The Ashes is a historic Test cricket series held at least once every two years between England and Australia. The series is traditionally composed of five test matches, with legendary batsman, Sir Don Bradman, leading the way in terms of all-time runs scored.
He has scored 5028 runs in 63 innings at an average of 89.79. He is the only batsman to score more than 4000 runs in Ashes. The next two on the list are England’s Sir Jack Hobbs and Australian Allan Border with 3636 and 3548 runs respectively.
However, this article is a little special as in this article we don’t talk about the all time highest tuns scorer in the history of Ashes. Instead this article is simply about the active players with most runs in The Ashes.
So without any more delay lets take a look at the player’s list.
List of Most Runs in the Ashes among active players
| Rankings | Player | Team | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100/50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Smith | Australia | 3044 | 239 | 59.68 | 54.59 | 11/11 |
| 2 | Joe Root | England | 2016 | 180 | 38.76 | 47.16 | 3/16 |
| 3 | David Warner | Australia | 1888 | 124 | 38.53 | 61.82 | 3/14 |
| 4 | Ben Stokes | England | 1157 | 135* | 34.02 | 52.78 | 3/6 |
| 5 | Jonny Bairstow | England | 1084 | 119 | 29.29 | 49.02 | 2/3 |
Overview of most runs scored by Active players in Ashes
Australia’s Steve Smith Tops the List of Most Runs in the Ashes among active players
A man who dominated the 2017/18 and 2019 Ashes series, making three hundreds and averaging north of 100 in each, ends the 2021/22 edition with an average of 30.5, and no hundreds to his name.
He managed a mere 244 runs in this series, having made 774 runs in the 2019 Ashes, and 687 in 2017/18, but this isn’t purely an Ashes phenomenon, a one-off blip in the career of an Australia great.
Having said that, Smith has the fourth-most runs among Australians and the seventh-most overall in the Ashes. Smith is one of the four players to have slammed 10 or more centuries in the Ashes.
He has racked up 2,800 runs from 27 matches at an astonishing average of 65.11. He has 11 tons and nine half-centuries. Smith has a best Ashes score of 239. Which helps him occupy the top spot in out list of active players with most runs in the Ashes.
Former English skipper Joe Root Occupies the 2nd spot
The Yorkshireman has stacked up 2,016 runs in 29 matches. He averages a modest 38.76, compared to Smith’s 59.68. He has three centuries to go along with 16 fifties.
After his Test debut in 2012, Root continued his rise with a maiden Test hundred in his home ground, Headingley, against New Zealand in 2013 followed by a maiden Ashes century at Lord’s having been promoted to open.
Root looked set to occupy that role for many years to come, but his fortunes dipped as the series went on and then crashed along with the team as England were whitewashed in Australia in 2013-14. He began the tour at No. 6, moved up to No. 3 after the enforced departure of Jonathan Trott, then saw his Ashes ended early when he was dropped for the fifth Test in Sydney.
Nonetheless, firmly established among the modern game’s “Big Four” batsmen (Root, Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson), these were years of easy scoring, Root with an aggregate of 2016 runs in the Ashes comes second in out list of active players with most runs in the Ashes.
David Warner comes 3rd in our list of most runs in the Ashes among active players
Warner, who has now batted in 50 Ashes innings, has scored 1,888 runs with the help of three centuries and 14 half-centuries. In 25 Ashes innings at home, Warner’s 1,237 runs have come at an impressive average of 53.78 including three centuries and seven half-centuries. That being said, Warner has just managed 651 runs in 25 away Ashes innings at an average of 26.04 without a century.
However, Since the winter of 2021/22, Warner’s form has significantly dropped off. Although he passed 90 twice in the first two Ashes Tests of that season, he failed to pass fifty in any other innings in that series. Hence, his appearance in Australia’s Ashes squad is more like a Test lifeline for the 36-year-old.
Having said that, David Warner’s aggregate of 1888 runs through out the several editions of the Ashes puts him in the three spot of most runs in the Ashes among active players.
Ben Stokes comes at No. 4
Ben Stokes is a player who thrives in high-pressure situations and big games. Not many people will forget what he did with the bat in the previous Ashes series. His heroic knock of 135 runs off 219 deliveries in the third Test of the 2019 Ashes series is unquestionably one of the best in Test Cricket history.
That knock helped England save the Test series and gave the team much-needed confidence for the remaining matches. Stokes finished the 2019 Ashes series as the series’ second-highest run-scorer.
