English national cricket captains

This is a list of all English national cricket captains, comprising all of the men, boys and women who have captained an English national cricket team at official international level. England played in the first Test match in 1877 and have played more Test matches, and had more captains, than any other team. In the 19th century, the captains for overseas tours were chosen by the promoters, with James Lillywhite, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury being the main professional promoters. However, some amateur tours went abroad under Lord Harris and Lord Hawke. Home captains were selected by the home ground authority, who often went for their local favourites.

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Captained - English national cricket team - Test match - 1877 - 19th century - James Lillywhite - Alfred Shaw - Arthur Shrewsbury - Lord Harris - Lord Hawke

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For around sixty years from 1902/3, the Marylebone Cricket Club took over the organisation of all overseas tours, with the games played being technically by the "MCC" rather than "England". They brought with them the tradition of having amateur, rather than professional, captains, and after Shrewsbury there wasn't another professional captain until Len Hutton around sixty years later. The amateur/professional distinction was abolished in the mid-1960s, and a new breed of captain in Brian Close and then Ray Illingworth was born.

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Marylebone Cricket Club - Len Hutton - 1960s - Brian Close - Ray Illingworth

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After the mid-1980s until the late 1990s, English cricket was in decline, with the England team suffering many heavy defeats. The desperation was most clear on the 1988 West Indies tour of England, when the captaincy started with Mike Gatting, who was sacked after the first Test as a result of a dalliance with a barmaid. He was initially replaced by John Emburey, who was so poor as a captain that he was replaced after two Tests. Chris Cowdrey came into the team as captain for the fourth Test and was then injured. Finally, Graham Gooch became England's fourth captain of the summer. Unsurprisingly, England lost the five-Test series 4-0. From the late 1990s under Nasser Hussain's captaincy, England started to enjoy a revival, which has continued under current captain Michael Vaughan. England were the only team undefeated in 2004, and are, as at June 2005, ranked as the second-best Test nation in the world.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1990s - West Indies - Mike Gatting - John Emburey - Chris Cowdrey - Graham Gooch - Nasser Hussain - Michael Vaughan

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