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 Bradman	Australia	6	8	978	334	122.25	4/0
1931	Don Bradman	Australia	7	9	950	226	105.55	5/0
1932	Don Bradman	Australia	3	3	402	299*	402.00	2/0
1933	Wally Hammond	England	8	11	934	336*	103.77	3/2
1934	Don Bradman	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 Bradman	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 Bradman	Australia	2	2	421	234	210.50	2/0
1947	Denis Compton	England	9	15	1159	208	82.78	6/3
1948	Don Bradman	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

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.

Since then, Sachin Tendulkar has crossed ‘the 1000 Test runs in a calendar year’ landmark 6 times in his career – the most by any batsman.

And, the record for highest Test runs in a single year belongs to Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan, who scored 1788 runs in 2006. Check the top five here.