england national cricket team
England cricket crestTest status granted1877First Test matchv Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne, 15–19 March 1877Captain of TestAndrew StraussCaptain of ODIAlastair CookCaptain of Twenty20Stuart BroadCoachAndy FlowerOfficial ICC Testand ODI ranking1st (Test), 5th (ODI)Test matches
– This year915
8Last Test matchv IndiaWins/losses
– This year326/261
6/0As of 23 August 2011
– This year915
8Last Test matchv IndiaWins/losses
– This year326/261
6/0As of 23 August 2011
The England and Wales cricket team (Welsh: Tîm criced Lloegr) is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from 1903 until the end of 1996.[1][2]
England and Australia were the first teams to be granted Test status on 15 March 1877 and they gained full membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also took part in the first One Day International (ODI) on 5 January 1971 and England's first international Twenty20 match was played on 13 June 2005 against Australia.
As of 23 August 2011, England has won 326 of the 915 Test matches played (drawing in 328) England's One Day International record includes finishing as runners-up in three Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992), and again as runners up in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004.
The England team are the current ICC World Twenty20 champions having won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and are the current holders of the Ashes, which is the Test match series contest between England and Australia and which has been played since the 1882–83 Australian season. The team is currently in fifth place in the ICC ODI Championship and, as of August 2011, are the top ranked Test side in the world.
Contents [hide]
In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven. This team would eventually compete against a United All-England Eleven with annual matches occurring between 1857 to 1866. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season, if judged by the quality of the players.
[edit]Early toursThe first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England touring North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven, six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned elsewhere with the inaugural tour of Australia taking place in 1861–2. English tourists visited Australia and New Zealand in 1861–62 with this first tour organised as a commercial venture by Mssrs Spiers and Pond, restaurateurs of Melbourne. Most tours prior to 1877 were played "against odds", with the opposing team fielding more than 11 players in order to make for a more even contest.[4] This first Australian tour were mostly against odds of at least 18 to 11.
The tour was so successful that George Parr led a second tour in 1863-4. James Lillywhite led a subsequent England team which sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876. They would play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of 11 a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came to be regarded as the inaugural Test match. The combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. At the time, the match was promoted as James Lillywhite's XI v Combined Victoria and New South Wales.[4] The teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter, 1877, when Lillywhite's team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious; this was the first time England fielded a fully representative side with W.G. Grace included in the team.[5]
[edit]The AshesEngland would lose their first home series 1–0 in 1882 with The Sporting Times famously printing an obituary on English cricket:
“In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B. – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.[6]”As a result of this loss the tour of 1882–83 was dubbed by England captain Ivo Bligh as "the quest to regain the ashes". England with a mixture of amateurs and professionals won the series 2–1.[7] Bligh was presented with an urn that contained some ashes, which have variously been said to be of a bail, ball or even a woman's veil and so The Ashes was born. A fourth match was then played which Australia won by 4 wickets but the match was not considered part of the Ashes series.[7][8] England would dominate many of these early contests with England winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98.[9] During this period England also played their first Test match against South Africa in 1889 at Port Elizabeth.[10]
The 1899 Ashes series was the first tour where the MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee. There were three active players: Lord Hawke, W.G. Grace and HW Bainbridge who was the captain of Warwickshire. Prior to this, England teams for home Tests had been chosen by the club on whose ground the match was to be played.
The turn of the century saw mixed results for England as they lost four of the eight Ashes series between 1900 and 1914.[11] During this period England would lose their first series against South Africa in the 1905/06 season 4–1 as their batting faltered.[12] The 1912 season saw England take part in a unique experiment. A nine Test triangular tournament involving England, South Africa and Australia was set up. The series was hampered by a very wet summer and player disputes however and the tournament was considered a failure with the Daily Telegraph stating:[13]
“Nine Tests provide a surfeit of cricket, and contests between Australia and South Africa are not a great attraction to the British public.”With Australia sending a weakened team and the South African bowlers being ineffective England dominated the tournament winning four of their six matches. The Australia v South Africa match, at Lord's, was notable for a visit by King George V, the first time a reigning monarch had watched Test cricket.[14] England would go on one more tour against South Africa before the outbreak of World War I.
[edit]Inter-war periodEngland's first match after the war was in the 1920–21 season against Australia. Still feeling the effects of the war England went down to a series of crushing defeats, and suffered their first whitewash losing the series 5–0. Six Australians scored hundreds while Mailey spun out 36 English batsmen. Things were no better in the next few Ashes series losing the 1921 Ashes series 3–0 and the 1924–5 Ashes 4–1. England's fortunes were to change in 1926 as they regained the Ashes and were a formidable team during this period dispatching Australia 4–1 in the 1928–29 Ashes tour.
On the same year the West Indies became the fourth nation to be granted Test status and played their first game against England. England won each of these three Tests by an innings, and a view was expressed in the press that their elevation had proved a mistake although Learie Constantine did the double on the tour. In the 1929–30 season England went on two concurrent tours with one team going to New Zealand (who were granted Test status earlier that year) and the other to the West Indies. Despite sending two separate teams England won both tours beating New Zealand 1–0 and the West Indies 2–1.
Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball. Note the number of leg-side fielders.The 1930 Ashes series saw a young Don Bradman dominate the tour, scoring 974 runs in his seven Test innings. He scored 254 at Lord's, 334 at Headingley and 232 at the Oval. Australia regained the Ashes winning the series 3–1. As a result of Bradman's prolific run-scoring the England captain Douglas Jardine chose to develop the already existing leg theory into fast leg theory, or bodyline, as a tactic to stop Bradman. Fast leg theory involved bowling fast balls directly at the batsman's body. The batsman would need to defend himself, and if he touched the ball with the bat, he risked being caught by one of a large number of fielders placed on the leg side.
