Many players have had stellar starts to their career, but what sets them apart from the true greats is how they progress past what can even be referred to as beginner’s luck. Longevity in cricket is a quality only a special few players have.
Although 5,000 runs was once a massive milestone for a player (back when entire careers would only span 50-60 Tests), the tally has become more of a default landmark nowadays — a mark that a batter is, as the title of this article would suggest — truly worth their salt. However, it would seem that players from older times populate this list with far more frequency than their modern counterparts. Here are the top 10 Test batters fastest to 5,000 runs.
List of Test batters fastest to 5,000 runs
| Player | Opposition | Ground | Match Date | Debut | Time | Mat | Inns | Scorecard |
| DG Bradman (AUS) | v England | Leeds | 22 Jul 1938 | 30 Nov 1928 | 9y 234d | 36 | 56 | Test # 265 |
| JB Hobbs (ENG) | v Australia | Melbourne | 8 Mar 1929 | 1 Jan 1908 | 21y 66d | 55 | 91 | Test # 180 |
| GS Sobers (WI) | v England | Leeds | 4 Aug 1966 | 30 Mar 1954 | 12y 127d | 56 | 95 | Test # 608 |
| SM Gavaskar (INDIA) | v Australia | Bengaluru | 19 Sep 1979 | 6 Mar 1971 | 8y 197d | 52 | 95 | Test # 856 |
| IVA Richards (WI) | v England | Birmingham | 14 Jun 1984 | 22 Nov 1974 | 9y 205d | 64 | 95 | Test # 989 |
| ML Hayden (AUS) | v Sri Lanka | Cairns | 9 Jul 2004 | 4 Mar 1994 | 10y 127d | 55 | 95 | Test # 1706 |
| WR Hammond (ENG) | v Australia | Sydney | 18 Dec 1936 | 24 Dec 1927 | 8y 360d | 59 | 97 | Test # 256 |
| KF Barrington (ENG) | v South Africa | The Oval | 26 Aug 1965 | 9 Jun 1955 | 10y 78d | 61 | 97 | Test # 596 |
| SPD Smith (AUS) | v India | Ranchi | 16 Mar 2017 | 13 Jul 2010 | 6y 246d | 53 | 97 | Test # 2256 |
| L Hutton (ENG) | v South Africa | Leeds | 26 Jul 1951 | 26 Jun 1937 | 14y 30d | 55 | 98 | Test # 337 |
1. Don BradmContents
1. Don Bradman (Australia)
a mark of how insanely good Bradman was that he got to such a record league ahead of his nearest peer. While his closest competitor got to 5,000 runs in 91 innings, Bradman got there in an inhuman, mind-shattering 56. After making his debut in November 1928, it took Bradman 9 years and 234 days to get to this milestone. In the match where he got to this landmark, Bradman made 119 in total, including a century in the first innings. It was held at Leeds while Australia were on a visit to
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, and the visitors went on to win the match comfortably.
2. Sir Jack 2. Sir Jack Hobbs (England)
ve come second on this list, but he still holds the record as the oldest batter to score a century, having made one at the ripe old age — by cricketing standards — of 46. A legend by any batting metric, Hobbs’ name is a firm fixture in the history books. His rise to 5,000 came in March 1929, a long 21 years after the start of his career — albeit just 91 innings into it. The match in question was a hard-fought battle in Melbourne, where England failed to triumph against hosts Australia despite Hobbs’ 207 runs across two innings.
3. Sir Garfield Sobers3. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
here are few players that can rival Sobers’ skills in the game. Twelve years and 127 days after the start of his career— or 95 innings — Sobers cracked 5k while thrashing England in their own backyard. In what was a massive innings-and-55-run victory, Sobers made 174 before picking up 8 wickets to absolutely dismantle the inventors of the game. There’s a reason why the man was knighted.
