Who has conceded the most runs in Test cricket?

James Anderson has conceded 18627 runs in Tests, the most of any bowler, taking 704 wickets.

Is this a negative record?

No. It reflects a long career bowling many overs; the leaders are usually great, durable wicket-takers.

Who are the leaders for runs conceded?

The top four are James Anderson (18627), Anil Kumble (18355), Muttiah Muralitharan (18180) and Shane Warne (17995).

Most Runs Conceded in Test Cricket

#	Player	M	Inns	O	Runs	W	Avg	E/R	SR	4W	5W
1	James Anderson	188	350	6,672.5	18627	704	26.45	2.79	56.80	32	32
2	Anil Kumble	132	236	6,808.2	18355	619	29.65	2.69	65.90	31	35
3	Muttiah Muralitharan	133	230	7,339.5	18180	800	22.72	2.47	55.00	45	67
4	Shane Warne	145	273	6,784.1	17995	708	25.41	2.65	57.40	48	37
5	Nathan Lyon	142	263	5,816.5	17124	570	30.04	2.94	61.23	26	24
6	Stuart Broad	167	309	5,616.2	16719	604	27.68	2.97	55.70	28	20
7	Harbhajan Singh	103	190	4,763.2	13537	417	32.46	2.84	68.50	16	25
8	Ravichandran Ashwin	106	200	4,541.0	12891	537	24.00	2.83	50.70	25	37
9	Kapil Dev	131	227	4,623.2	12867	434	29.64	2.78	63.90	17	23
10	Courtney Walsh	132	242	5,003.1	12688	519	24.44	2.53	57.80	32	22
11	Daniel Vettori	113	187	4,802.2	12441	362	34.36	2.59	79.50	19	20
12	Glenn McGrath	124	243	4,874.4	12186	563	21.64	2.49	51.90	28	29
13	Rangana Herath	93	170	4,332.1	12157	433	28.07	2.80	60.00	20	34
14	Tim Southee	107	203	3,915.0	11832	391	30.26	3.02	60.00	19	15
15	Mitchell Starc	105	202	3,335.3	11481	433	26.51	3.44	46.20	20	18
16	Makhaya Ntini	101	190	3,472.2	11242	390	28.82	3.23	53.40	19	18
17	Sir Ian Botham	102	168	3,635.5	10878	383	28.40	2.99	56.90	17	27
18	Chaminda Vaas	111	194	3,906.2	10501	355	29.58	2.68	66.00	20	12
19	Zaheer Khan	92	165	3,130.5	10247	311	32.94	3.27	60.40	15	11
20	Ishant Sharma	105	188	3,193.2	10078	311	32.40	3.15	61.60	10	11
21	Dale Steyn	93	171	3,101.2	10077	439	22.95	3.24	42.30	27	26
22	Wasim Akram	104	181	3,771.1	9779	414	23.62	2.59	54.60	20	25
23	Shaun Pollock	108	202	4,058.5	9733	421	23.11	2.39	57.80	23	16
24	Sir Richard Hadlee	86	150	3,653.0	9611	431	22.29	2.63	50.80	25	36
25	Brett Lee	76	150	2,755.1	9554	310	30.81	3.46	53.30	17	10
26	Jacques Kallis	166	272	3,372.0	9535	292	32.65	2.82	69.20	7	5
27	Danish Kaneria	61	112	2,949.3	9082	261	34.79	3.07	67.80	8	15
28	Lance Gibbs	79	148	4,519.1	8989	309	29.09	1.98	87.70	11	18
29	Mitchell Johnson	73	140	2,666.5	8891	313	28.40	3.33	51.10	16	12
30	Waqar Younis	87	154	2,704.0	8788	373	23.56	3.25	43.40	28	22