English cricket team at the test match held at theBrisbane Exhibition Ground. England won the match by a record margin of 675 runs.Using his fast leg theory England won the next Ashes series 4–1. But complaints about the Bodyline tactic caused crowd disruption on the tour, and threats of diplomatic action from the Australian Cricket Board, which during the tour sent the following cable to the MCC in London:
“Bodyline bowling assumed such proportions as to menace best interests of game, making protection of body by batsmen the main consideration. Causing intensely bitter feeling between players as well as injury. In our opinion is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once likely to upset friendly relations existing between Australia and England.”Later, Jardine was removed from the captaincy and the laws of cricket changed so that no more than one fast ball aimed at the body was permitted per over, and having more than two fielders behind square leg were banned.
England's following tour of India in the 1933–34 season was the first Test match to be staged in the subcontinent. The series was also notable for Morris Nichols andNobby Clark bowling so many bouncers that the Indian batsman wore solar topees instead of caps to protect themselves.
Australia won the 1934 Ashes series 2–1 and would keep the urn for the following 19 years. Many of the wickets of the time were friendly to batsmen resulting in a large proportion of matches ending in high scoring draws and many batting records being set.
The 1938–39 tour of South Africa saw another experiment with the deciding Test being a timeless Test that was played to a finish. England lead 1–0 going into the final timeless match at Durban. Despite the final Test being ‘timeless’ the game ended in a draw, after 10 days as England had to catch the train to catch the boat home. A record 1981 runs were scored, and the concept of timeless Tests was abandoned. England would go in one final tour of the West Indies in 1939 before World War II, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played.
[edit]Post-war periodAfter World War II, England fell under difficult times suffering a heavy defeat 3–0 to Australia. This was followed by a 4–0 loss to Bradman's 'invincibles' and a stunning 2–0 loss to the West Indies. These loses were tempered by victories against India and South Africa.
Their fortunes would change in the 1953 Ashes tour as they won the series 1–0. England would not lose a series between their 1950–51 and 1958–59 tours of Australia and secured famous victory in 1954–55thanks to Typhoon Tyson whose 6–85 at Sydney and 7–27 at Melbourne are remembered as the fastest bowling ever seen in Australia. The 1956 series was remembered for the bowling of Jim Laker who took 46 wickets at 9.62 which included bowling figures of 19/90 at Old Trafford. After drawing to South Africa, England defeated the West Indies and New Zealand comfortably. The England team would then leave for Australia in the 1958–59 season with a team that had been hailed as the strongest ever to leave on an Ashes tour but lost the series 4–0 as Richie Benaud's revitalised Australians were too strong.
The early and middle 1960s were poor periods for English cricket. Despite England's strength on paper, Australia held the Ashes and the West Indies dominated England in the early part of the decade. However, from 1968 to 1971 they played 27 consecutive Test matches without defeat, winning 9 and drawing 18 (including the abandoned Test at Melbourne in 1970–71). The sequence began when they drew with Australia atLords in the Second Test of the 1968 Ashes series and ended in 1971 when India won the Third Test at the Oval by 4 wickets. They played 13 Tests with only one defeat immediately beforehand and so played a total of 40 consecutive Tests with only one defeat, dating from their innings victory over the West Indies at The Oval in 1966. During this period they beat New Zealand, India, the West Indies, Pakistan and, under Ray Illingworth's determined leadership, regained the The Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.
[edit]1971 to 2000The 1970s, for the England team, can be largely split into three parts. The early 70s saw Ray Illingworth's side dominate world cricket winning the Ashes away in 1971 and then retaining them at home in 1972. The same side beat Pakistan at home in 1971 and played by far the better cricket against India that season. However, England were largely helped by the rain to sneak the Pakistan series 1–0 but the same rain saved India twice and one England collapse saw them lose to India. This was, however, one of (if not the) strongest England team ever with Boycott, Edrich, D'Oliveira, Amiss, Illingworth, Knott, Snow, Underwood amongst its core.
The mid 1970s were more turbulent. Illingworth and several others had refused to tour India in 1972–73 which led to a clammer for Illingworth's job by the end of that summer – England had just been thrashed 2–0 by a flamboyant West Indies side – with several England players well over 35. Mike Denness was the surprising choice but only lasted 18 months; his results against poor opposition were good but England were badly exposed as aging and lacking in good fast bowling against the 1974–75 Australians, losing that series 4–1 to lose the Ashes.
Denness was replaced in 1975 by Tony Greig. While he managed to avoid losing to Australia, his side were largely thrashed the following year by the young and very much upcoming West Indies for whom Greig's infamous "grovel" remark acted as motivation. Greig's finest hour was probably the 1976–77 win over India in India. When Greig was discovered as being instrumental in World Series Cricket, he was sacked, and replaced by Mike Brearley.
Brearley's side showed again the hyperbole that is often spoken when one side dominates in cricket. While his side of 1977–80 contained some young players who went on to become England greats, most notably Botham, Gower and Gooch, their opponents were often very much weakened by the absence of their World Series players, especially in 1978, when England beat New Zealand 3–0 and Pakistan 2–0 before thrashing what was probably Australia's 3rd XI 5–1 in 1978–79.
