Most Test Runs For Australia: Ponting, Border, Smith And The Full List (2026)

Published: January 6, 2025, 8:06 PM IST | Updated: October 25, 2026, 10:31 PM IST
Written by Akash Saha | Edited and fact-checked by Amit Saha | Editorial policy

Test records · Australia

Ricky Ponting: 13,378 runs

Ricky Ponting has scored the most Test runs for Australia, 13,378 in 168 Tests with 41 hundreds. Allan Border is second with 11,174. Steve Smith passed Steve Waugh into third in October 2026 and became only the third Australian to reach 11,000 Test runs during the second Test against South Africa in Gqeberha.

13,378

Ricky Ponting

168 Tests, 41 hundreds

11,174

Allan Border

156 Tests, 27 hundreds

11,000+

Steve Smith

Active · 37 hundreds

Ponting13,378

Border11,174

Smith11,000+

S Waugh10,927

Warner8,786

Most Test Runs for Australia: Top 12

#	Player	Tests	Runs	Average	100s / 50s	Best
1	Ricky Ponting	168	13,378	51.85	41 / 62	257
2	Allan Border	156	11,174	50.56	27 / 63	205
3	Steve Smith*	127	11,000+	c. 55	37 / 45+	239
4	Steve Waugh	168	10,927	51.06	32 / 50	200
5	David Warner	112	8,786	44.59	26 / 37	335*
6	Michael Clarke	115	8,643	49.10	28 / 27	329*
7	Matthew Hayden	103	8,625	50.73	30 / 29	380
8	Mark Waugh	128	8,029	41.81	20 / 47	153*
9	Justin Langer	105	7,696	45.27	23 / 30	250
10	Mark Taylor	104	7,525	43.49	19 / 40	334*
11	David Boon	107	7,422	43.65	21 / 32	200
12	Greg Chappell	87	7,110	53.86	24 / 31	247*

* Active. Smith’s figures are approximate, after the 2nd Test v South Africa in Gqeberha (October 2026).

Can Smith pass Border? Smith needs fewer than 175 runs to overtake Allan Border’s 11,174 and become Australia’s second-highest Test run-scorer. The deciding Test against South Africa in Cape Town starts on 27 October 2026.

Ricky Ponting: 13,378 Runs

Ponting passed Border’s Australian record during the 2009 Ashes and finished with 13,378 runs, still the third-most in Test history behind Sachin Tendulkar and Joe Root. His 41 Test hundreds are the most by an Australian.

Allan Border: 11,174 Runs

Border retired in 1994 as the world’s leading Test run-scorer, a record that stood until Brian Lara passed him in 2006. He also holds the Australian record for Test fifties (63) and captained Australia to their first World Cup in 1987.

Steve Smith: 11,000+ and Counting

Smith passed Steve Waugh (10,927) on the first day of the Durban Test on 9 October 2026, in 42 fewer Tests than Waugh, then reached 11,000 in Gqeberha on 21 October. His 37 hundreds are the second-most for Australia, behind Ponting.

Warner, Clarke and Hayden

David Warner retired from Tests in January 2024 with 8,786 runs, including 335* against Pakistan in Adelaide. Michael Clarke made 329* against India at Sydney in 2012, and Matthew Hayden’s 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth in 2003 remains the highest Test score by an Australian and the second-highest in Test history.