31	Ravindra Jadeja	89	167	3,373.3	8741	348	25.11	2.59	58.10	17	15
32	Trent Boult	78	149	2,902.5	8717	317	27.49	3.00	54.90	18	10
33	Morne Morkel	86	160	2,749.4	8550	309	27.66	3.10	53.30	18	8
34	Curtly Ambrose	98	179	3,683.5	8501	405	20.99	2.30	54.50	21	22
35	Dennis Lillee	70	132	3,077.5	8493	355	23.92	2.75	52.00	23	23
36	Craig McDermott	71	124	2,764.2	8332	291	28.63	3.01	56.90	17	14
37	Imran Khan	88	142	3,243.0	8258	362	22.81	2.54	53.70	17	23
38	Bob Willis	90	165	2,892.5	8190	325	25.20	2.83	53.40	12	16
39	Taijul Islam	60	107	2,665.5	8158	270	30.21	3.06	59.20	14	19
40	Kemar Roach	89	161	2,590.4	8051	300	26.83	3.10	51.80	15	12
41	Chris Martin	71	126	2,337.4	7878	233	33.81	3.37	60.10	10	10
42	Malcolm Marshall	81	151	2,930.4	7876	376	20.94	2.68	46.70	19	22
43	Shakib Al Hasan	71	121	2,612.3	7804	246	31.72	2.98	63.70	11	19
44	Abdul Qadir	67	111	2,854.2	7742	236	32.80	2.71	72.50	12	15
45	Abdul Qadir Khan	67	111	2,854.2	7742	236	32.80	2.71	72.50	12	15
46	Ben Stokes	121	180	2,301.3	7689	246	31.25	3.34	56.10	9	6
47	Derek Underwood	86	151	3,643.4	7674	297	25.83	2.10	73.60	13	17
48	Yasir Shah	48	89	2,375.5	7657	244	31.38	3.22	58.40	15	16
49	Graeme Swann	60	109	2,558.1	7642	255	29.96	2.98	60.10	14	17
50	Bishan Singh Bedi	67	118	3,560.4	7637	266	28.71	2.14	80.30	13	14
51	Moeen Ali	68	119	2,101.4	7612	204	37.31	3.62	61.80	13	5
52	Kagiso Rabada	73	134	2,239.2	7493	340	22.03	3.34	39.50	15	17
53	Andrew Flintoff	79	137	2,491.5	7410	226	32.78	2.97	66.10	11	3
54	Allan Donald	72	129	2,586.3	7344	330	22.25	2.83	47.00	11	20
55	Graham McKenzie	60	113	2,946.5	7328	246	29.78	2.48	71.80	7	16
56	Bhagwath Chandrasekhar	58	97	2,660.3	7199	242	29.74	2.70	65.90	12	16
57	Javagal Srinath	67	121	2,517.2	7196	236	30.49	2.85	64.00	8	10
58	Steve Harmison	63	115	2,229.1	7192	226	31.82	3.22	59.10	11	8
59	Neil Wagner	64	122	2,287.3	7169	260	27.57	3.13	52.70	13	9
60	Josh Hazlewood	76	143	2,570.3	7144	295	24.21	2.77	52.20	11	13
61	Mehidy Hasan Miraz	58	102	2,278.0	7052	219	32.20	3.09	62.40	9	14
62	Andy Caddick	62	105	2,259.4	6999	234	29.91	3.09	57.90	9	13
63	Pat Cummins	72	134	2,398.3	6946	315	22.05	2.89	45.60	17	14
64	Peter Siddle	67	126	2,317.5	6777	221	30.66	2.92	62.90	8	8
65	Jason Gillespie	71	137	2,372.2	6770	259	26.13	2.85	54.90	8	8
66	Fred Trueman	67	127	2,448.2	6625	307	21.58	2.71	47.85	19	17
67	Darren Gough	58	95	1,970.1	6503	229	28.39	3.30	51.60	14	9
68	Chris Cairns	62	104	1,949.4	6410	218	29.40	3.28	53.60	11	13
69	Keshav Maharaj	62	106	2,051.2	6370	218	29.22	3.10	56.40	6	12
70	Mohammad Shami	64	122	1,919.1	6346	229	27.71	3.30	50.20	12	6