The England team, with Brearley's exit in 1980, was never truly settled throughout the 1980s, which will probably be remembered as a low point for the team. While some of the great players like Botham, Gooch and Gower had fine careers, the team seldom succeeded in beating good opposition throughout the decade and did not score a home test victory (except against minnows Sri Lanka) between September 1985 and July 1990. In this time, undoubted highlights were the Ashes victories of 1981 "Botham's Ashes", 1985 and 1986–87. The 1985 and 1986–87 victories, while sweet for the team, exposed more Australia's weakness than England's strength.
If the 1980s were a low point for English test cricket then the 1990s were only a slight improvement. The arrival of Graham Gooch as captain in 1990 forced a move toward more professionalism and especially fitness, though it took some time for old habits to die. Even today, one or two successful county players have been shown up as physically unfit for international cricket. Creditable performances against India and New Zealand in 1990 were followed by a hard fought draw against the 1991 West Indies but landmark losses against Australia in 1990–91 and especially Pakistan in 1992 showed England up badly in terms of bowling. So bad was England's bowling in 1993 that Rodney Marsh described England's pace attack at one point as "pie throwers". Having lost 3 of the 4 tests played in England in 1993 Graham Gooch resigned to be replaced by Michael Atherton.
More selectorial problems abounded during Atherton's reign as new chairman of selectors / coach Ray Illingworth (then into his 60s) assumed almost sole responsibility for the team off the field. The youth policy which had seen England emerge from the West Indies tour of 1993–94 with some credit (though losing to a seasoned WIndies team) was abandoned and players such as Gatting and Gooch were persisted with when well into their 30s and 40s. England duly continued to do well at home against weaker opponents such as India, New Zealand and a West Indies side beginning to fade but struggled badly against improving sides like Pakistan and South Africa. Atherton had offered his resignation after losing the 1997 Ashes series 3–2 having been 1–0 up after 2 matches – eventually to resign one series later in early 1998. England, looking for talent, went through a whole raft of new players during this period, such as Ronnie Irani, Adam Hollioake, Craig White, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. The key problem was the lack of a genuine all-rounder to bat at 6, Ian Botham having left a huge gap in the batting order when he had retired from tests in 1992. The key problem was that Alec Stewart, a sound wicket keeper and an excellent player of quick bowling, could not open and keep wicket, hence his batting down the order, where he was often exposed to spin which he didn't play as well.
Alec Stewart took the reins as captain in 1998 but another losing Ashes series and early World Cup exit cost him Test and ODI captaincy in 1999. This should not detract from the 1998 home test series where England showed great fortitude to beat a powerful South African side 2–1.
Another reason for their poor performances were the demands of County Cricket teams on their players, meaning that England could rarely field a full strength team on their tours. This would eventually lead to the ECB taking over the MCC as the governing body of England and the implementation of central contracts. 1992 also saw Scotland sever ties with the England and Wales team, and begin to compete independently as the Scotland national cricket team.
By 1999, with coach David Lloyd resigning after the World Cup exit and new captain Nasser Hussain just appointed, England hit rock bottom (literally ranked as lowest rated test nation) after losing in shambolic fashion to New Zealand 2–1. Hussain was booed on the Oval balcony as the crowd geered "We've got the worst team in the world" to the tune of "whole world in our hands".
[edit]Since 2000One year later, with central contracts now installed reducing players workloads and the arrival of shrewd Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher, England had thrashed the fallen West Indies 3–1 and the Champagne flowed. Surprisingly, England's results in Asia improved markedly that winter with series wins against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka though one-day success still eluded them.
England's fortunes have improved since 2000 – not without the occasional "blip" particularly against Australia but home test wins have become commonplace. Hussain's side had a far harder edge to it, even managing to avoid the anticipated "Greenwash" in 2001 against the all-powerful Australian team. The nucleus of a side of fighters was slowly coming together as players such as Hussain himself, Thorpe, Gough and Giles began to be regularly selected. By 2003 though, having endured another Ashes drubbing, Hussain felt he could not continue and resigned after one test against South Africa.
Michael Vaughan took over and, while keeping the emphasis as Hussain on fitness and control, encouraged players to express themselves. This especially brought the best out of Andrew Flintoff who, in a career blighted by serious injury managed a real purple patch of 18 months from 2004 to 2005 in which England won home and away including the epic 2005 Ashes series.
In 2005, England under Michael Vaughan's captaincy defeated Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 16 years having lost them in 1989. Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a spate of serious injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition during which Flintoff himself accepted the job.
In the home Test series victory against Pakistan in July and August 2006, several promising new players emerged. Most notable were the left-arm orthodox spin bowler Monty Panesar, the first Sikh to play Test cricket for England; and left-handed opening batsman Alastair Cook. Meanwhile England's injury problems allowed previously marginal Test players such as Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell to consolidate their places in the team.
The 2006–07 Ashes series was keenly anticipated and was expected to provide a level of competition comparable to the 2005 series. In the event, England, captained by Flintoff, lost all 5 Tests to concede the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years.
England's form in ODIs had been consistently poor. They only narrowly avoided the ignominy of having to play in the qualifying rounds of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. Despite this, in the ODI triangular in Australia, England recorded its first ODI tournament win overseas since 1997. But, in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, England lost to most of the Test playing nations they faced, beating only the West Indies andBangladesh, although they also avoided defeat by any of the non-Test playing nations. Even so, the unimpressive nature of most of their victories in the tournament, combined with heavy defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, left many commentators criticising the manner in which the England team approached the one-day game. Coach Duncan Fletcher resigned after eight years in the job as a result and was succeeded by former Sussex coach Peter Moores.
