Sport
Players with most runs and wickets for England in a summer
England get their Test summer underway against neighbours Ireland at Lords on Thursday, beginning what will likely be a generation-defining summer of English cricket.
To build up to the season, we take a look back at which English players have scored the most runs and taken the most wickets throughout a single summer.
Most Runs
Denis Compton – 1775 (1947)
It is amongst the more cliched phrases in commentary that records are made to be broken, but there are serious reservations over whether Denis Compton’s figures in the year of 1947 will ever be surpassed. Across all first class cricket, the English icon played 50 innings, scored 3,816 runs, made 18 centuries and had an average of 90.85.
A staggering 1775 of those runs came in five test matches against South Africa, which England won convincingly 3-0, and included a then world record partnership for a third wicket in test cricket of 370 with John Edrich, for whom the summer of 1947 is also fondly remembered for. Given the reduction in first class games since 1969, and simply the sheer attacking intent of Compton that would be deemed to risky in contemporary cricket (although perhaps Brendon McCullum wouldn’t mind it), it is highly unlikely those figures will ever be surpassed again.
Alastair Cook – 927 (2011, includes Ashes in Australia)
Former captain Alastair Cook holds the record for the most Test runs scored in an England shirt, and certainly has the 2011 season to thank. Whilst this technically includes the final innings of the 2010/11 Ashes series in Australia, where he cracked 189 off 342 in Sydney, Cook’s season in England was even more impressive, with the left-handed opener at one point averaging 87 for a 12-month period during the backend of the summer.
Excluding that century against the Aussies, the Essex legend hit four centuries in just 10 innings throughout the season as England consolidated their position as the world’s best Test side by whitewashing India 4-0 – a period was commonly regarded as the peak of English Test cricket. Their imperious batting quality was at the heart of this success, with Cook often anchoring his side at the top of the order.
Graham Gooch – 752 (1990)
Captain Graham Gooch’s exceptional performances against India in the 1990 Test summer is etched in both English and cricketing history. Gooch amassed a staggering 752 runs in three Test matches against India, shattering several records along the way.
A monumental innings of 333 runs in the first Test at Lord’s – which remains the highest individual score by an English batsman in Test cricket – contributed to his 456 runs in a single test match at the home of cricket and was voted as the greatest ever individual performance at Lords in 2014. In the second Test, Gooch continued his dominance with a solid knock of 123 runs, followed by another brilliant century in the third Test as England ran out narrow 1-0 winners.
Most wickets
Ian Botham – 37 (1978)
The only bowler to feature on this list who did not feature in an Ashes series in the same year, iconic all-rounder Ian Botham tops the list for the most wickets amassed in a single English summer, racking up 37 in just six tests in 1978.
‘Beefy’ began the summer rather slowly, picking up just a single wicket in his first test against Pakistan, but then exploded in the second innings of the second test at Lord’s, taking a remarkable 8-34 as he dominated the visiting batsmen. In total, he took four 5-wicket hauls with an overall bowling average of 14.75.
When coupled with his batting average of 43.83 for the summer, which also included a three-match series against New Zealand, it surely goes down as one of the most memorable seasons ever experienced by an English test cricketer.
James Anderson – 34 (2018)
There will have been little doubt that England’s all-time top wicket taker, James Anderson, would feature in this list. In the summer of 2018, the King of Swing took a mighty 34 wickets in just seven test matches against Pakistan and India.
Most notably was Anderson’s incredible 9-46 across both innings at Lords in the first test against India, with illustrious batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having no answer to his skill and technique with the red ball. With England needing to win the final test at the Oval to secure a 3-2 series win, Anderson was there for his country again, finishing with match figures of 4-99 to close out a memorable summer even by his standards.
Andrew Flintoff – 33 (2005)
The summer of 2005 went down in English cricket history after they finally regained the Ashes from arch-rivals Australia a test series like no other. In addition to the success of the team, the series also signalled the birth of some new heroes of English cricket, with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff certainly amongst those names.
Flintoff was handy with the bat but could bowl serious pace even with an old ball, and his battles in the crease with Ricky Ponting will never be forgotten. The charismatic bowler took a sensational 33 wickets across seven tests in the summer of 2005, with 29 of those coming against the Aussies in their iconic five-match series.
