Check out the top 5 highest test cricket innings scores as a captain. When you score runs as the captain of your team and those runs help your country win a test match, the feeling is even more special.
Scoring big runs in an innings in test cricket is a special feeling for any batter, but when you are the captain of the team and those runs help your country win a test match, the feeling becomes even more special. We’re sure you’ve seen the highest scores by a batter in test cricket, but few will write about captains who scored the most runs in an innings, which is what we’ll try to do here. Having the added responsibility of captain and still playing such fantastic innings is something that all of these men should be very proud of.
This list includes some of the best batters in world cricket history, and the scores they have made as captains are simply incredible. We can now see why they were captains of their respective nations at the time, and how they led their teams to victory and etched their names in history. These were also their highest test scores, making it even more special for these exceptional players. So, let’s take a look at the Top 5 Highest Scores as a Skipper in Test Cricket Innings.
Brian Lara (400* vs England)
This once-in-a-lifetime innings is not only the highest test score by a captain, but also the highest individual test score in tea cricket history, and it occurred against England in 2004. It has been 18 years since this innings, and it has not been broken since, and we do not know if it will ever be broken. To play such an innings, a player must bat for an extended period of time while attacking, and the match situation must be favourable. Brian Lara was a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer, and he was possibly the most stylish player we have ever seen.
Mahela Jayawardene (374 vs South Africa)
The second player on this list is one of the greatest players to ever play for Sri Lanka, and this player came so close to breaking Brian Lara’s record. Moreover, this innings came against one of the best bowling attacks in the world at the time in South Africa. Mahela Jayawardene absolutely decimated the entire bowling line-up and did not allow the scoreboard to slow down, and he got the runs at a rapid pace, and he hit a brilliant Triple hundred at home, and all the Sri Lankan cricket fans had the time of their lives watching this masterpiece. It is the highest score by a Sri Lankan batter in test cricket. For many years, we were fortunate to see him perform live.
Mark Taylor (334* vs Pakistan)
This incredible innings from Mark Taylor came against the best Pakistan bowling lineup that there has ever been, making it one of the most special test innings by an Australian player of all time. He did it in 1998, and unfortunately we were not able to see it live, but to do this against a bowling attack that included Wasim Akram is incredible. Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar do something very special, and the fans who got to see it live in Pakistan respected it even though they didn’t like what his bat was doing to their team. He declared on 334* because he didn’t want to outscore his idol, the late Don Bradman.
Graham Gooch (333 vs India)
Even though it happened 32 years ago, this is one of those innings that haunts the minds of Indian cricket fans to this day. This was an extraordinary innings and the highest score by an English captain in test cricket, and it had to come against India, because none of the Indian bowlers had any answers to Graham Gooch’s brilliance that day, and he just toyed with every one and forced England to make a huge total in that innings. Even though he did it against them, this innings is still revered by all English cricket fans and respected by all Indian cricket fans.
Michael Clarke (329* vs India)
This was the only innings out of the five that we saw live from start to finish, and despite the fact that it was against India, it was an exhibition of batsmanship of the highest order, and everyone could do nothing but admire the great Michael Clarke’s skills and class. This happened in the 2011-12 series against Australia when the Aussies were unbeatable and their entire team was filled with match winners, the biggest one in this innings being their captain and the Indian bowlers looked absolutely helpless and he came out not out in the end declaring the innings when he was on 329* and for the same reason as Mark Taylor because he didn’t want to cross Don Bradman’s great 334.