Afterwards, England's Test record was indifferent and the team slumped to fifth in the ICC rankings. There was a convincing 3–0 Test series win over West Indies in 2007 but it was followed in the second half of the summer by a 1–0 loss to India, although England did defeat India 4–3 in the ODI series.
In 2007–08, England toured Sri Lanka and New Zealand, losing the first series 1–0 and winning the second 2–1. They followed up at home in May 2008 with a 2–0 win against New Zealand, these results easing the pressure on Moores, who was not at ease with his team, particularly Pietersen, who succeeded Vaughan as captain in 2008, after England had been well beaten by South Africa at home.
The poor relationship between Moores and Pietersen came to a head in India on the 2008–09 tour. England lost the series 1–0 and both men resigned their positions, although Pietersen remained a member of the England team. Against this background, England toured the West Indies under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0. Almost immediately, they played West Indies in a home series which they won 2–0.
The second Twenty20 World Cup was held in England in 2009 but England suffered an opening day defeat to the Netherlands. They recovered to defeat both eventual champions Pakistan and reigning champions India but were then knocked out by West Indies.
This was followed by the 2009 Ashes series which featured the first Test match played in Wales, at SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff. England drew that match thanks to a last wicket stand by bowlers James Andersonand Monty Panesar. They won the second Test at Lord's while the rain-affected third Test at Edgbaston was drawn. In the fourth Test at Headingley, England suffered one of their worst results for some years and were heavily beaten by an innings. The series was decided at The Oval, where England had to win to recover the Ashes. Thanks to fine bowling by Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann and a debut century by Jonathan Trott, England won by 177 runs – Australia having capitulated inexplicably in their first innings.
After a drawn Test series in South Africa, England won their first ever ICC tournament, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. The following winter, they surprisingly thrashed a very weak Australia 3–1 to retain the Ashes; their first series win in Australia for 24 years, which included three innings victories. This victory left England in third place in the ICC rankings, whilst back-to-back Ashes defeats contributed to Australia falling from first to fifth.
England struggled to match their Test form in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite beating South Africa and tying with eventual winners India, England suffered shock losses to Ireland and Bangladesh. They scrapped through to the quarter-finals before losing to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets.[15] However, the team's excellent form in the Test match arena continued, beating Sri Lanka 1–0 in a rain affected series, before comfortably whitewashing the Indians 4–0 to become the World No.1 side.
HOMEAWAYTestOne Day InternationalTwenty20TestOne Day InternationalTwenty20Last match won4th Test v India 20115th ODI v Sri Lanka 20112nd T20 v Pakistan 20105th Test v Australia 2010–111st ODI v Netherlands in 2011 World Cup1st T20 v Australia 2011Last match lost3rd Test v Pakistan 20103rd ODI v Sri Lanka 2011Only T20 v Sri Lanka 20113rd Test v Australia 2010–11England v Sri Lanka, 2011 World Cup Quarter-final2nd T20 v Australia 2011Last series wonIndia 2011Sri Lanka 2011Pakistan 2010Australia 2010–11Bangladesh 2010New Zealand 2008Last series lostSouth Africa 2008Australia 2009West Indies 2009Australia 2010–11West Indies 2009–Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 13 August 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.[edit]Upcoming fixtures
2012
England failed to win a series against the West Indies between 1969 and 2000. England similarly failed to compete with Australia for a long period and The Ashes stayed in Australian hands between 1989 and 2005. England struggled against other nations over this period as well and after a series loss to New Zealand in 1999 they were ranked at the bottom of the ICC Test cricket ratings. From 2000, English cricket had a resurgence and England reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and regained The Ashes in 2005. The team was second behind Australia in the Test rankings following victory in the 2005 Ashes series, although the 2006–07 whitewash, coupled with a 2008 series defeat to South Africa and the 2008–09 series loss to the West Indies, meant England were ranked 5th in the ICC Test rankings as of May 2009. ODI performances have been very poor, with England falling to 7th place in the ICC rankings.
In the 2006/07 tour of Australia, The Ashes were lost in a 0–5 "whitewash" but England did succeed in clinching victory in the Commonwealth bank ODI Tri-series against Australia and New Zealand. The loss of The Ashes prompted the announcement by the England and Wales Cricket Board of an official review of English cricket amid much criticism from the media, former players and fans. England failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies after defeats against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
In the summer of 2009 England regained The Ashes in a 2–1 series win with a 197-run victory against Australia at the Brit Oval, Kennington, London (20–23 August). Andrew Strauss was named nPower Man of the Series and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff retired from international Test cricket at the end of the 5th Test.
[edit]Governing bodyMain article: England and Wales Cricket BoardThe England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of English cricket and the England cricket team. The Board has been operating since 1 January 1997 and represents England on the International Cricket Council. The ECB is also responsible for the generation of income from the sale of tickets, sponsorship and broadcasting rights, primarily in relation to the England team. The ECB's income in the 2006 calendar year was £77.0 million.[21]
Prior to 1997 the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the governing body for the English team. Apart from in Test matches, when touring abroad the England team officially played as MCC up to and including the 1976–77 tour of Australia, reflecting the time when MCC had been responsible for selecting the touring party. The last time the England touring team wore the bacon-and-egg colours of the MCC was on the 1996–97 tour of New Zealand.
