Joe Root became the first England batsman and eight overall to score 1500-plus runs in a calendar year. The England skipper reached the milestone during his unbeaten 86-run knock against Australia as England finished on 220/2 on Day 3 stumps of the first Ashes 2021-22 Test in Brisbane on Friday.
Root batted in 25 innings of 13 Test matches to complete 1500 runs this year and scored 1541 runs at an average of 67.00 and a strike rate of 57.65 with six hundreds and two fifties. He eclipsed former England captain Michael Vaughan who scored 1481 in 2002.
Vaughan had notched up six and two fifties in 26 innings of 14 Test matches back in 2002 and held the record for most runs in a calendar year for England till Friday. Former Pakistan batsman Mohammed Yousuf holds the record for most runs in a calendar year.
Yousuf made 1788 runs at an average of 99.33 and a strike rate of 62.64 with nine hundreds and three fifties in 19 innings of 11 Test matches in 2006. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is the only batsman to score over 1500 runs in a calendar year twice.
Ponting made 1503 runs in 18 innings of 11 Test matches in 2003 and scored 1544 runs in 28 innings of 15 Test matches in 2005. Meanwhile, Travis Head (152 runs) made 150-plus runs for the second time in Tests that helped Australia build on their first-innings lead.
His thirst for big scores has increased in the last 14 months and is one of the reasons for his return to Test cricket. In his last six first-class centuries since October 2020, including the hundred in this match, he has converted five into 150-plus scores.
Nathan Lyon is still waiting to be the third Australian to reach 400 Test wickets. He claimed his 390th Test wicket on January 6, 2020, when he removed Bradley-John Watling to wrap up the victory against New Zealand. The off-spinner claimed his 399th in January this year when he removed India’s Washington Sundar.
MOST RUNS IN A CALENDAR YEAR IN TESTS
Batsman-Year-Matches-Innings-NO-Runs-Average-HS-SR-100-50-0
Mohammad Yousuf (PAK)-2006-11-19-1-1788-99.33-202-62.64-9-3-1
Sir Viv Richards (WI)-1976-11-19-0-1710-90.00-291-72.85-7-5-0
Graeme Smith (SA)-2008-15-25-2-1656-72.00-232-65.81-6-6-1
Michael Clarke (AUS)-2012-11-18-3-1595-106.33-329*-65.96-5-3-0
Sachin Tendulkar (IND)-2010-14-23-3-1562-78.10-214-55.90-7-5-0
Sunil Gavaskar (IND)-1979-18-27-1-1555-59.80-221-47.43-5-8-0
Ricky Ponting (AUS)-2005-15-28-5-1544-67.13-207-61.31-6-6-1
Joe Root (ENG)-2021-13-25-2-1541-67.00-228-57.65-6-2-1
Ricky Ponting (AUS)-2003-11-18-3-1503-100.20-257-60.26-6-4-1
