It was 1882/83 when we first saw two cricketing giants in Australia and England take on each other in The Ashes and since then, many Ashes legends have arisen, both with bat as well as with ball. Sometimes, players have had a great series or two but it’s not very often that batsmen score runs series after series, year after year, and in both home and away conditions.
Very few batsmen have written their name down in Ashes history as one of the greatest, and that’s what we’re covering on this page today. We’re looking at the top batsmen in Ashes history, right from that first season till date. They’ve scored runs over long-spread Ashes careers and battled it out in a very fiercely fought rivalry. Keep reading for our Ashes most runs list in the history of the competition…
The Ashes – most runs list
With a 140+ year history to this tournament, every name on this list of the top batsmen in Ashes cricket is a very prestigious one. It’s no surprise that Don Bradman leads this list as the only player with 5,000+ career Ashes runs, with no one else even close to him. Check out our complete Ashes top run scorers list, last updated on 26th April 2023, before the start of the Ashes 2023 series in England:
| Batsman | Career span | Runs (Matches) | 50s/100s | High Score |
| Don Bradman 🇦🇺 | 1928-1948 | 5,028 (37) | 12/19 | 334 |
| Jack Hobbs 🏴 | 1908-1930 | 3,636 (41) | 15/12 | 187 |
| Allan Border 🇦🇺 | 1978-1993 | 3,222 (42) | 19/7 | 200* |
| Steve Waugh 🇦🇺 | 1986-2003 | 3,173 (45) | 14/10 | 177* |
| Steve Smith 🇦🇺 | 2010-present | 3,044 (32) | 11/11 | 239 |
| David Gower 🏴 | 1978-1991 | 3,037 (38) | 11/9 | 215 |
| Wally Hammond 🏴 | 1928-1947 | 2,852 (33) | 7/9 | 251 |
| Herbert Sutcliffe 🏴 | 1924-1934 | 2,741 (27) | 16/8 | 194 |
| Clem Hill 🇦🇺 | 1896-1912 | 2,660 (41) | 16/4 | 188 |
| John Edrich🏴 | 1964-1975 | 2,644 (32) | 13/7 | 175 |
Bradman scored runs for fun and he’s not only the highest run scorer in Ashes history, but he also holds the record for the highest individual score among players on this list, being the only one with an Ashes triple century (334). He also holds the record for the most number of Ashes hundreds, with 19 Ashes centuries to his name in a career span between 1928 and 1948.
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And because it’s such a long list of cricketing history, there’s only one player from current international cricketers on this list and that’s former captain Steve Smith who has excelled in The Ashes with 3,000+ runs and as many as 11 Ashes centuries, only behind Jack Hobbs (12) and Bradman (19) on the list of the most number of individual Ashes hundreds.
It’ll take newer generation players an eternity to get on this list because nowadays, players are more adept at playing T20 cricket and not so much the longest format of the game. Joe Root from England is the next current player on the list of most Ashes runs, and he’s a far way away from Smith, with a tally of around 2,000+ runs in The Ashes over the years.
With these series being 5-match series, a good few games and many of the current players can take big leaps on the list of most runs in The Ashes as well, which we expect to see in the next few years. For more updates on Ashes 2023 and on the overall cricketing industry from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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