[edit]Team coloursEngland's kit is manufactured by Adidas, who replaced previous manufacturer Admiral on 1 April 2008.[22]
When playing Test cricket, England's cricket whites feature red piping across the chest and trouser legs. The three lions badge is on the left of the shirt and the name and logo of the sponsor Brit Insurance is on the right. The Adidas logo features on the right sleeve. English fielders may wear a navy blue cap or sun hat with the ECB logo in the middle. Helmets are coloured similarly.
In limited overs cricket, England's ODI and Twenty20 shirts feature the Brit Insurance logo across the centre, with the three lions badge on the left of the shirt and the Adidas logo on the right. England wear a navy shirt with red trim and navy trousers. They have also used an all red kit in some Twenty20's and in the 2009 ODI series against Australia.
Until January 2010, Vodafone were the official shirt sponsor across all formats in a long-lasting deal.
[edit]International groundsMain article: List of cricket grounds in England and Wales[edit]Test and ODIListed in order of date first used for Test match
[edit]Team records
[edit]Team records
[edit]Most England Test capsMain article: List of English Test cricketers
Key
2Paul Collingwood retired from Test cricket in January 2011.
3Ryan Sidebottom retired from international duty in September 2010.
[edit]Coaching staff
Of the current squad (see above), Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb are all South-African-born but qualify through British parentage (though they still had to fulfil residency requirements), whilst Eoin Morgan is an Irish citizen and Jade Dernbach has British citizenship having lived in England since his youth.
[edit]See alsoCricket portal
England and Australia were the first teams to be granted Test status on 15 March 1877 and they gained full membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also took part in the first One Day International (ODI) on 5 January 1971 and England's first international Twenty20 match was played on 13 June 2005 against Australia.
As of 23 August 2011, England has won 326 of the 915 Test matches played (drawing in 328) England's One Day International record includes finishing as runners-up in three Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992), and again as runners up in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004.
The England team are the current ICC World Twenty20 champions having won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and are the current holders of the Ashes, which is the Test match series contest between England and Australia and which has been played since the 1882–83 Australian season. The team is currently in fifth place in the ICC ODI Championship and, as of August 2011, are the top ranked Test side in the world.
Contents [hide]
- 1 History
- 2 Upcoming fixtures
- 3 Performances
- 4 Governing body
- 5 Team colours
- 6 International grounds
- 7 Statistics and records
- 8 Current squad
- 9 Eligibility of players
- 10 See also
- 11 References
- 12 Bibliography
- 13 External links
In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven. This team would eventually compete against a United All-England Eleven with annual matches occurring between 1857 to 1866. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season, if judged by the quality of the players.
[edit]Early toursThe first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England touring North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven, six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned elsewhere with the inaugural tour of Australia taking place in 1861–2. English tourists visited Australia and New Zealand in 1861–62 with this first tour organised as a commercial venture by Mssrs Spiers and Pond, restaurateurs of Melbourne. Most tours prior to 1877 were played "against odds", with the opposing team fielding more than 11 players in order to make for a more even contest.[4] This first Australian tour were mostly against odds of at least 18 to 11.
The tour was so successful that George Parr led a second tour in 1863-4. James Lillywhite led a subsequent England team which sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876. They would play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of 11 a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came to be regarded as the inaugural Test match. The combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. At the time, the match was promoted as James Lillywhite's XI v Combined Victoria and New South Wales.[4] The teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter, 1877, when Lillywhite's team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious; this was the first time England fielded a fully representative side with W.G. Grace included in the team.[5]
[edit]The AshesEngland would lose their first home series 1–0 in 1882 with The Sporting Times famously printing an obituary on English cricket:
“In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B. – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.[6]”As a result of this loss the tour of 1882–83 was dubbed by England captain Ivo Bligh as "the quest to regain the ashes". England with a mixture of amateurs and professionals won the series 2–1.[7] Bligh was presented with an urn that contained some ashes, which have variously been said to be of a bail, ball or even a woman's veil and so The Ashes was born. A fourth match was then played which Australia won by 4 wickets but the match was not considered part of the Ashes series.[7][8] England would dominate many of these early contests with England winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98.[9] During this period England also played their first Test match against South Africa in 1889 at Port Elizabeth.[10]
The 1899 Ashes series was the first tour where the MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee. There were three active players: Lord Hawke, W.G. Grace and HW Bainbridge who was the captain of Warwickshire. Prior to this, England teams for home Tests had been chosen by the club on whose ground the match was to be played.
The turn of the century saw mixed results for England as they lost four of the eight Ashes series between 1900 and 1914.[11] During this period England would lose their first series against South Africa in the 1905/06 season 4–1 as their batting faltered.[12] The 1912 season saw England take part in a unique experiment. A nine Test triangular tournament involving England, South Africa and Australia was set up. The series was hampered by a very wet summer and player disputes however and the tournament was considered a failure with the Daily Telegraph stating:[13]
“Nine Tests provide a surfeit of cricket, and contests between Australia and South Africa are not a great attraction to the British public.”With Australia sending a weakened team and the South African bowlers being ineffective England dominated the tournament winning four of their six matches. The Australia v South Africa match, at Lord's, was notable for a visit by King George V, the first time a reigning monarch had watched Test cricket.[14] England would go on one more tour against South Africa before the outbreak of World War I.
