Most Runs For England In All Formats

England is called “The Father of Cricket” as it originated there in the 16th Century and began expanding worldwide. The English side played the first-ever match of the test history against Australia in 1877 at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, however, lost the test by 45 runs. England was also part of the maiden ODI match in 1971 at the same venue, where Again Aussies beat them by 5 wickets. So far, England has played 1063 test matches, 779 ODIs, and 173 T20Is, while registering victory in 389, 392, and 92 matches respectively.

All these triumphs have been possible due to some great performances of great English cricketers. Over the years, England has produced some great batters like Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond, Len Hutton, Graham Gooch, Alastair Cook, Joe Root, etc and all the mentioned players have carried England with their exceptional batting in their time. Today’s article will inform you about the batters with the most runs for England in all formats.

Joe Root

One of the mainstays of the current English cricket side, especially in tests, Joe Root leads the chart of most runs for England in all formats. Root made his international debut in style in a test against India in 2012, smashing 73 on a challenging spin deck. Little did anyone know that he will establish himself as one of the best batters of this generation with perseverance, class, and textbook technique.

The Yorkshire-born player has amassed 18516 runs in 325 matches across all formats at a staggering average of 49.24, including 46 centuries and 101 fifties. His more than 11000 runs out of 18315 came in the longest format of the game alone, the highest among active cricketers.

Alastair Cook

Former English skipper who had a long career of 16 years between 2006 to 2018, Alastair Cook has scored the 2nd most runs for England in all formats with his 15737 runs tally. Having played 257 matches, the batting stalwart possessed a decent average of 42.88 overall, while in the test he averaged a fascinating 47.00.

Being a reliable opener for England for over a decade, the Southpaw hit 38 hundred and 76 half-centuries with a highest score of 294 against India in Birmingham. When Cook would be in tune, he would make bowlers bowl for the whole day and exploit their energy to get big scores.

Kevin Pietersen

The lynchpin of the English middle order, Kevin Pietersen finds himself in 3rd place on the elite tally of most runs for England in all formats. Having appeared on the big stage for the first time in 2004, he went on to play 275 matches and amassed 13779 runs at a commendable average of 44.30, which consisted of thirty-two 100s and sixty-seven 50s.

The right-hand ace batter was equally good in each format of the game and who can forget his massive contribution to England’s first ICC tournament triumph, the 2010 T20 World Cup where he racked up 248 runs in 6 matches, including his match-winning 47 off 31 balls in the finals against Australia and 42* off 26 balls in semi-finals against Sri Lanka.

Ian Bell

One of the best top-order batsmen for the English side ever, Ian Bell occupies the 4th spot on the list of most test runs for England in all formats. Bell represented England from 2004 to 2015 and accumulated 13331 runs in 287 games, averaging 40.27.

The Coventry batsman boasted elegance, patience, and big-scoring ability and his cover drive was eye-soothing for the fans. Bell’s career-best score of 235 emerged against India at the Oval in 2011 in the same series where Cook made his highest score of 294.

Graham Gooch

Graham Gooch is one of the top prolific scorers in English cricket history and is featured in the 5th position in getting the most runs for England in all formats. The legendary batter’s career spanned 20 prolonged years (1975-1995) and in this timeline, he aggregated 13190 runs at an impressive average of 40.58, that too in the tough 80s & 90s.

Gooch’s tally of 8900 test runs is the 3rd highest by an Englishman. Opening the batting for England, he slammed 28 centuries and 69 fifties, including his career best of 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990 which is the 3rd highest individual score in the test by an England batsman.