Top 10 Test match run-scorers of the decade

Over the last decade, there has been an awful lot of changes in cricket, all over the world.

T20 cricket has come to the fore all over the world, and many people will argue that it has led to a decline in standards of Test match batting. There has certainly been a drop in the number of traditional Test match batsmen playing the game, as a lot more batsmen now look to play their shots and get runs quickly.

We have also seen changes at the top in Test cricket. England topped the world rankings for the first time earlier in the decade, after some impressive wins, which included series wins in Australia and New Zealand.

However, that team fell apart after the series defeat at home to South Africa in 2012, which was marred by the controversy caused by Kevin Pietersen sending texts about captain Andrew Strauss to the South African players.

South Africa and Australia also spent time at the top of the world rankings, with both sides building fine seam bowling attacks that enjoyed success around the world.

The decade ends with India at the top of the world rankings, having picked up an impressive victory away in Australia at the end of last year. They still have a number of players at the peak of their powers, so could hold on to that spot for a few years yet.

There have been some fine individual performances this decade, with a number of them coming with the bat. Here are the top ten highest Test match run-scorers of the decade.

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#10 Ross Taylor (New Zealand)- 5,486 runs

Taylor has been a constant in the New Zealand side this decade

Taylor is one of the few players on this list who made his Test match debut comfortably before the start of the decade. He was seen as more of a white-ball player when he first came into the New Zealand side, but he has really established himself as a top Test match batsman since his debut. Taylor has amassed 5,486 runs this decade, scoring 15 centuries, as well as 25 half-centuries.

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His finest knock of the decade, and perhaps in his whole career, came in 2015, when he scored 290, the highest score of his career. It was a typical Taylor innings, as he showed power, and a fair bit of control, in an innings that also saw him put on a 265-run partnership with captain Kane Williamson. At 35, he may not have too long left at the top, but he has certainly had a superb career so far.

#9 Cheteshwar Pujara (India)- 5,740 runs

Pujara has had success as one of the more old fashioned players still playing the game

In an era of explosive, powerful, attractive batting, Cheteshwar Pujara is a bit of a throwback when it comes to Test match batting. The 31-year-old is very much the glue of the Indian top order, batting time rather than going searching for runs, and in such a dynamic Indian batting line-up, it has proven a successful technique. He has made 5,740 Test runs at an average a little under 50 this decade, with 18 centuries to his name.

After initially making his Test debut against Australia in Bengaluru in 2010, as a stand in for VVS Laxman, he had to wait until 2012 to really establish himself in the side, having to wait for the likes of Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to retire. He is now one of the first names on the teamsheet for India’s Test side, and he looks likely to still have a big part to play for years to come.

#8 Azhar Ali (Pakistan)- 5,885 runs

Azhar is one of just four Pakistani players to score a Test match triple century

Pakistan cricket has a knack of being very up and down, and this decade has been no different. They started the decade with the spot fixing scandal against England, which saw Mohammed Amir, Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt all banned from all forms of cricket for an extended period of time. However, the decade ended with Pakistan playing Test matches in their home country for the first time since 2009, beating Sri Lanka in Karachi in the second match of the series.

Azhar Ali has been one of the very few constants in the Pakistan side this decade. Since making his debut against Australia at Lord’s in 2010, he has scored 5,885 Test match runs, at an average of a little over 42. That included his highest Test score of 302 not out against the West Indies in Dubai, just the fourth Test match triple century scored by a Pakistani batsman.

#7 Kane Williamson (New Zealand)- 6,379 runs

No New Zealander has scored more Test centuries than Williamson

There has been a big change in New Zealand cricket over the past decade. Obviously this improvement is most clear in ODI cricket, where they have reached two World Cup finals, and came within just a couple of feet of victory against England earlier this year. But the Improvement has also been clear in Test cricket, in which they are now one of the top teams in the world. Of course, much of this began under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum, but Kane Williamson has really taken it to the next level.

As a captain, he is doing a fine job, and he has also become one of the most reliable batsmen in world cricket. Since making his debut against India in Ahmedabad in 2010, he has scored 6,379 runs at an average of over 51, while scoring 21 centuries, the most by any New Zealand batsman in Test history.

#6 Hashim Amla (South Africa)- 6,695 runs

Amla has been crucial to all the success South Africa have had over the last decade

The last decade has been one of the most successful in South Africa’s history since their readmission. The likes of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn have all had a vital impact on the performances of South Africa, in a decade that saw them being the number one ranked Test side in the world for a period of time. Very few have had the same impact as Hashim Amla.

