Steve Smith finishes 2015 Test cricket’s leading runscorer

A week after he was crowned the ICC’s Cricketer of the Year, Australian captain Steve Smith is again on top of the world.

Smith finished 2015 as the leading run scorer in Test cricket, becoming the fifth Australian to achieve that feat since 2000 and third in the last four years.

Smith scored 1474 runs from 13 Tests at an average of 73.70 with six centuries, including a career-best 215 against England at Lords, and five half-centuries.

Smith finished ahead of English duo Joe Root (1375 runs) and captain Alistair Cook (1364).

David Warner (1317) and Adam Voges (1028 in his debut year) were the other Australians to go past the magical 1000 runs in a calendar year.

New Zealand star Kane Williamson scored 1172 runs from just eight Tests at the stunning average of 90.15.

It’s the second consecutive year that Smith, who was crowned the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy winner just before the Boxing Day Test, has gone past 1000 runs in Tests. 

He scored 1146 in his breakout year of 2014.

Smith also remains unbeaten as Australian captain from his eight Tests in charge.

Aussie paceman Josh Hazlewood will finish the year the third-highest wicket taker in Tests with 51 scalps at an average of 23.35 behind Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin (61 wickets) and England paceman Stuart Broad, who can add to his tally of 55 wickets on the final day of their Test with South Africa in Durban tonight.

Spinner Nathan Lyon ended 2015 with 48 wickets at 28.72 with Mitchell Starc Australia’s next best with 46 (28.06).

Smith was Australia’s leading run scorer in one-day internationals in 2015 with 805 from 17 knocks at the average of 53.66.

Starc will finish the year the leading ODI wicket taker on 41 should New Zealander Trent Boult take four wickets or less in the Black Caps clash with Sri Lanka in Nelson on New Year’s Eve, the last match of 2015.