[edit]Inter-war periodEngland's first match after the war was in the 1920–21 season against Australia. Still feeling the effects of the war England went down to a series of crushing defeats, and suffered their first whitewash losing the series 5–0. Six Australians scored hundreds while Mailey spun out 36 English batsmen. Things were no better in the next few Ashes series losing the 1921 Ashes series 3–0 and the 1924–5 Ashes 4–1. England's fortunes were to change in 1926 as they regained the Ashes and were a formidable team during this period dispatching Australia 4–1 in the 1928–29 Ashes tour.
On the same year the West Indies became the fourth nation to be granted Test status and played their first game against England. England won each of these three Tests by an innings, and a view was expressed in the press that their elevation had proved a mistake although Learie Constantine did the double on the tour. In the 1929–30 season England went on two concurrent tours with one team going to New Zealand (who were granted Test status earlier that year) and the other to the West Indies. Despite sending two separate teams England won both tours beating New Zealand 1–0 and the West Indies 2–1.
Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball. Note the number of leg-side fielders.The 1930 Ashes series saw a young Don Bradman dominate the tour, scoring 974 runs in his seven Test innings. He scored 254 at Lord's, 334 at Headingley and 232 at the Oval. Australia regained the Ashes winning the series 3–1. As a result of Bradman's prolific run-scoring the England captain Douglas Jardine chose to develop the already existing leg theory into fast leg theory, or bodyline, as a tactic to stop Bradman. Fast leg theory involved bowling fast balls directly at the batsman's body. The batsman would need to defend himself, and if he touched the ball with the bat, he risked being caught by one of a large number of fielders placed on the leg side.
English cricket team at the test match held at theBrisbane Exhibition Ground. England won the match by a record margin of 675 runs.Using his fast leg theory England won the next Ashes series 4–1. But complaints about the Bodyline tactic caused crowd disruption on the tour, and threats of diplomatic action from the Australian Cricket Board, which during the tour sent the following cable to the MCC in London:
“Bodyline bowling assumed such proportions as to menace best interests of game, making protection of body by batsmen the main consideration. Causing intensely bitter feeling between players as well as injury. In our opinion is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once likely to upset friendly relations existing between Australia and England.”Later, Jardine was removed from the captaincy and the laws of cricket changed so that no more than one fast ball aimed at the body was permitted per over, and having more than two fielders behind square leg were banned.
England's following tour of India in the 1933–34 season was the first Test match to be staged in the subcontinent. The series was also notable for Morris Nichols andNobby Clark bowling so many bouncers that the Indian batsman wore solar topees instead of caps to protect themselves.
Australia won the 1934 Ashes series 2–1 and would keep the urn for the following 19 years. Many of the wickets of the time were friendly to batsmen resulting in a large proportion of matches ending in high scoring draws and many batting records being set.
The 1938–39 tour of South Africa saw another experiment with the deciding Test being a timeless Test that was played to a finish. England lead 1–0 going into the final timeless match at Durban. Despite the final Test being ‘timeless’ the game ended in a draw, after 10 days as England had to catch the train to catch the boat home. A record 1981 runs were scored, and the concept of timeless Tests was abandoned. England would go in one final tour of the West Indies in 1939 before World War II, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played.
[edit]Post-war periodAfter World War II, England fell under difficult times suffering a heavy defeat 3–0 to Australia. This was followed by a 4–0 loss to Bradman's 'invincibles' and a stunning 2–0 loss to the West Indies. These loses were tempered by victories against India and South Africa.
Their fortunes would change in the 1953 Ashes tour as they won the series 1–0. England would not lose a series between their 1950–51 and 1958–59 tours of Australia and secured famous victory in 1954–55thanks to Typhoon Tyson whose 6–85 at Sydney and 7–27 at Melbourne are remembered as the fastest bowling ever seen in Australia. The 1956 series was remembered for the bowling of Jim Laker who took 46 wickets at 9.62 which included bowling figures of 19/90 at Old Trafford. After drawing to South Africa, England defeated the West Indies and New Zealand comfortably. The England team would then leave for Australia in the 1958–59 season with a team that had been hailed as the strongest ever to leave on an Ashes tour but lost the series 4–0 as Richie Benaud's revitalised Australians were too strong.
The early and middle 1960s were poor periods for English cricket. Despite England's strength on paper, Australia held the Ashes and the West Indies dominated England in the early part of the decade. However, from 1968 to 1971 they played 27 consecutive Test matches without defeat, winning 9 and drawing 18 (including the abandoned Test at Melbourne in 1970–71). The sequence began when they drew with Australia atLords in the Second Test of the 1968 Ashes series and ended in 1971 when India won the Third Test at the Oval by 4 wickets. They played 13 Tests with only one defeat immediately beforehand and so played a total of 40 consecutive Tests with only one defeat, dating from their innings victory over the West Indies at The Oval in 1966. During this period they beat New Zealand, India, the West Indies, Pakistan and, under Ray Illingworth's determined leadership, regained the The Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.
[edit]1971 to 2000The 1970s, for the England team, can be largely split into three parts. The early 70s saw Ray Illingworth's side dominate world cricket winning the Ashes away in 1971 and then retaining them at home in 1972. The same side beat Pakistan at home in 1971 and played by far the better cricket against India that season. However, England were largely helped by the rain to sneak the Pakistan series 1–0 but the same rain saved India twice and one England collapse saw them lose to India. This was, however, one of (if not the) strongest England team ever with Boycott, Edrich, D'Oliveira, Amiss, Illingworth, Knott, Snow, Underwood amongst its core.
