5 greatest batting years in Test cricket history

Steve Smith, batting on 70* at Stumps, third day against West Indies in the ongoing Boxing Day Test, is 26 runs short of amassing 1500 Test runs in 2015.If he manages to do that, he will join a list that includes some cricketing luminaries, including his predecessors, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting.We take a look at the top five batsmen who hold the record of having scored the most Test runs in a calendar year.

#1 Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) - 2006

Yousuf was virtually untouchable in 2006

MATCHES	INNINGS	RUNS	AVERAGE	HIGHEST	50s	100s
11	19	1788	99.33	202	3	9

Talk of beards on a cricket field and think of Grace, Amla, Anwar and Tahir. Dig deeper, and realise that barring the odd exception, the long, bushy, helmet-strap troubling beard’s presence on a cricket field has always been dictated by faith.

It was Yousuf Youhana’s leap of faith from one to another in 2005 that welcomed him into the world of Islam, and brought with it, a beard, a belief and never seen before batsmanship. While liberals cried foul, Youhana, now, Mohammad Yousuf spoke of the impact embracing Islam had on his belief systems and his hunger for runs.

And the results were there to be seen.

In 2006, Mohammad Yousuf broke Vivian Richards’ 30-year old record of most Test runs in a calendar year when he notched up 1788 runs in 11 matches, spread across 19 innings at a staggering average of 99.33.

The magnitude of the numbers he produced hit you - nine hundreds, three fifties, seven ‘Man of the Match’ awards and three ‘Man of the Series’ awards. Yousuf stood there like a run guzzling mammoth, in the midst of a faltering Pakistan batting line-up, scoring home and away.

What stands out though is how Yousuf tackled the English summer that year. After scoring two centuries against India at Lahore and Faisalabad, and nearly a third one at Karachi, Yousuf set his eyes on the British Airways flight that would bring him closer to a place he would never want to leave in a month’s time.

That English sojourn saw him rack up 631 runs at an average of 90.

Both at Lord’s and in Headingley, in the face of 500 plus first-innings totals by the opposition and faulty starts by Pakistan’s top order, Yousuf indulged in what some described as soothingly hypnotic batting. There were drives, punches and dabs interspersed with calm authority that was unseen in Pakistan cricket.

He finished the year with his third Man of the Series performance, against a reasonably strong West Indian attack. Mohammad Yousuf notched up 665 runs at an average of 133, with four hundreds and a fifty and ended the magical 365-day run, just 12 shy of 1800 runs.

#2 Viv Richards (West Indies) - 1976

Viv made Tony Greig eat his words

MATCHES	INNINGS	RUNS	AVERAGE	HIGHEST	50s	100s
11	19	1710	90.00	291	5	7

A year after the inaugural edition of the World Cup was won, the world eagerly awaited the arrival of the West Indian cricket team on English shores, for what was going to be a fascinating contest between two of the brightest teams in international cricket.

Then came the comment.

For a white South Africa-born, England captain, Tony Greig to suggest that he would like to make the West Indians “grovel” was highly insensitive and ridden with racial overtones. What it did, however, was it added tons of colour to an already spiced up contest.

In the centre of all this drama, was a 24-year Viv Richards, combining the strength of Walter Hammond, the prowess of Rohan Kanhai and the hunger of Don Bradman and producing a style of his own. The Wisden observed, ‘...the way he (Richards) flicked the ball on his leg stump to square leg had to be seen to be believed.’

Barring for the one match that he wasn’t a part of, Richards made the English captain pay for his brash comments. With an opening act of 232, a closing salvo of 291 and with 306 runs from the five innings in between the two scores – Richards with a little help from Michael Holding and Andy Roberts made sure that in the end, everyone but their team was “grovelling”.

Earlier in the year, Richards faced the nasty pace of Dennis Lillee & Jeff Thompson and the probing swing bowling of Gary Gilmour. In those six games (three of which were played in 1975) of the Frank Worrell Trophy, Richards scored 426 runs at an average of nearly 40. It was his first tour to Australia.

Later on, before leaving for England, Richards helped West Indies beat India, 2-1 in a four-match Test series at home – facing the moderate pace of Madan Lal and company, Richards had a ball, scoring 556 runs at an average of 93, with three hundreds to his name.

#3 Graeme Smith (South Africa) - 2008

Smith led from the front

MATCHES	INNINGS	RUNS	AVERAGE	HIGHEST	50s	100s
15	25	1656	72.00	232	6	6

Playing nearly 75 percent of the year’s Test matches away from home is always a challenge. Add to that, diverse conditions – Headingley’s swing, Kanpur’s turn and Perth’s pace. Now there’s a one-way ticket to a slump in form.

