Ben Stokes leads all-time Test sixes list with 136 as of 18 August 2026
England’s Ben Stokes leads Test cricket for career sixes, having struck 136 in 206 Test innings, with the figures current through 18 August 2026.
Test cricket has long been framed as a contest of batsmanship and bowling across five-day matches since its inception in 1877; the format has evolved over the last 146 years and now increasingly rewards six-hitting as a specialist skill, a trend noted alongside England’s contemporary ‘Bazball’ approach.
Stokes occupies the top position with 136 sixes and moved ahead of Brendon McCullum to claim the record; his Test career totals include more than 7,000 runs in 115 matches, in excess of 200 wickets and 14 centuries.
Brendon McCullum finished with 107 sixes and amassed 6,453 runs in 101 Tests, including 12 centuries; Adam Gilchrist was the first player to reach the 100-six milestone, scoring his 100th against Sri Lanka in Hobart while compiling 5,570 runs in 96 Tests batting at number seven. Rishabh Pant is India’s leading Test six-hitter with 100 sixes; he made his Test debut in 2018 and is described in the record as having established himself as one of the best wicket-keeper batters in the format.
Chris Gayle and Tim Southee each recorded 98 Test sixes. Gayle appeared in 103 Tests, scoring 7,214 runs in 182 innings at an average of 42.18 with a strike rate of 60.26 and 15 centuries, finishing his career two sixes short of 100. Southee’s Test record includes 98 sixes, 2,245 runs across 156 innings and a debut match in which he took a five-for in the first innings and scored 77 off 40 balls, including nine sixes, against England in 2008.
Jacques Kallis ended his Test career with 97 sixes from 166 matches, 13,289 runs at an average of 55.37 and 45 centuries, and he also took 292 wickets. Virender Sehwag is listed with 91 sixes in 180 Test innings and is noted for scoring two triple centuries twice alongside Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle, and for producing quick starts as an opening batter.
Angelo Mathews recorded 90 sixes in 119 Tests, compiling 8,214 runs at an average of 44.40 with 16 centuries and 45 fifties between 2009 and 2025. Rohit Sharma hit 88 sixes in 67 Tests, scored 4,301 runs and retired from Test cricket in May 2025 after leading India to the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final, where India lost to Australia. Brian Charles Lara finished with 88 sixes from 232 innings across 131 Tests, scoring 11,953 runs at an average of 52.88 and a strike rate of 60.51 while facing bowlers such as Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Only four batters — Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, Ben Stokes and Rishabh Pant — have reached 100 or more Test sixes, and all statistics cited here are updated through 18 August 2026.