The 36-year-old was very much an old fashioned batsman, who valued his wicket above all else, and he experienced so much success because of that. This was never clearer than the two-game series away in India in 2010, when he scored 490 runs, making centuries in each of his three innings, and being dismissed only once. Prior to announcing his international retirement earlier this year, he scored 28 Test match centuries, with 21 of them coming this decade.

#5 David Warner (Australia)- 7,088 runs

Warner scored 335* against Pakistan, the second highest score by an Australian batsman

David Warner is a bit like marmite. You either love him or you hate him, and there are certainly quite a few who have a negative opinion about him. Much of that comes from his controversial on-field behaviour, and the way he conducts himself on the field. That came to a fore with the ball tampering scandal in South Africa last year, which saw him banned from cricket for a year.

Whatever you think of his attitude, you can’t deny his talent. Very few people doubted that he could succeed in Test cricket when he was first picked in 2011, based solely on his T20 exploits, but he has certainly proved those people wrong. He has scored 7,088 runs since making his debut in 2011, scoring 23 hundreds in that time. This included a best of 335 not out against Pakistan earlier this year, the second highest score by an Australian.

#4 Steve Smith (Australia)- 7,164 runs

Smith has been in sensational form since his return from a one-year ban

Very much like Warner, questions have been asked about Smith’s on-field behaviour. Last year’s controversy in South Africa saw him stripped of the Australia captaincy, as well as being banned from cricket for a year. Many believed that he had been at least partly responsible for a number of misdemeanours committed by the Australian Test sides in the years leading up to that.

However, he marked his return this year with an extraordinary level of success, particularly in the Ashes in England. He scored a quite remarkable 774 runs in just four Test matches, having missed the third Test at Headingley due to concussion. He is certainly not one for the purists though. His technique is not attractive, neither is something young players would look to reproduce, but he has had incredible success from it. Between 2010 and 2019, he has averaged just over 62, more than any other player in Test cricket this decade.

#3 Virat Kohli (India)- 7,202 runs

Kohli has led India to the number one spot in the world Test rankings

It is a testament to Virat Kohli’s versatility that Test cricket is not considered his strongest form of the game, and yet he is still the third highest run-scorer of the decade. Many consider his strongest format to be the ODIs, in which he has scored 43 centuries, second only to Sachin Tendulkar. However, he has also been a fabulous player in Test cricket, in which he has led India to the number one spot in the world.

Since making his debut in 2011, he has scored 7,202 runs, and an average of just under 55. His conversion record from fifties to hundreds is also excellent. From the 49 occasions that he has passed 50, he has gone on to three figures on 27 occasions. He is a very different to a player like Cheteshwar Pujara, in the way he likes to play his shots, and when he makes big runs, he makes them in a very attractive style.

#2 Joe Root (England)- 7,359 runs

Despite his excellent batting record, Root has come under pressure as England captain

At times, Joe Root has faced a lot of questions for his performances, but his numbers this decade are excellent. He has scored 7,359 runs at an average of a little under fifty since making his debut away in India in December 2012. The numbers are very good, especially for someone who has played the majority of cricket in England, which has been an incredibly difficult place to bat in recent years, especially against the newer ball.

Root, however, has often been criticised for his conversion rate from fifties to hundreds. He has passed 50 on 62 occasions in his career, but he has only gone on to make a century 17 times. In most cases, he falls between 50 and 100 to very soft, needless dismissals, and that has cost not only him a number of centuries, but it has also cost his side on a number of occasions. If he can sort that out, he could have even better numbers than he does now.

#1 Alastair Cook (England)- 8,818 runs

Cook's career ended with a superb century against India at the Oval

The most successful Test match batsman of the decade, and by quite some decade, is England’s Alastair Cook, who will go down as not only one of the greatest English batsmen of all-time, but as perhaps one of the finest openers to have played the game. Only four players have scored more runs in the history of Test match cricket than the 35-year-old, and none of them have opened the batting for sustained periods of time.

Cook’s finest period came at the 2010/11 Ashes series in Australia, as England won the urn down under for the first time since 1987. He scored 766 runs over the five Test matches, including three centuries. He finished his career with a magnificent 147 against India at the Oval, 12 years after he made a century on debut against the same opponents in Nagpur. There may have been some times where he went through a tough run of form, but he is certainly someone England would love to have back in their side.