton England 11 16 830 278 55.33 2/4
1955 Clyde Walcott West Indies 5 10 827 155 82.70 5/2
1956 Peter Richardson England 6 10 491 117 49.10 2/2
1957 Colin Cowdrey England 9 14 701 154 50.07 3/4
1958 Garry Sobers West Indies 8 13 1299 365* 144.33 6/3
1959 Colin McDonald Australia 8 13 671 170 61.00 2/2
1960 Garry Sobers West Indies 7 12 864 226 78.54 4/1
1961 Ken Barrington England 10 18 1035 172 73.92 4/5
1962 Ted Dexter England 10 14 982 205 75.53 2/7
1963 Ken Barrington England 11 20 1015 132* 53.42 3/5
1964 Bobby Simpson Australia 14 26 1381 311 60.04 3/7
1965 Ken Barrington England 10 16 895 163 59.66 2/6
1966 Garry Sobers West Indies 7 11 895 174 99.44 3/5
1967 Ken Barrington England 6 10 750 148 93.75 3/3
1968 John Edrich England 10 17 894 164 52.58 2/5
1969 Doug Walters Australia 8 13 909 242 75.75 5/3
1970 Ian Redpath Australia 6 12 530 171 58.88 1/3
1971 Sunil Gavaskar India 7 14 918 220 83.45 4/5
1972 Glenn Turner New Zealand 5 8 672 259 96.00 2/2
1973 Keith Fletcher England 12 21 1085 178 63.82 2/9
1974 Dennis Amiss England 13 22 1379 262* 68.95 5/3
1975 Ian Chappell Australia 10 18 982 192 61.37 2/7
1976 Viv Richards West Indies 11 19 1710 291 90.00 7/5
1977 Greg Chappell Australia 10 18 736 121 40.88 2/3
1978 Sunil Gavaskar India 8 14 1099 205 91.58 5/3
1979 Sunil Gavaskar India 17 26 1407 221 54.11 4/8
1980 Greg Chappell Australia 10 18 953 235 59.56 2/5
1981 Geoff Boycott England 13 26 975 137 40.62 3/4
1982 Ian Botham England 14 22 1095 208 49.77 3/6
1983 Sunil Gavaskar India 18 32 1310 236* 46.78 5/5
1984 Gordon Greenidge West Indies 15 24 1179 223 58.95 4/2
1985 Allan Border Australia 11 20 1099 196 64.64 4/2
1986 David Gower England 14 25 1059 136 44.12 2/6
1987 Dilip Vengsarkar India 9 14 875 166 87.50 4/3
1988 Viv Richards West Indies 11 17 867 146 51.00 2/6
1989 Mark Taylor Australia 11 20 1219 219 64.15 4/5
1990 Graham Gooch England 9 17 1264 333 79.00 4/5
1991 Graham Gooch England 9 17 1040 174 65.00 3/5
1992 David Boon Australia 8 16 812 135 54.13 4/1
1993 David Boon Australia 16 25 1241 164* 62.05 4/7
1994 Michael Atherton England 13 23 1136 144 49.39 4/5
1995 Brian Lara West Indies 12 20 1222 179 67.88 4/6
1996 Alec Stewart England 8 14 793 170 61.00 2/5
1997 Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka 11 19 1271 340 66.89 3/7
1998 Alec Stewart England 16 31 1222 164 43.64 2/7
1999 Sachin Tendulkar India 10 19 1088 217 68.00 5/4
2000 Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan 12 19 1090 142 60.55 4/6
2001 Matthew Hayden Australia 14 25 1391 203 63.22 5/5
2002 Michael Vaughan England 14 26 1481 197 61.70 6/2
2003 Ricky Ponting Australia 11 18 1503 257 100.20 6/4
2004 Justin Langer Australia 14 27 1481 215 54.85 5/4
2005 Ricky Ponting Australia 15 28 1544 207 67.13 6/6
2006 Mohammad Yousuf Pakistan 11 19 1788 202 99.33 9/3
2007 Jacques Kallis South Africa 9 17 1210 186 86.42 5/6
2008 Graeme Smith South Africa 15 25 1656 232 72.00 6/6
2009 Thilan Samaraweera Sri Lanka 11 20 1234 231 72.58 4/4
2010 Sachin Tendulkar India 14 23 1562 214 78.10 7/5
2011 Rahul Dravid India 12 23 1145 146* 57.25 5/4
2012 Michael Clarke Australia 11 18 1595 329* 106.33 5/3
2013 Michael Clarke Australia 13 26 1093 187 47.52 4/3
2014 Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka 11 21 1438 319 71.90 4/8
2015 Steve Smith Australia 13 24 1474 215 73.70 6/5
2016 Joe Root England 17 32 1477 254 49.23 3/10
2017 Steve Smith Australia 11 20 1305 239 76.76 6/3
2018 Virat Kohli India 13 24 1322 153 55.08 5/5
2019 Marnus Labuschagne Australia 11 17 1104 185 64.94 3/7
2020 Ben Stokes England 7 12 641 176 58.27 2/2
2021 Joe Root England 15 29 1708 228 61.00 6/4
2022 Babar Azam Pakistan 9 17 1184 196 69.64 4/7
2023 Usman Khawaja Australia 13 24 1210 195* 52.60 3/6
2024* Joe Root England 14 25 1338 262 58.17 5/4
Most Test Runs – Year by Year

Stats Highlights

Clem Hill of Australia in the year 1902 became the first-ever batsman to score more than 1000 Test runs in a calendar year.