4. Sunil Gavaskar (India)
4. Sunil Gavaskar (India)
href="https://www.cric-life.com/article/why-is-sachin-tendulkar-the-master-blaster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sachin Tendulkar, Gavaskar was even more prolific as far as scoring rate early in his career is concerned. He got to his 5,000-run milestone in just 8 years and 197 days, in a drawn match against Australia at Bengaluru that India could likely have won had the elements not interfered. It was Gavaskar’s 95th innings, and he scored just 10 runs in India’s only innings, but those were all he needed to get there.
5. Sir Vivian Richards (West Indie5. Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies)
r story of them absolutely destroying England in their own home to assert their dominance. Richards made 117 in the only innings the West Indies played at this Birmingham Test, getting past 5,000 in just 95 innings just like the two players before him on this list. It took him 9 years and 205 days to get to the milestone.
6. Matthew Hayden (Australia)
6. Matthew Hayden (Australia)
the game, Hayden was, for a glorious 6 months in his career, the holder of the highest individual score in the history of cricket. He is the fourth player on this list to have reached 5,000 runs in his 95th innings, and he got there in 10 years and 127 days. In the match where he reached the milestone, Australia drew against Sri Lanka at Cairns, with Hayden being deemed the player of the match for getting centuries in both innings for a total of 288 runs.
7. Wally Hammond (England)
3. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
here are few players that can rival Sobers’ skills in the game. Twelve years and 127 days after the start of his career— or 95 innings — Sobers cracked 5k while thrashing England in their own backyard. In what was a massive innings-and-55-run victory, Sobers made 174 before picking up 8 wickets to absolutely dismantle the inventors of the game. There’s a reason why the man was knighted.4. Sunil Gavaskar (India)
4. Sunil Gavaskar (India)
href="https://www.cric-life.com/article/why-is-sachin-tendulkar-the-master-blaster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sachin Tendulkar, Gavaskar was even more prolific as far as scoring rate early in his career is concerned. He got to his 5,000-run milestone in just 8 years and 197 days, in a drawn match against Australia at Bengaluru that India could likely have won had the elements not interfered. It was Gavaskar’s 95th innings, and he scored just 10 runs in India’s only innings, but those were all he needed to get there.5. Sir Vivian Richards (West Indie5. Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies)
r story of them absolutely destroying England in their own home to assert their dominance. Richards made 117 in the only innings the West Indies played at this Birmingham Test, getting past 5,000 in just 95 innings just like the two players before him on this list. It took him 9 years and 205 days to get to the milestone.
6. Matthew Hayden (Australia)
6. Matthew Hayden (Australia)
the game, Hayden was, for a glorious 6 months in his career, the holder of the highest individual score in the history of cricket. He is the fourth player on this list to have reached 5,000 runs in his 95th innings, and he got there in 10 years and 127 days. In the match where he reached the milestone, Australia drew against Sri Lanka at Cairns, with Hayden being deemed the player of the match for getting centuries in both innings for a total of 288 runs.
7. Wally Hammond (England)
7. Wally Hammond (England)ralia in Sydney in the Australian summer of 1936 wasn’t just instrumental in thumping a Bradman-featured home side by the margin of an innings, it also got him past 5,000 Test runs. The match only contained one English innings, and it was Hammond’s 97th ever, coming just under 9 days after his debut.
8. Ken Barrington (England)
Te
8. Ken Barrington (England)
Ken Barrington was playing against South Africa at the Oval when he surpassed the 5,000-run mark courtesy of the 91 total runs he made in that Test. It was Barrington’s 97th innings, and the match went on to end in a draw.9. Steven Smith (Australia)
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9. Steven Smith (Australia)
modern era, and the only person on this list to have played in this millennium, Smith has been an integral part of the Australian middle order for several years now. He was also the fastest to get to this milestone thanks to the increased frequency of cricket matches nowadays, taking just 6 years and 246 days to get there. Smith reached the landmark in his 97th innings, and his combined 199 over both innings against India at Ranchi — including a massive 178 in the first innings — helped the visitors reach a draw.10. Len Hutton (England)
One of Engl