Cricket in 2023: Usman Khawaja, Ashleigh Gardner and other top performers in Test format

The cricketing calendar has been getting busier with each passing year and it certainly was no different in 2023, which was packed to the rafters with three different ICC world events along with a Men’s Asia Cup. The sport also made a return to the Asian Games that took place in Hangzhou, China after skipper the 2018 edition in Jakarta. **Rewind 2023: Looking back at cricket's highs and lows this year through numbers** It was also the year that witnessed some of the most thrilling finishes in recent years, including Australia’s nerve-wracking chase of 282 at Edgbaston in this year’s Ashes. There were other noteworthy moments such as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India women’s team beating both England and Australia in a space of 10 days in dominant fashion — by 347 runs and 8 wickets respectively. The Indian men’s team reached the ICC World Test Championship final for a second consecutive time after winning yet another edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and would once again finish runners-up with a 209-run defeat at The Oval. **Rewind 2023: India dominates all formats, only to miss out on ICC trophies** More recently, they arrived in South Africa hoping to conquer the ‘Final Frontier’ — beating the Proteas in a Test series in their own backyard. An innings and 32-run defeat in Centurion inside three days however, put paid to those hopes. As the year draws to a close, we take a look at some of the top performers in both the men’s and women’s game in Test cricket: Most runs Men: Usman Khawaja (Australia): 1,210 Steve Smith (Australia): 929 Travis Head (Australia): 919 Marnus Labuschagne (Australia): 803 Joe Root (England): 787 Women: Tammy Beaumont (England): 257 Annabel Sutherland (Australia): 195 Beth Mooney (Australia): 191 Tahlia McGrath (Australia): 185 Jemimah Rodrigues (India): 180 Most wickets: Men: Nathan Lyon (Australia): 47 Pat Cummins (Australia): 42 Ravichandran Ashwin (India): 41 Stuart Broad (England): 38 Mitchell Starc (Australia): 38 Women: Ashleigh Gardner (Australia): 17 Sophie Ecclestone (England): 15 Deepti Sharma (India): 11 Pooja Vastrakar (India): 9 Sneh Rana (India): 9 Winners of major events: Men’s World Test Championship Final: Australia Men’s Ashes: Drawn (Australia retained) Women’s Ashes: Drawn (Australia retained)