Not for Graeme Smith, though.

When a person plays his ninth Test as captain and celebrates the elevation with a 277, 85 and 259 in consecutive innings spread across his eleventh and twelfth Test, only a fool will believe that swing, pace and spin is capable of scaring such a man.

2008 was one such year in the life of Graeme Smith. Bring the conditions on, and watch him bat like there’s no tomorrow.

It all started with the thumping of West Indies at home, and the annihilation of Bangladesh away. Smith had a role to play in both the occasions. Against West Indies, he led his troops from the front – claiming the series via a thrashing margin after losing the first game to the visitors.

Some seventeen hours of flight time away, he bludgeoned Bangladesh in Chittagong with his 415-run opening partnership with Neil McKenzie. Smith scored 232 runs in that innings, and the pair broke the long-standing record held by Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad of India.

Playing Bangladesh’s neighbour, India was always going to be a challenge. Captained by the wily Anil Kumble, the team boasted of stalwarts such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. A high scoring draw in Chennai was followed by a rare innings victory against India in Ahmedabad.

However, it was the 104 runs he scored in the two innings at Kanpur that Smith would be proud of. On a minefield of a pitch, where Sourav Ganguly rated his own 87 as his career’s best performance, Smith was largely responsible for South Africa’s respectable first innings total. In the second innings, Smith ensured that South Africa wouldn’t get all out below 100 runs.

Once in England, Smith re-lived his 2003 form, ending the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy as the third highest run-getter with 369 runs at an average of 61.50. He capped the year with a century against Australia at Perth and two half-centuries at Melbourne.

#4 Michael Clarke (Australia) - 2012

Clarke averaged over 100 in 2012

MATCHES	INNINGS	RUNS	AVERAGE	HIGHEST	50s	100s
11	18	1595	106.33	329*	3	5

To quote The Australian, a newspaper published in Australia since 1964 – ‘...captain Michael Clarke has scored more runs this year in fewer Tests at a higher average than Don Bradman did in the greatest run-scoring year of his fabled career.’

At the time of this quote going to print, Clarke still had four Tests left to play before 2012 came to an end. 503 runs short of Ricky Ponting’s record for the most runs (1544 runs in 2005) in a calendar year by an Australian.

Fast forward to Boxing Day, Clarke managed to own Ponting’s record, en route to a classy hundred versus Sri Lanka at the MCG.

The 106 that he scored against Sri Lanka was his fifth hundred in the last twelve months and had a minuscule presence when compared to some of the other scores Clarke had managed to rack up in the same period.

When faced with a hapless Indian bowling attack, Clarke laughed his way to 329* in Sydney. He followed that up with a 210 against the same opposition at the Adelaide Oval. In November, he dominated the visiting South Africans with 259* and 230 in consecutive innings at Brisbane and Adelaide respectively. The 230 ensured that Clarke became the only Test batsman to score four double centuries in a calendar year.

The numbers that Clarke generated in 2012 would go on to become a testament of his will and perseverance. It’s always difficult to come back strong, especially after two back-to-back seasons of below par performances. Clarke made it look all too simple.

While his marriage to Kyly Boldy in May 2012 lent solidity to his life, on the professional front, he excelled, bagging all the major cricketing awards: the Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, and Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World.

#5 Sachin Tendulkar (India) - 2010

Sachin did what he does best

MATCHES	INNINGS	RUNS	AVERAGE	HIGHEST	50s	100s
14	23	1562	78.10	214	5	7

If a cricketer manages to win the Cricketer of the Year award, bags the record for the most runs scored in that year and also achieves a rare ODI feat, all in a single year, it just implies one thing. The cricketer is of an extraordinary breed.

In 2010, just three years before he retired, Sachin Tendulkar achieved all of this. A superlative effort underlined by 1562 runs at an average of 78 and seven Test centuries.

Bangladesh was always going to be an easy encounter, and centuries were to be taken for granted. But what happens when South Africa come calling?

Dale Steyn rips through the Indian batting and takes seven scalps in the first innings at Nagpur. Out of nowhere, Tendulkar responds with a hundred in the second innings, fighting valiantly for over four hours to save India’s face.

With India’s number one ranking in Tests on the line, Tendulkar follows up his Nagpur knock with a match-winning hundred at the Eden Gardens. India retains its numero uno status.

After double centuries versus Sri Lanka at Colombo and Australia at Bangalore, the best is reserved for the last. Tendulkar produces an innings of a lifetime at Centurion, yet fails to save India the blushes.

In a six and a half hour vigil, he scores a patient 111 not out, wearing out bowlers of the calibre of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, bowling snorters with a 400-plus innings lead cheering them on.