The mid 1970s were more turbulent. Illingworth and several others had refused to tour India in 1972–73 which led to a clammer for Illingworth's job by the end of that summer – England had just been thrashed 2–0 by a flamboyant West Indies side – with several England players well over 35. Mike Denness was the surprising choice but only lasted 18 months; his results against poor opposition were good but England were badly exposed as aging and lacking in good fast bowling against the 1974–75 Australians, losing that series 4–1 to lose the Ashes.
Denness was replaced in 1975 by Tony Greig. While he managed to avoid losing to Australia, his side were largely thrashed the following year by the young and very much upcoming West Indies for whom Greig's infamous "grovel" remark acted as motivation. Greig's finest hour was probably the 1976–77 win over India in India. When Greig was discovered as being instrumental in World Series Cricket, he was sacked, and replaced by Mike Brearley.
Brearley's side showed again the hyperbole that is often spoken when one side dominates in cricket. While his side of 1977–80 contained some young players who went on to become England greats, most notably Botham, Gower and Gooch, their opponents were often very much weakened by the absence of their World Series players, especially in 1978, when England beat New Zealand 3–0 and Pakistan 2–0 before thrashing what was probably Australia's 3rd XI 5–1 in 1978–79.
The England team, with Brearley's exit in 1980, was never truly settled throughout the 1980s, which will probably be remembered as a low point for the team. While some of the great players like Botham, Gooch and Gower had fine careers, the team seldom succeeded in beating good opposition throughout the decade and did not score a home test victory (except against minnows Sri Lanka) between September 1985 and July 1990. In this time, undoubted highlights were the Ashes victories of 1981 "Botham's Ashes", 1985 and 1986–87. The 1985 and 1986–87 victories, while sweet for the team, exposed more Australia's weakness than England's strength.
If the 1980s were a low point for English test cricket then the 1990s were only a slight improvement. The arrival of Graham Gooch as captain in 1990 forced a move toward more professionalism and especially fitness, though it took some time for old habits to die. Even today, one or two successful county players have been shown up as physically unfit for international cricket. Creditable performances against India and New Zealand in 1990 were followed by a hard fought draw against the 1991 West Indies but landmark losses against Australia in 1990–91 and especially Pakistan in 1992 showed England up badly in terms of bowling. So bad was England's bowling in 1993 that Rodney Marsh described England's pace attack at one point as "pie throwers". Having lost 3 of the 4 tests played in England in 1993 Graham Gooch resigned to be replaced by Michael Atherton.
More selectorial problems abounded during Atherton's reign as new chairman of selectors / coach Ray Illingworth (then into his 60s) assumed almost sole responsibility for the team off the field. The youth policy which had seen England emerge from the West Indies tour of 1993–94 with some credit (though losing to a seasoned WIndies team) was abandoned and players such as Gatting and Gooch were persisted with when well into their 30s and 40s. England duly continued to do well at home against weaker opponents such as India, New Zealand and a West Indies side beginning to fade but struggled badly against improving sides like Pakistan and South Africa. Atherton had offered his resignation after losing the 1997 Ashes series 3–2 having been 1–0 up after 2 matches – eventually to resign one series later in early 1998. England, looking for talent, went through a whole raft of new players during this period, such as Ronnie Irani, Adam Hollioake, Craig White, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. The key problem was the lack of a genuine all-rounder to bat at 6, Ian Botham having left a huge gap in the batting order when he had retired from tests in 1992. The key problem was that Alec Stewart, a sound wicket keeper and an excellent player of quick bowling, could not open and keep wicket, hence his batting down the order, where he was often exposed to spin which he didn't play as well.
Alec Stewart took the reins as captain in 1998 but another losing Ashes series and early World Cup exit cost him Test and ODI captaincy in 1999. This should not detract from the 1998 home test series where England showed great fortitude to beat a powerful South African side 2–1.
Another reason for their poor performances were the demands of County Cricket teams on their players, meaning that England could rarely field a full strength team on their tours. This would eventually lead to the ECB taking over the MCC as the governing body of England and the implementation of central contracts. 1992 also saw Scotland sever ties with the England and Wales team, and begin to compete independently as the Scotland national cricket team.
By 1999, with coach David Lloyd resigning after the World Cup exit and new captain Nasser Hussain just appointed, England hit rock bottom (literally ranked as lowest rated test nation) after losing in shambolic fashion to New Zealand 2–1. Hussain was booed on the Oval balcony as the crowd geered "We've got the worst team in the world" to the tune of "whole world in our hands".
[edit]Since 2000One year later, with central contracts now installed reducing players workloads and the arrival of shrewd Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher, England had thrashed the fallen West Indies 3–1 and the Champagne flowed. Surprisingly, England's results in Asia improved markedly that winter with series wins against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka though one-day success still eluded them.
England's fortunes have improved since 2000 – not without the occasional "blip" particularly against Australia but home test wins have become commonplace. Hussain's side had a far harder edge to it, even managing to avoid the anticipated "Greenwash" in 2001 against the all-powerful Australian team. The nucleus of a side of fighters was slowly coming together as players such as Hussain himself, Thorpe, Gough and Giles began to be regularly selected. By 2003 though, having endured another Ashes drubbing, Hussain felt he could not continue and resigned after one test against South Africa.
Michael Vaughan took over and, while keeping the emphasis as Hussain on fitness and control, encouraged players to express themselves. This especially brought the best out of Andrew Flintoff who, in a career blighted by serious injury managed a real purple patch of 18 months from 2004 to 2005 in which England won home and away including the epic 2005 Ashes series.
In 2005, England under Michael Vaughan's captaincy defeated Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 16 years having lost them in 1989. Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a spate of serious injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition during which Flintoff himself accepted the job.
