Top 10 Test match run-scorers of the decade
Over the last decade, there has been an awful lot of changes in cricket, all over the world.
T20 cricket has come to the fore all over the world, and many people will argue that it has led to a decline in standards of Test match batting. There has certainly been a drop in the number of traditional Test match batsmen playing the game, as a lot more batsmen now look to play their shots and get runs quickly.
We have also seen changes at the top in Test cricket. England topped the world rankings for the first time earlier in the decade, after some impressive wins, which included series wins in Australia and New Zealand.
However, that team fell apart after the series defeat at home to South Africa in 2012, which was marred by the controversy caused by Kevin Pietersen sending texts about captain Andrew Strauss to the South African players.
South Africa and Australia also spent time at the top of the world rankings, with both sides building fine seam bowling attacks that enjoyed success around the world.
The decade ends with India at the top of the world rankings, having picked up an impressive victory away in Australia at the end of last year. They still have a number of players at the peak of their powers, so could hold on to that spot for a few years yet.
There have been some fine individual performances this decade, with a number of them coming with the bat. Here are the top ten highest Test match run-scorers of the decade.
#10 Ross Taylor (New Zealand)- 5,486 runs
Taylor is one of the few players on this list who made his Test match debut comfortably before the start of the decade. He was seen as more of a white-ball player when he first came into the New Zealand side, but he has really established himself as a top Test match batsman since his debut. Taylor has amassed 5,486 runs this decade, scoring 15 centuries, as well as 25 half-centuries.
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His finest knock of the decade, and perhaps in his whole career, came in 2015, when he scored 290, the highest score of his career. It was a typical Taylor innings, as he showed power, and a fair bit of control, in an innings that also saw him put on a 265-run partnership with captain Kane Williamson. At 35, he may not have too long left at the top, but he has certainly had a superb career so far.