Australia is arguably the most dominant Test team in the world and historically they have had wood over most of the other teams in the longest format of the game. With 414 Test wins in 866 matches (232 losses), they sit at the top as the most successful Test side in history and no other has a W/L percentage of more than 1.5 apart from the Aussies.
While the Aussies have produced world-class bowlers through generations, their batters are no less than exceptional, showing ruthlessness to demolish any bowling attack. This attitude made them world beaters and it starts from their openers who usually set up the game. In this article, we will list down Australian openers who have scored the most runs for the side.
Most Test Runs for Australia as Opener
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average | 100/50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Warner | 202 | 8747 | 45.08 | 26/37 |
| Matthew Hayden | 184 | 8625 | 50.73 | 30/29 |
| Mark Taylor | 186 | 7525 | 43.49 | 19/40 |
| Michael Slater | 131 | 5312 | 42.83 | 14/21 |
| Bill Lawry | 123 | 5234 | 47.15 | 13/27 |
| Justin Langer | 115 | 5112 | 48.22 | 16/18 |
| Bob Simpson | 70 | 3664 | 55.51 | 8/19 |
| Arthur Morris | 76 | 3381 | 45.68 | 11/12 |
| Colin McDonald | 81 | 3073 | 39.39 | 5/17 |
| Graeme Wood | 92 | 2958 | 33.61 | 8/12 |
Key Stats
169 – Number of players who have opened innings for Australia in Test cricket at least once. Out of 169, 165 have scored at least a run for their team in that position.
Among the players listed above, Mark Taylor is the only among the ten fastest opening batters to 1K runs in Test cricket. He took only 18 innings to cross over the 1000-runs mark in the longest format – a feat which is overshadowed by India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal recently.
8747 – David Warner has amassed the most Test runs as an Australian opener. He scored these runs at an average of 45.08 with the help of 26 tons and 37 half-centuries. Having opened 202 times in Tests, the left-hander has also played the most innings for Australia in that position. Overall, Warner’s tally makes him the fourth most prolific opener in terms of runs in Tests.
6 – Number of Australian batters who have made 5000 or more runs as a Test opener. This number increases to 14 when we consider players with 2500 or more runs as Australian Test openers and 32 have crossed the 1000-run mark.
30 – Number of centuries scored by Matthew Hayden as a Test opener for Australia, the most by any batter for the team. He has hit the third most number of centuries for a Test opener behind Sunil Gavaskar (33) and Alastair Cook (31). And find out across format list here.
3 – The number of openers who have played 100 or more Tests for Australia. They are Warner (112), Hayden (103), and former skipper Mark Taylor (104).
55.51 – Bob Simpson has the highest Test average for an Australian opener who has scored a minimum of 1000 runs. 6 others averaged more than 50, batting at this position. Find out the top 10 openers with the highest batting average in Test cricket here.
