5 Batsmen With The Most Test Runs For England In A Calendar Year 

The England Cricket Team is the oldest team alongside Australia in the history of Test Cricket. England played its first-ever international Test match back in 1877 against Australia. The English nation has played a plethora of Tests since.

In fact, no other team has played more matches than England in Test Cricket. England is the second most successful team in the history of Test Cricket. In 1041 matches, they have managed to win 378 matches and lost 312. They have a win percentage of 36.31.

Over the years, the England Cricket Team has produced several world-class performers with the bat. Alastair Cook is, arguably, England’s best batsman ever to play Test Cricket. Besides, the likes of G Gooch, A Stewart, K Pietersen, M Atherton, Ian Bell, Michael Vaughan, etc have all been prolific run-scorers for the team.

The current captain of the English National Team, Joe Root is one of the modern-day greats in Test Cricket. He is currently England’s best batsman and holds a plethora of records to his name.

No batsman has scored more Test runs than Joe Root in 2021. He has the most runs in a calendar year for England in 2021. Well, this isn’t the first time when Joe Root has scored the most runs by any English player in a calendar year. To shed light on that, here’s a look at five batsmen who have scored the most Test runs for England in a calendar year.

5 Batsmen With The Most Test Runs For England In A Calendar Year

5. Joe Root: 1385 runs in 2015

Joe Root scored the most runs in a calendar year for the first time in 2015. The England skipper dished out outstanding performance against Australia and Pakistan in the Test series played in 2015.

Root was the highest run-scorer for England in 2015 Ashes. He scored 460 runs in 9 innings at an average of 57.50. England then played a three-match Test series against Pakistan. Root amassed 287 runs in 3 Tests at an average of 57.40. Overall, Joe Root smashed 1385 runs in 14 Tests for England at an average of 60.21. He was the second-highest run-scorer in 2015 in Tests.

4. Jonny Bairstow: 1470 runs in 2016

Jonny Bairstow is one of the finest white-ball batsmen in ODIs. However, he hasn’t been able to make a similar impact in Test Cricket. Bairstow, however, started his Test Cricket career on a great note. He has had some wonderful years at the start of his Test Cricket Career.

He, in fact, holds the record for scoring the second-most Test runs in a calendar year for England in 2016. Jonny Bairstow wreaked havoc with the bat in 2016, as far as his Test Cricket performances are concerned. He amassed 1470 runs in 17 matches at an average of 58.80. He hit 3 centuries and 8 half-centuries that year.

3. Joe Root: 1477 runs in 2016

Joe Root has been a consistent run-scorer for England in Test Cricket. Over the last half-a-decade, he has been England’s savior in Tests. Root also was brilliant in 2016 in Test Cricket. He, in fact, scored the most runs in Test Cricket that year.

Root played 17 Tests and scored 1477 runs at an average of 49.23. Joe Root was the second-highest run-scorer for England against South Africa in a three-match Test series held in 2016. England then played four Tests against Pakistan, in which Root amassed 512 runs in 4 Tests at an average of 73.14.

The Englishmen also toured India in 2016 for a five-match Test series. Root finished the Test series with 491 runs in 5 Tests at an average of 49.10.

2. Michael Vaughan: 1481 runs in 2002

Former English cricketer, Michael Vaughan is widely regarded as one of the most successful England cricketers of all time. Vaughan led the England Cricket Team from 2003 to 2008. The 2-1 victory in Ashes 2005 remains the biggest achievement of his captaincy career.

It was England’s first Ashes victory in 18 years. Apart from his leadership skills, he was England’s one of the most prolific run-scorer in Tests. In 82 Tests, Vaughan scored 5719 runs at an average of 41.4.

Michael Vaughan wreaked havoc with the bat in the year 2002. He hit 6 centuries and scored the most number of runs by any player in the year 2002. In 14 Tests, Michael Vaughan amassed 1481 runs at an average of 61.70. He held the record for most Test runs by an English batter in a calendar year for 18 years until Joe Root broke it in 2021.

1. Joe Root: 1544 runs in 2021 

Joe Root, on Friday, broke Michael Vaughan’s long-standing record of most Test runs by an English batsman in a calendar year. Root achieved the feat on Day 3 of the first Ashes Test. Root got out on a duck in the first innings, however, he played a solid 86 not out on Day 3 to surpass Michael Vaughan’s record. Joe Root has now 1544 runs in 13 Tests played this year at an average of 64.33.

Overall, Joe Root is at number seven position in the list of the batsmen with most Test runs in a calendar year. M Yousuf is at the top of the list with 1788 runs in 11 matches at an astonishing average of 99.33. Root will surpass the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and M Clarke to reach at number four position if he manages to score at least 100 runs in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.