71	Brian Statham	70	129	2,495.2	6261	252	24.85	2.51	59.41	9	9
72	Fidel Edwards	55	97	1,600.2	6249	165	37.87	3.90	58.10	3	12
73	Suranga Lakmal	70	122	2,073.5	6232	171	36.44	3.00	72.70	7	4
74	Saqlain Mushtaq	49	86	2,345.0	6206	208	29.83	2.64	67.60	12	13
75	Ravi Shastri	80	125	2,625.1	6185	151	40.96	2.35	104.30	11	2
76	Mushtaq Ahmed	52	89	2,088.4	6100	185	32.97	2.92	67.70	6	10
77	Heath Streak	65	102	2,259.5	6079	216	28.14	2.69	62.70	16	7
78	Stuart MacGill	44	85	1,872.5	6038	208	29.02	3.22	54.00	9	12
79	Merv Hughes	53	97	2,047.3	6017	212	28.38	2.93	57.90	14	7
80	Michael Holding	60	113	2,113.2	5898	249	23.68	2.79	50.90	11	13
81	Ashley Giles	54	88	2,030.0	5806	143	40.60	2.86	85.10	11	5
82	Sarfraz Nawaz	55	95	2,325.1	5798	177	32.75	2.49	78.80	14	4
83	Monty Panesar	50	85	2,079.1	5797	167	34.71	2.78	74.70	4	12
84	Dilruwan Perera	43	78	1,800.5	5780	161	35.90	3.20	67.10	8	8
85	Erapalli Prasanna	49	86	2,392.1	5742	189	30.38	2.40	75.90	17	10
86	Chris Woakes	62	118	1,869.5	5686	192	29.61	3.04	58.40	5	5
87	John Emburey	64	103	2,565.1	5646	147	38.40	2.20	104.70	5	6
88	Carl Hooper	102	145	2,299.0	5635	114	49.42	2.45	121.00	1	4
89	Srinivas Venkataraghavan	57	96	2,479.3	5634	156	36.11	2.27	95.30	7	3
90	Jeff Thomson	51	90	1,755.5	5601	200	28.00	3.18	52.60	16	8
91	Umar Gul	47	90	1,599.5	5553	163	34.06	3.47	58.80	12	4
92	Geoff Lawson	46	78	1,853.0	5501	180	30.56	2.96	61.70	6	11
93	Joel Garner	58	111	2,194.5	5433	259	20.97	2.47	50.80	18	7
94	John Snow	49	93	2,003.3	5387	202	26.66	2.68	59.50	12	8
95	Shannon Gabriel	59	104	1,563.1	5348	166	32.21	3.42	56.50	5	6
96	Umesh Yadav	57	112	1,496.3	5263	170	30.95	3.51	52.80	6	3
97	Ray Lindwall	61	113	1,971.2	5251	228	23.03	2.66	51.88	8	12
98	Vinoo Mankad	44	70	2,447.4	5236	162	32.32	2.13	90.60	10	8
99	Clarence Grimmett	36	67	2,408.5	5231	216	24.22	2.17	66.91	7	21
100	Andy Roberts	47	90	1,855.5	5174	202	25.61	2.78	55.10	8	11

Most Runs Conceded in Test Cricket

James Anderson has conceded the most runs in a Test career, 18627 across 188 matches, while taking 704 wickets. He is followed by Anil Kumble (18355), Muttiah Muralitharan (18180) and Shane Warne (17995).

In Tests this is very much a longevity list: bowling long spells over five-day matches for years is what puts a bowler here, and most of these names are among the greatest wicket-takers too. Last updated 9 September, 2026.

Most Runs Conceded in Test Cricket

Most Runs Conceded in Test Cricket

Most Runs Conceded in Test Cricket – FAQs

Match Alerts