When cricket originated in the 17th century in London and other English colonies, nobody would have thought the sport would evolve into something we witness and cherish today. The formats and leagues through which the game has evolved are a phenomenal stretch from what was even half a century before.
And England, the founder of cricket, and their venues play a big part in that. Three to four countries dominate modern-day Test cricket, and England is one of the prominent names.
The former English captain, Alastair Cook, is the first person to reach 10000 Test runs for the country (and one of the slowest overall). He was recently overtaken by Joe Root to lead the run chart.
The table below will list the top ten run-scorers for England in Test cricket.
Most Runs for England in Test Cricket
| Player | Runs | Mat | Inns | HS | Avg | Centuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Root | 14278 | 169 | 309 | 262 | 50.45 | 41 |
| Alastair Cook | 12472 | 161 | 291 | 294 | 45.35 | 33 |
| Graham Gooch | 8900 | 118 | 215 | 333 | 42.58 | 20 |
| Alec Stewart | 8463 | 133 | 235 | 190 | 39.54 | 15 |
| David Gower | 8231 | 117 | 204 | 215 | 44.25 | 18 |
| Kevin Pietersen | 8181 | 104 | 181 | 227 | 47.28 | 23 |
| Geoff Boycott | 8114 | 108 | 193 | 246* | 47.72 | 22 |
| Michael Atherton | 7728 | 115 | 212 | 185* | 37.69 | 16 |
| Ian Bell | 7727 | 118 | 205 | 235 | 42.69 | 22 |
| Colin Cowdrey | 7624 | 114 | 188 | 182 | 44.06 | 22 |
| Ben Stokes | 7273 | 122 | 220 | 258 | 34.46 | 14 |
| Wally Hammond | 7249 | 85 | 140 | 336* | 58.45 | 22 |
| Andrew Strauss | 7037 | 100 | 178 | 177 | 40.91 | 21 |
| Len Hutton | 6971 | 79 | 138 | 364 | 56.67 | 19 |
| Ken Barrington | 6806 | 82 | 131 | 256 | 58.67 | 20 |
Key Insights
Joe Root has the highest batting average among the legendary English batters over the years, while Kevin Pietersen, another 20th-century batter, tops the strike rate column.
The legendary English batter Wally Hammond, who is not on this list, has scored the most double centuries for England in Test cricket – 7.
Len Hutton’s marathon innings of 364 against Australia at The Oval in 1938, which led to England’s highest-ever Test team total, still holds the record for the highest-ever individual score for England in the longest format. Interestingly, no English player has achieved the feat of scoring more than one triple century in Tests.
Among the batters in the list, Cook and Root are the only players to play more than 150 Test matches for their country.
Like this run chart, Cook and Root top the most centuries list for England in this format.
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