He scored 441 runs at an average of 55.12 in 5 Tests matches. During the Ashes series, Ben Stokes scored 2 centuries. Ben Stokes made his international comeback in the first Test against Australia on 8, Dec 2021, after taking a long break from all forms of cricket.
But he could not make it memorable he disappointed everyone by walking back to the dressing room very soon, having scored a paltry of 236 runs in 10 innings. Among active players, the English all-rounder Ben Stokes has the fourth-most Ashes runs, with a total of 1157 runs.
Jonny Bairstow leaves Broad behind to come fifth-highest score in the list
Jonny Bairstow hasn’t had a great year with the bat in Test Cricket in 2021. In 8 Tests, he has managed to score 351 runs at an average of 25.07. Bairstow hasn’t been included in England’s playing XI for the first Test against Australia either.
Having said all, Bairstow has contributed significantly to England in the Ashes over the years. He made 214 runs in 5 Tests in Ashes 2019 and 306 runs in Ashes 2017-18. Bairstow was also part of England’s Test side in The Ashes 2013. In 4 matches, he scored 203 runs at an average of close to 30.
Overall, Bairstow has managed to score 1084 runs in the Ashes, which is the fifth-highest among active players.
List of most runs in The Ashes all-time
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
| DG Bradman (AUS) | 1928-1948 | 37 | 63 | 5028 | 334 | 89.78 | 8660 | 58.06 | 19 | 12 | 443+ | 5 |
| JB Hobbs (ENG) | 1908-1930 | 41 | 71 | 3636 | 187 | 54.26 | 5363+ | 46.22 | 12 | 15 | 241+ | 4 |
| AR Border (AUS) | 1978-1993 | 42 | 73 | 3222 | 200* | 55.55 | 7565 | 42.59 | 7 | 19 | 376 | 4 |
| SR Waugh (AUS) | 1986-2003 | 45 | 72 | 3173 | 177* | 58.75 | 5920 | 53.59 | 10 | 14 | 359 | 3 |
| SPD Smith (AUS) | 2010-2022 | 32 | 56 | 3044 | 239 | 59.68 | 5576 | 54.59 | 11 | 11 | 345 | 19 |
| DI Gower (ENG) | 1978-1991 | 38 | 69 | 3037 | 215 | 46.01 | 5578 | 54.44 | 9 | 11 | 359 | 2 |
| WR Hammond (ENG) | 1928-1947 | 33 | 58 | 2852 | 251 | 51.85 | 7491 | 38.07 | 9 | 7 | 269+ | 8 |
| H Sutcliffe (ENG) | 1924-1934 | 27 | 46 | 2741 | 194 | 66.85 | 6557+ | 34.60 | 8 | 16 | 188+ | 3 |
| C Hill (AUS) | 1896-1912 | 41 | 76 | 2660 | 188 | 35.46 | 470+ | 58.29 | 4 | 16 | 150+ | 0+ |
| JH Edrich (ENG) | 1964-1975 | 32 | 57 | 2644 | 175 | 48.96 | 7333 | 36.05 | 7 | 13 | 262 | 4 |
| G Boycott (ENG) | 1964-1981 | 34 | 63 | 2579 | 191 | 46.05 | 7652 | 33.70 | 6 | 12 | 215 | 0 |
| MA Taylor (AUS) | 1989-1999 | 33 | 61 | 2496 | 219 | 42.30 | 5770 | 43.25 | 6 | 15 | 264 | 4 |
| AN Cook (ENG) | 2006-2018 | 35 | 64 | 2493 | 244* | 40.20 | 5288 | 47.14 | 5 | 11 | 283 | 1 |
The Ashes 2023: An Overview
The 2023 Ashes series (officially the LV= Insurance Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) is an upcoming series of Test cricket matches to be played between England and Australia for The Ashes, in June and July 2023. The five venues will be Edgbaston, Lord’s, Headingley, Old Trafford and The Oval.
Australia are the holders of the Ashes going into the series, having won the last series 4–0. The series will form part of the 2023–2025 World Test Championship.
The series will be the 73rd Ashes series overall and the 37th to take place in England. This series will also mark the first time in the Ashes’ 139-year history that no Test will take place in August, in an Ashes series hosted by England. The series was brought forward to June and July, so as not to clash with The Hundred tournament, due to start in August.
While Australia has already declared a 17-member squad for the first two matches, England has kept it quite and is yet to announce their final squad. Looking back at the history of ‘The Ashes,’ one of the oldest international cricket contests, let’s checkout the list of most runs in the Ashes among active players.
Thank you for reading.
