Country-Wise Leading Test Players: Players with most Test appearances

Test cricket is the ultimate honour for any cricketer and a dream of all budding cricketers. Some manage to reach this level after a lot of hard work and toil, while others are naturally gifted and make Test cricket seem easy. There have been many players who managed only one or a handful of Tests for their countries. While there have been multiple players to have played more than 100 Tests and one player-Sachin Tendulkar, to have played 200 Tests for his country. One more name will get added to the list of cricketers to have played 100 or more Tests when England captain Ben Stokes leads the side against India in the upcoming third Test of the five-match series. This match will be played in Rajkot from February 15 onwards and will mark Ben Stokes’ 100th Test for England. With this theme in mind. Here are the Country-wise players who have played most Tests for their respective countries (major Test-playing nations only*): England- James Anderson (184 Tests*) James Anderson vs Aus 2013. (Photo Source: Stu Forster/Getty Images) The legendary England pacer James Anderson had made his Test debut in 2003 and is still going strong 21 years later. He is 41 years old and still making the ball swing and seam though at a lot slower speeds than his young days. Anderson has played 184 Tests till now including the recent match against India in Vizag and is expected to add more to his tally. He holds the record for most Test played by a fast bowler and most Tests played by an England player. The second spot goes to his long-time opening bowling partner Stuart Broad who retired last year after playing 167 Tests. Anderson has the most wickets by any pacer with 695 scalps at an average of 26.34 and a strike rate of 56.7. He is third on the list of most Test wickets behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets) and Shane Warne (708 wickets). Australia- Steve Waugh (168 Tests) Steve Waugh. (Photo Source: Professional Sport/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images) Steve Waugh, legendary batter and captain, holds the record for most Tests played by an Australian. He played 168 Tests from 1985 to 2004. He made his debut against India in Melbourne and played his last Test against India as well, in Sydney. Waugh is tied with Ricky Ponting at 168 Tests with Allan Border coming in next with 156 matches in the longest format. Steve Waugh scored 10927 runs in 168 Tests with 32 centuries and 50 fifties to his name. His highest score was 200 with an average of 51.06. He also took 92 wickets with his medium-pace bowling with best figures of 5/28. Waugh captained Australia in 57 Tests, winning 41 of them and losing 9 with a success rate of 82%. He holds the record for most consecutive Test wins as captain, winning 16 Tests on a trot. South Africa- Jacques Kallis (166 Tests) Kallis 2013 (Photo Source: Twitter) South Africa resumed their Test journey in 1992 after a 22-year ban due to their apartheid-supporting government. Since then, the Proteas have become one of the top teams in the world. Jacques Kallis is responsible for some of the good names that the South African team has earned. Kallis made his Test debut in 1995 and went on to play 168 Tests for his team. He scored 13289 runs with 45 centuries and 58 fifties to his name with the best of 224. He averaged 55.37 and also took 200 catches. Not only with the bat, Kallis excelled with the ball as well, taking 292 wickets at an average of 32.65 and best bowling of 6/54 in an innings and 9/92 in a Test. He played his final Test in 2013 against India. West Indies- Shivnarine Chanderpaul (164 Tests) Having played his early career in the shadow of Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul became the mainstay of West Indies batting once the great man retired. Chanderpaul made his West Indies Test debut in 1994 against England. He managed to score 11867 runs while playing the most Tests for his team, 164. He averaged 51.37 and made 30 centuries and 66 fifties with the best score of 203*. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was known for his front-on batting stance, and also captained West Indies in 14 Tests, winning just one and losing 10 matches. He carried on in international cricket after the age of 40 and only announced his retirement in 2016 having last played for West Indies in 2015 and selectors moving on from him. New Zealand- Daniel Vettori (113 Tests) Daniel Vettori (Photo Sorce: X/Twitter) Daniel Vettori has played the most Tests for New Zealand-113, tied with legendary batter Ross Taylor. However, Vettori had made his debut before Taylor, as the bespectacled left-arm spinner was the youngest Kiwi to debut in Test cricket at the age of 18 in 1997 against England. He went on to achieve success with both the ball and the bat for his side. In 113 Tests, Vettori picked 362 wickets at an average of 34.36. His best bowling was 7/87 in an innings and 12/149 in a Test. With the bat, Vettori made 4531 runs with six centuries and a best score of 140 with an average of 30. He retired from Test cricket in 2014 and since then has gone into coaching various sides. He is currently the assistant coach of the Australian team. Pakistan- Javed Miandad (124 Tests) Javed Miandad. (Photo Source: Patrick Eagar/Popperfoto via Getty Images) Javed Miandad holds the record for playing the most Tests for Pakistan- 124. He made his debut as a teenager in 1976 and his career spanned till 1993 in the longest format. Miandad played 124 Tests and scored 8832 runs with an average of 52.57. He is one of the few batters whose Test average never went below 50 since debut. His highest score was 280*, which came against arch-rivals India. Javed Miandad is considered to be one of the all-time greatest batters thanks to his ability to counter-spin and pace with equal skill. He captained Pakistan for the first time at the age of 22 and led them in several stints. He led Pakistan in 34 Tests in all, winning 14 and losing six Tests. He remains the youngest batter to score a Test double century, a feat he achieved at the age of 19 years. Sri Lanka- Mahela Jayawardene (149 Tests) Aravinda de Silva and Mahela Jayawardene (Photo Source: Twitter) Mahela Jayawardene has the record for playing most Tests, 149, for Sri Lanka. He made his Test debut against India in 1997 in the famous match where Sri Lanka posted the highest Test team total of 952/6d. He scored a brilliant fifty in that innings on his debut. Later he went on to become the premier batter of Sri Lanka and the backbone of his team’s batting with Kumar Sangakkara. Jayawardene made 11814 runs in 149 Tests with a best of 374 and an average of 49.84. He hit 34 centuries and 50 fifties to his name. He holds the record for the highest partnership in Tests, 624 with Sangakkara, which came against South Africa in 2006. He also captained Sri Lanka in 38 Tests, winning 18 and losing 12. India- Sachin Tendulkar (200 Tests) The record for playing most Tests for India is held by none other than Sachin Tendulkar. He played 200 Tests, a world record as well, and is the only player to reach this milestone in Test format. Tendulkar is considered to be one of the all-time greatest batters along with Sir Don Bradman and Sir Viv Richards. Tendulkar made his debut at the age of 16 against Pakistan in 1989 and went on to score a world record 15921 runs with a record 51 centuries and 68 fifties to his name. He averaged 53.78 and his highest score was 248* which came against Bangladesh. He also took 46 wickets with the ball. Tendulkar’s Test career spanned more than 24 years, having debuted in 1989 and calling time in 2013 at his home ground in Mumbai.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

IPL 2025 Auction

IPL Teams

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

Country-Wise Leading Test Players: Players with most Test appearances

Country wise players who have played most Tests for their respective countries.

West Indies- Shivnarine Chanderpaul (164 Tests)

Latest Articles

WPL Auction 2025: RCB strengthen squad with versatile picks

Who is Simran Shaikh? GG's INR 1.9-crore buy at WPL Auction

Guha's comments on Bumrah reminds fans of 'Monkeygate' row