 Over Boycott's 18-year career he scored 8,114 runs in 108 Test matches for England. He was the first England cricketer to pass 8,000 Test runs and, as of 2015, is sixth on England's all-time run scoring list (behind Alastair Cook, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, David Gower and Kevin Pietersen). His average of 47.72 runs over 193 innings is the highest completed career average among England players since 1970. His Test career included 22 centuries (an England record held jointly with Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey, Kevin Pietersen, and current England captain Alastair Cook until December 2012 when Cook made his 23rd England century). England did not lose a Test match in which he scored a century and only 20 of his 108 Tests ended in defeat. John Arlott wrote in 1979 that "any expectation of an English win, except in freak bowling conditions, is based on a major innings from Boycott."
