After a scintillating year of cricket in 2024, the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast team have picked Wisden's top ten men's Test innings of 2024 - here are the knocks that made the list.
No.10 Tom Latham 86 v India, Pune
The only non-century innings on this list - though Alex Carey's chase-acing 98* at Christchurch is unlucky not to make the cut. This was the knock that confirmed India's first home defeat in 12 years, a masterclass against spin in a game where only one wicket fell to seam throughout. Latham's record against the best teams and in the toughest conditions has at times come under question. This innings ticked both boxes as he led the Blackcaps to one of the most remarkable results in Test history.
No.9 Kamindu Mendis 113 v England, Old Trafford
The third of five centuries for Kamindu Mendis in an extraordinary breakout year was the standout, threatening an almighty upset and confirming he was a batter for all climes and situations. Coming in at No.7 with Sri Lanka still in arrears - a well-deserved promotion wouldn't come until after the England tour - Mendis batted like an experienced pro, rather than a youngster on his first tour outside Asia, particularly impressive square of the wicket.
When his hundred came up with another slash behind point, just after the second new ball was taken, Sri Lanka had taken their lead past 150, and when Mendis crunched Gus Atkinson for three fours in an over, they weren't far off being favourites. But the new ball told, England held Sri Lanka at arm's length in a chase of 205, and the upset would have to wait. But only for a week or so.
No.8 Rachin Ravindra 134 v India, Bangalore
Ordinarily, a No.4 making a century after coming in at 142-2, the lead already up near 100 after a first-innings skittling, wouldn't qualify for this kind of list. But nothing else about the innings was ordinary. Against India in India, a decade of destruction has shown that no match situation is so desperate to be out of reach, and they would need every one of their 402 first-innings runs as Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant charged in the third innings. Ravindra also showed all of his technical security and attacking sensibilities in taking down India's fabled spin attack, crashing four sixes to set up one of Test cricket's most extraordinary series results.
No.7 Yashasvi Jaiswal 161 vs Australia, Perth
Among his many, many talents, perhaps the one that most marks Yashasvi Jaiswal out for greatness is how quickly he learns. His first innings in Australia, the acid test for any Indian batter, came and went in eight balls, driving aggressively and edging to gully for a duck. India collapsed to 150 all out, and though Jasprit Bumrah hauled the tourists back into the game, this had the feeling of a low-scoring crapshoot. Instead, Jaiswal and KL Rahul draped a fire blanket over the Perth scorcher, batting out the remainder of day two in astonishingly cool fashion.
While Rahul fell not long into day three, Jaiswal stuck around long enough to put on an epic, setting up a win that continued India's dominance over Australia. This time, it couldn't last, but Jaiswal would continue to show he could ace the overseas challenge.
No.6 Cameron Green 174* vs New Zealand, Wellington
A common theme of discussion this year has been anointing a new Fab Four, with that previous quartet on diverging stages of their journeys and a new generation of batting talent emerging. One name strangely absent from much of the conversation was Australia's Cameron Green, likely due to a combination of his late-year injury struggles and all-rounder status. However, on Leap Day, in what would turn out to be his penultimate Test of the year, Green played an innings to show he deserved to be considered among the most exciting young players in the world, and that he could be the fulcrum of an Australian line-up in transition.
Batting at No.4 for just the fourth time, Green saw the luxury of a half-century opening stand drain away, with no one else in the batting order able to make it to fifty. On a surface which offered assistance to seamers and spinners throughout, only two New Zealanders, and no other Australians raised their bats during the game for a half-century. When Matt Henry, after Jasprit Bumrah the bowler of the year, claimed his fourth to leave Australia nine down late on the first day, it looked as if Green, on 91 at the time, would be deprived a second milestone celebration. Instead, in partnership with Josh Hazlewood, he added a century stand, took his side to an imposing total, and propelled his own innings into the realms of the truly great.
No.5 Litton Das 138 vs Pakistan, Rawalpindi
Bangladesh were threatening their lowest-ever Test score when Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz came together in Rawalpindi. At 26-6, one wicket away from the tail, a defeat after going 1-0 up would have continued a frustrating year. Dogged by controversy heightened by protests back home, Das hit back over the course of four hours to mount a comeback for the ages.
By the time their partnership was broken, they had added 165 runs. A secondary partnership between Das and Hasan Mahmud (in which Das scored 55 of their 69 runs) brought them near parity with Pakistan’s first innings. Bangladesh went on to secure a six wicket victory, rivalling those they scripted in New Zealand in 2022.
No.4 Yashasvi Jaiswal 209 vs England, Visakhapatnam
After the first Test defeat in Hyderabad, India needed to hit back with a statement in Visakhapatnam. It was thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who ascended to prodigal status in 2024, that they got it. His 209 in India’s first innings was the only score above 34, and his treatment of England’s spinners in particular was spectacular. It was the first of two doubles for Jaiswal in the series, the second coming in the following game at Rajkot. Having broken through in 2023, it was 2024 which showed the actual heights Jaiswal has the potential to reach.
No.3 Harry Brook 123 vs New Zealand, Wellington
Few players at the same point in their careers as Brook can point to dominance in one country as he can in New Zealand. Already with greatness under his belt on England’s previous tour 12 months ago, he transcended those standards on their last assignment of 2024. After scoring 171 amid a series of dropped catches from New Zealand in the first Test, his 123 in Wellington was materially the better knock.
England were 43-4 before Brook came together with Pope to change the narrative. It was innings that epitomised why Brook is so much better than the rest - he can take risks they cannot. His second-fastest century and more than half of England’s innings total, it was the archetypal counter-attack to find success among the carnage.
No.2 Ollie Pope 196 vs India, Hyderabad
Facing down another arduous tour of India, with a young spin attack and questions over how well their attacking batters would fare on Indian pitches, England followed that script when they were bowled out for 246 on day one of the series. Having conceded a near-200 run first innings deficit, they were staring down a long barrel.
But, Ollie Pope dragged the match back into England’s hands single-handedly. While questions had persisted on Pope’s ability to construct an innings under pressure, here he faced down India’s relentless attack and trusted his instincts to get within four runs of a double, having faced just 208 balls. It was the pivotal chapter of a historic win, completed by Tom Hartley’s seven-for. Pope’s innings added to the echelons of great England batters in India, rivaling the contributions Kevin Pietersen, Alastair Cook and Joe Root from the modern era.
No.1 Aiden Markram 106 vs India, Cape Town
On a surface so weighted in favour of bowlers it was later sanctioned by the ICC, Aiden Markram battled to a century against all the odds after South Africa were skittled for 55 on the opening morning. India hit just shy of 100 more than that in reply before Markram executed a gameplan on the impossible pitch to near perfection.
He stayed leg side, swerving the balls which reared up off cracks in the surface and got on top of those that scuttled through. He pounced on anything pulled back to short or overpitched, finding a way to score among a minefield. Of the 27 boundaries in South Africa's innings, Markram hit 19 of them to set-up a 79-run target to India, which was by no means a comfortable chase. In that ridiculous Test match as Dean Elgar faded into retirement, Markram finally embodied his status as South Africa's most important batter, and started their charge to the World Test Championship final.
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