Top five: England's leading run scorers

**Alastair Cook (12,145 runs in 156 Tests)**At the top of the tree is Alastair Cook, the 33-year-old former England captain, who is also in the running to break the all-time record for most Test runs currently held by India's Sachin Tendulkar, who ended with 15,921 runs. The only active batsman on this list, Cook has the most centuries (32) and the most half-centuries (56) for England, and has also played the most number of Tests (156). The left-handed opening batsman might have slowed down a bit of late but there's little doubt that he will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Test batsmen in England's cricketing history.

**Graham Gooch (8900 runs in 118 Tests)**Gooch held the record for the most Test runs for England for nearly 12 years – 7951 days to be precise – before Cook surpassed his tally. Gooch, who played most of his cricket alongside David Gower, had a two-decade-long career for England from 1975 to 1995, and scored runs all over the world. His career-best knock of 333 against India at Lord's in 1990 remains the third-highest Test score by an England batsman after Len Hutton's 364 and Wally Hammond's 336*. Gooch scored 20 Test centuries.

**Alec Stewart (8463 runs in 133 Tests)**Gower's dusk was Stewart's dawn as the right-handed wicket-keeper batsman took over the role of the middle-order lynchpin from Gower and combined with other prolific batsmen of his era, including Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, to form one of the most formidable batting line-ups of the 1990s. Stewart averaged 39.54 with the bat in addition to keeping wickets, which makes his achievement all the more remarkable. He has 15 Test centuries to his name.

**David Gower (8231 runs in 117 Tests)**One of the most stylish left-handed batsmen in the history of the game, Gower led England's scoring charts for a brief period before being overtaken by Gooch. Gower dominated most bowling attacks throughout the 1980s, having debuted in 1978, and became England's leading run scorer in Tests on 6 July 1992 after he surpassed Geoffrey Boycott's 8114. Gower scored 18 Test centuries.

More than his runs, though, it was the touch of class and lazy left-handed elegance that he brought to the table that made Gower stand out.

**Kevin Pietersen (8181 runs in 104 Tests)**During his playing days, Pietersen was one of the mainstays of every English XI that took the field, across formats, and was the star of the team for the best part of his 104 Tests. At one stage, he was the fourth-highest run-scorer for England in Tests before Cook overtook him. He also has 23 Test centuries, the second-most for England after Cook, and one wonders where he might have ended had his career not been blighted by controversy.

* denoting the player is still active