2018 was one of the toughest years for batsmen in Test cricket as most of the pitches all over the world were bowler friendly and only five out of forty eight Tests ended in a draw. New Zealand were the Test team of this year as they beat England after 35 years at home and clinched their first series against Pakistan away from home after 49 years.
England too bounced back after disappointing Ashes and New Zealand series to beat India by 4-1 at home and whitewashed Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Ireland and Afghanistan made their Test debut. Players like Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Mohammad Abbas etc were outstanding throughout the year.
All the major stats and facts that were recorded by team and players in Tests in 2018 :
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | %W |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Australia | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 30.0 |
| Bangladesh | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 37.5 |
| England | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 61.5 |
| India | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Ireland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| New Zealand | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 57.1 |
| Pakistan | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 44.4 |
| South Africa | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 60.0 |
| Sri Lanka | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 33.3 |
| West Indies | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 33.3 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Overall | 48 | 43 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 89.5 |
- New Zealand won all the Test series they played this year (1-0 vs ENG and 1-0 vs SL at home and 2-1 vs PAK in UAE)
- South Africa won a Test series against Australia at home for the first time since 1969/70.
- England whitewashed Sri Lanka in 3 Tests series in Sri Lanka.
- India won 4 Tests outside Asia this year.
2. Leading run scorers -
| Player | Tests | Inns | NO | Runs | Avg | HS | 100 | 50 |
| Virat Kohli | 13 | 24 | 0 | 1322 | 55.08 | 153 | 5 | 5 |
| Kusal Mendis | 12 | 23 | 1 | 1023 | 46.50 | 196 | 3 | 4 |
| Joe Root | 13 | 24 | 1 | 948 | 41.21 | 125 | 2 | 6 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 13 | 23 | 1 | 837 | 38.04 | 132* | 3 | 4 |
| Jos Buttler | 10 | 18 | 1 | 760 | 44.70 | 106 | 1 | 6 |
| D Karunaratne | 9 | 17 | 1 | 743 | 46.43 | 158* | 1 | 7 |
| Usman Khawaja | 10 | 18 | 0 | 732 | 40.66 | 171 | 2 | 4 |
| Mominula Haque | 8 | 15 | 0 | 673 | 44.86 | 176 | 4 | 0 |
| Aiden Markram | 10 | 20 | 0 | 672 | 33.60 | 152 | 2 | 2 |
| Dean Elgar | 10 | 20 | 2 | 661 | 36.72 | 141* | 1 | 5 |
- Virat Kohli and Kusal Mendis were the only two players to score more than 1000 Test runs in 2018.
- Virat Kohli also scored more Test hundreds (5) than any other player in 2018.
3. Highest individual scores -
264* - Tom Latham vs SL at Wellington
219* - Mushfiqur Rahim vs ZIM at Dhaka
196 - Kusal Mendis vs BAN at Chittagong
176 - Mominul Haque vs SL at Chittagong
176 - Tom Latham vs SL at Chirstchurch
4. Highest batting average (Min 500 runs) -
73.11 - Henry Nicholls
59.81 - Tom Latham
59.18 - Kane Williamson
56.00 - Babar Azam
55.08 - Virat Kohli
5. Most hundreds -
5 - Virat Kohli
4 - Mominul Haque
3 - Henry Nicholls / Kusal Mendis / Cheteshwar Pujara
6. Leading wicket takers -
| Players | Tests | Inns | Wkts | Avg | SR | BBI | 5w | 10w |
| Kagiso Rabada | 10 | 20 | 52 | 20.07 | 38.2 | 6/54 | 2 | 1 |
| Dilruwan Perera | 11 | 21 | 50 | 29.32 | 56.4 | 6/32 | 3 | 1 |
| Nathan Lyon | 10 | 20 | 49 | 34.02 | 75.3 | 6/122 | 2 | 0 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 9 | 18 | 48 | 21.02 | 47.4 | 6/33 | 3 | 0 |
| Mohammad Shami | 12 | 23 | 47 | 26.97 | 49.0 | 6/56 | 2 | 0 |
| Pat Cummins | 8 | 16 | 44 | 19.97 | 42.8 | 6/27 | 2 | 0 |
| James Anderson | 12 | 22 | 43 | 22.51 | 54.6 | 5/20 | 1 | 0 |
| Taijul Islam | 7 | 13 | 43 | 22.97 | 46.4 | 6/33 | 4 | 1 |
| Ishant Sharma | 11 | 21 | 41 | 21.80 | 49.0 | 5/51 | 1 | 0 |
| Mehidy Hasan | 8 | 14 | 41 | 22.12 | 43.7 | 7/58 | 4 | 1 |
7. Best bowling figures in an innings -
9/129 - Keshav Maharaj vs SL at Colombo
8/41 - Yasir Shah vs NZ at Dubai
8/62 - Shanon Gabriel vs SL at Gros Islet
7/58 - Mehidy Hasan vs WI at Dhaka
6/21 - Vernon Philander vs AUS at Johannesburg
8. Best bowling average (Min 25 wickets) -
12.39 - Jason Holder
13.76 - Mohammad Abbas
17.03 - Vernon Philander
19.03 - Tim Southee
19.54 - Shanon Gabriel
19.97 - Pat Cummins
9. Best bowling strike rate (Min 25 wickets) -
27.3 - Jason Holder
30.7 - Shanon Gabriel
36.3 - Mohammad Abbas
37.5 - Akila Dananjaya
38.2 - Kagiso Rabada
10. Most five wickets haul -
4 - Jason Holder / Taijul Islam / Mehidy Hasan
3 - Jasprit Bumrah / Yasir Shah / Dilruwan Perera / Akila Dananjaya / Shanon Gabriel
2 - Pat Cummins / Trent Boult / Tim Southee / Mohammad Shami / Duanne Olivier /
Bilal Asif / Kagiso Rabada / Vernon Philander / Keshav Maharaj / Nathan Lyon
