3 highest run-getters for Australia at Headingley in Test cricket
After a highly dramatic second Test at Lord's, England and Australia are set to collide in the third Ashes Test from Thursday, July 6, to Monday, July 10. The clash is scheduled to be hosted at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds.
Australia, who hold a 2-0 series lead, will try to win the Headingley Test and claim the illustrious urn. Before staging a resounding victory in Lord's, they won the curtain-raiser in Birmingham in a nail-biting affair.
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Australia have played 26 Test matches at Headingley, winning nine of them and losing as many. The remaining eight matches have been ended in a draw.
They won their very first Test match at Headingley way back in 1909. Since then, 114 years have gone by, and fans have witnessed numerous dominant Aussie victories at this venue. Many of those wins have come due to some extraordinary batting displays from some of the greats of the game.
On that note, let's take a look at the top three run-getters for Australia in Test cricket at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds, England.
#3 Neil Harvey - 427 runs
The senior-most name on the list, Neil Harvey is Australia's third highest run-getter in Tests in Leeds. The gifted left-handed batter scored 427 runs at an average of 61.00 in the four Tests he played at the venue.
A thrilling batter with a masterful strokeplay, Harvey scored over 6,000 Test runs in 79 matches, including 24 half-centuries and 21 tons. It is worth mentioning that he amassed six centuries in his first 13 Test innings alone.
#2 Ricky Ponting - 493 runs
Arguably Australia's greatest ever skipper, Ricky Ponting always led by example. He captained his troops for two consecutive ICC ODI World Cup titles, as well as a couple of ICC Champions Trophy titles and the No. 1 Test ranking.
As a batter, he scored runs at will and also enjoyed batting against England. Against his arch-rivals, Ponting scored 2,476 runs at an average of 44.76 across 35 Tests.
As far as batting in Leeds is concerned, the right-hander was a different beast altogether, scoring 493 runs in only six innings. In the six times he batted at the venue, only once did Ponting miss out on a half-century.
#1 Sir Don Bradman - 963 runs
![The legendary Sir Don Bradman in action for his country [Credits: Cricket Australia]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/07/537b4-16886210823640-1920.jpg)
Sir Don Bradman is another name that pops up when we talk about the greatest Australian cricketers of all time. Like many on that illustrious list, he too dominated in matches against England. With jaw-dropping Test numbers, Bradman will always be remembered as one of the greatest batters of all time.
He holds the record for the highest Test batting average of 99.94, which is unlikely to ever be broken. Bradman scored 29 centuries and 13 half-centuries in Test cricket, and his highest score was 334. He played the majority of his cricket against England, scoring 5,028 runs at an average of 89.78 in 63 innings.
Unlike many overseas batters, Bradman used to bring out his best while playing in in England. He mustered a total of 2,674 runs at an outlandish average of 102.84 in the country.
The legendary batter scored 963 runs at the Headingley Cricket Ground. No other batter has managed to score more runs than him at the venue. Bradman's last three scores at innings at the stadium spectacularly read 334, 304, and 103.
Also Read: "You would have to call him the second-best since Sir Donald Bradman" - Nasser Hussain ahead of Steve Smith's 100th Test