Most Test runs scored by an opening batsman

Alastair Cook (England) scored 11,845 of his 12,472 Test runs as an opening batsman – 2,238 runs more than any other Test player batting at No.1 or No.2. England’s leading run-maker, and the fifth-highest scorer in Test history, didn’t bat in the top two in just 13 of his 291 Test match innings.

Cook scored 578 runs in 12 innings batting at No.3 in series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2006, and a further 49 runs batting at No.7 against Sri Lanka in 2016.

India’s Sunil Gavaskar trails Cook, with 9,607 of his 10,122 Test runs made in 203 innings as an opening batsman between 1971 and 1987. South Africa’s Graeme Smith is third with 9,030 runs in 196 innings between 2002 and 2014.