By SRTeam In many ways, Test cricket is the true format where you get to see real cricket. Like it is not always about hitting those big sixes and boundaries after boundaries. Nah! It is more than that actually! You see, it is actually Test cricket that literally puts your patience, skill, and mental strength to the test. Especially when you’re batting, you could be batting for literally days to score runs for your teams, well, only if you CAN. And that’s precisely why seeing batsmen make 100s in test cricket is not that rare, but have you ever thought about how high of an individual score has been achieved in Test cricket’s history? Well, you’d be kinda surprised to know just that, so, let’s just get to this part where we talk about Top 10 Players In Test With High Score, shall we?
1. Brian Lara – 400* vs England (2004)
Biran Lara is the only cricket legend in this list who comes in twice for scoring the highest runs in test cricket. It was actually in 1994 when he hit the highest individual score in test cricket, which was 375, but then Matthew Hayden surpassed that in 2003 by hitting 380 runs in one inning. So, sure enough, Brian Lara decided that he’d hit a score so high that it would take a while for someone to come even close. That’s when Brian Lara hit 400 not out against England back in 2004, and that stays the highest individual score in test cricket even after 20 years.
2. Matthew Hayden – 380 vs Zimbabwe (2003)
If we were making this list back in 2003, sure enough, Matthew Hayden would have been on top of this list, with his highest individual score of 380 runs against Zimbabwe back in 2003. To achieve this high of a score, he batted for about 622 minutes and faced 437 balls. As we already told you the story though, you see, it was the highest ever individual score in test cricket, but that was just until Lara took it back just the next year.
3. Brian Lara – 375 vs England (1994)
365 used to be the highest-ever individual score in Test cricket, but then came Brian Lara’s record-breaking inning back in 1994 against England, where he scored a HUGE 375 runs in one inning. Most of you may know Lara for his 400* innings, but that came a bit later, before that, it was actually this inning that made Brian Lara super famous.
4. Mahela Jayawardene – 374 vs South Africa (2006)
Without a single doubt, Mahela Jayawardene is one if not the best batsmen or cricket legends that Sri Lankan cricket has ever produced. He has done his part not only in test cricket but in One Day format as well, and he was a star player for his team in his prime. He’s the one who holds the highest individual score for Sri Lanka in test cricket, which is 374, and that too was against South Africa, which was in its prime at that time. He straight-up batted for 12 hours in that one inning to score that high.
5. Garry Sobers – 365* vs Pakistan (1958)
Cricket used to be big down there in the West Indies, and that’s when we saw some of the greatest cricketers in the history of this sport, and one of them surely was Garry Sobers. In a test match against Pakistan back in 1958, he put up an individual score so high that it took literally decades for someone to beat, and yes, we’re talking about his 365 not out innings, Kingston, Jamaica. And considering the fact that he was just 21 years old at that time, this inning becomes even more special.
6. Len Hutton – 364 vs Australia (1938)
If you’re a cricket fan, you already know how big of a thing cricket was down there in England, right? So no wonder a batsman from English cricket has made it to this list, but this batman we’re talking about is none other than the legend Len Hutton, who scored a phenomenal 364 against Australia back in 1938. And it surely was one of the longest innings played by a batsman in test cricket, which lasted for 797 minutes.
7. Sanath Jayasuriya – 340 vs India (1997)
If any other Sri Lankan player would have made it to this list, then it would certainly be Sanath Jayasuriya, the legend himself. He was the star player of Sri Lankan cricket who hit 340 runs against India in 1997, which was the highest by any Sri Lankan player at the time, though later, Mahela Jayawardene surpassed that score in 2006.
8. Hanif Mohammad – 337 vs West Indies (1958)
Hanif Mohammand is one man who deserves a lot of respect for bringing up the levels in Pakistan cricket and evolving it even more. Back when nobody thought of Pakistan as a strong team in Test cricket, it was players like him that stood up to state otherwise. Like, can you even imagine that a Pakistani player has hit 337 runs in one inning, and that too back in 1958? Well, it is Hanif Mohammad who did it, and that too against mighty West Indies.
9. Wally Hammond – 336* vs New Zealand (1933)
Another English cricketer? Oh, why not? Well, here we are with another star or legend player of English cricket who went after New Zealand in their own home grounds back in 1933 and ended up scoring 336 not out. Unlike the basic and slow inning, Wally actually went kinda aggressive, like, hitting 34 boundaries and 10 sixes.
10. David Warner – 335* vs Pakistan (2019)
In recent times, if it is about one of the most phenomenal test cricket innings by a player, then it would certainly be David Warner’s 335 not out score against Pakistan back in 2019. And if you’re reading this post from the very start, then you know that David Warner is the 2nd Australian on this list who has achieved such a high score, only after Hayden.
Conclusion
There you have it. We know it was kinda mind-boggling for you to see such high scores by individual players, but that’s test cricket in its truest sense. From the looks of it, it seems like the 400* score by Brian Lara will stay unbeaten for quite a while now.