Test cricket is a game of skill and patience where batters have to endure challenges to accumulate runs. If a batter is new to the Test setup, it is even more difficult to thrive in front of world-class bowlers.
However, some batters show their flair to score runs with consistency, surpassing significant milestones in a jiffy. Scoring 1000 Test runs is a major landmark in a cricketer’s career, and doing so in a quick fashion is even more extraordinary.
In this article, we’ll list the top 10 fastest batters to reach 1000 runs in Test cricket.
Fastest to 1000 Runs in Test
| Player | Innings to 1000 Runs | Time Taken |
|---|---|---|
| Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) | 12 | 0y 244d |
| Everton Weekes (WI) | 12 | 1y 14d |
| Don Bradman (AUS) | 13 | 1y 223d |
| Kamindu Mendis (SL) | 13 | 2y 80d |
| Neil Harvey (AUS) | 14 | 2y 312d |
| Vinod Kambli (IND) | 14 | 1y 293d |
| Leonard Hutton (ENG) | 16 | 1y 363d |
| Frank Worrell (WI) | 16 | 3y 314d |
| Lawrence Rowe (WI) | 16 | 2y 42d |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal (IND) | 16 | 0y 239d |
Key Insights
12: England’s Herbert Sutcliffe and the West Indies’ Everton Weekes hold the record for the joint-fastest batter to 1000 runs in Test cricket. Both batters took exactly 12 innings to cross the milestone.
164: If we consider the time taken to reach 1000 Test runs, then Australia’s Mr Cricket, Michael Hussey, is the quickest. The southpaw batter scored 1000 runs in 164 days after making his Test debut on November 3, 2005.
14: Aiden Markram is the only other batter to complete 1000 runs in under 200 days, as the South African took 183 days. And there are over 14 batters, including Hussey and Markram, who surpassed the 1000-run mark in less than a year.
12y 159d: The time taken by Jeffrey Stollmeyer to cross 1000 Test runs. This is the longest time a batter has taken to go past 1000 runs (among the batters who took 25 innings to 1000 runs). However, Stollmeyer could do nothing, as the West Indies didn’t play a single Test between September 1939 and January 1948 due to World War 2.
1: England’s Arthur Shrewsbury became the first-ever batter to score 1000 runs in the longest format. He achieved the feat in his 21st Test in July 1893.
