BORDER, ALLAN ROBERT

born July 27, 1955, Cremorne, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia Australian cricketer who became the all-time leading run-scorer in Test (international) matches in 1993. A left-handed batsman and bowler, Border grew up in Sydney and entered first-class cricket in 1977. He played his first Test match in Melbourne in 197879, captained the Queensland team in 198384, and succeeded Kim Hughes as captain of the Australia team in the 198485 season. Border became the most prolific batsman in Australian Test history and maintained a Test average of about 51 despite captaining a losing side throughout much of his career. In 1993 he surpassed the Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar's record of 10,122 runs to become the highest run scorer in Test cricket history. Border played in more Test matches (150 by the 199293 season) than any other player in history. He led Australia to victory over England in the 1987 World Cup competition.