In the home Test series victory against Pakistan in July and August 2006, several promising new players emerged. Most notable were the left-arm orthodox spin bowler Monty Panesar, the first Sikh to play Test cricket for England; and left-handed opening batsman Alastair Cook. Meanwhile England's injury problems allowed previously marginal Test players such as Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell to consolidate their places in the team.
The 2006–07 Ashes series was keenly anticipated and was expected to provide a level of competition comparable to the 2005 series. In the event, England, captained by Flintoff, lost all 5 Tests to concede the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years.
England's form in ODIs had been consistently poor. They only narrowly avoided the ignominy of having to play in the qualifying rounds of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. Despite this, in the ODI triangular in Australia, England recorded its first ODI tournament win overseas since 1997. But, in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, England lost to most of the Test playing nations they faced, beating only the West Indies andBangladesh, although they also avoided defeat by any of the non-Test playing nations. Even so, the unimpressive nature of most of their victories in the tournament, combined with heavy defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, left many commentators criticising the manner in which the England team approached the one-day game. Coach Duncan Fletcher resigned after eight years in the job as a result and was succeeded by former Sussex coach Peter Moores.
Afterwards, England's Test record was indifferent and the team slumped to fifth in the ICC rankings. There was a convincing 3–0 Test series win over West Indies in 2007 but it was followed in the second half of the summer by a 1–0 loss to India, although England did defeat India 4–3 in the ODI series.
In 2007–08, England toured Sri Lanka and New Zealand, losing the first series 1–0 and winning the second 2–1. They followed up at home in May 2008 with a 2–0 win against New Zealand, these results easing the pressure on Moores, who was not at ease with his team, particularly Pietersen, who succeeded Vaughan as captain in 2008, after England had been well beaten by South Africa at home.
The poor relationship between Moores and Pietersen came to a head in India on the 2008–09 tour. England lost the series 1–0 and both men resigned their positions, although Pietersen remained a member of the England team. Against this background, England toured the West Indies under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0. Almost immediately, they played West Indies in a home series which they won 2–0.
The second Twenty20 World Cup was held in England in 2009 but England suffered an opening day defeat to the Netherlands. They recovered to defeat both eventual champions Pakistan and reigning champions India but were then knocked out by West Indies.
This was followed by the 2009 Ashes series which featured the first Test match played in Wales, at SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff. England drew that match thanks to a last wicket stand by bowlers James Andersonand Monty Panesar. They won the second Test at Lord's while the rain-affected third Test at Edgbaston was drawn. In the fourth Test at Headingley, England suffered one of their worst results for some years and were heavily beaten by an innings. The series was decided at The Oval, where England had to win to recover the Ashes. Thanks to fine bowling by Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann and a debut century by Jonathan Trott, England won by 177 runs – Australia having capitulated inexplicably in their first innings.
After a drawn Test series in South Africa, England won their first ever ICC tournament, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. The following winter, they surprisingly thrashed a very weak Australia 3–1 to retain the Ashes; their first series win in Australia for 24 years, which included three innings victories. This victory left England in third place in the ICC rankings, whilst back-to-back Ashes defeats contributed to Australia falling from first to fifth.
England struggled to match their Test form in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite beating South Africa and tying with eventual winners India, England suffered shock losses to Ireland and Bangladesh. They scrapped through to the quarter-finals before losing to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets.[15] However, the team's excellent form in the Test match arena continued, beating Sri Lanka 1–0 in a rain affected series, before comfortably whitewashing the Indians 4–0 to become the World No.1 side.
HOMEAWAYTestOne Day InternationalTwenty20TestOne Day InternationalTwenty20Last match won4th Test v India 20115th ODI v Sri Lanka 20112nd T20 v Pakistan 20105th Test v Australia 2010–111st ODI v Netherlands in 2011 World Cup1st T20 v Australia 2011Last match lost3rd Test v Pakistan 20103rd ODI v Sri Lanka 2011Only T20 v Sri Lanka 20113rd Test v Australia 2010–11England v Sri Lanka, 2011 World Cup Quarter-final2nd T20 v Australia 2011Last series wonIndia 2011Sri Lanka 2011Pakistan 2010Australia 2010–11Bangladesh 2010New Zealand 2008Last series lostSouth Africa 2008Australia 2009West Indies 2009Australia 2010–11West Indies 2009–Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 13 August 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 May 2011.[edit]Upcoming fixtures
- England host India in 2011. The teams will contest 5 ODI matches and a Twenty20 match.
- England will visit Ireland in August 2011. The teams will play a single ODI.[16]
- England will visit India in October 2011. The teams will contest 5x ODIs and 1 T20.
- England will visit Dubai & Abu Dhabi, in January and February 2012, where they will play against Pakistan. The teams will contest 3x Test matches, 4x ODIs and 2 T20s.
- England will visit Sri Lanka in March – April 2012. The teams will contest 2x Test matches.
2012
- England play West Indies in 3 Test Matches. They will be played at Edgbaston, Lord's and Trent Bridge.
- England play South Africa in 3 Test Matches. They will played at Headingley, Lord's and The Oval.
- England play New Zealand in 2 Test Matches. They will be played at Headingley and Lord's.
- England will play Australia in the 2013 Ashes Series. Three of the five matches will be at Chester-le-Street, Lord's and The Oval and the other 2 Test Matches are yet to be allocated.
- England play Sri Lanka in 2 Test Matches. They will be played at Cardiff and Headingley.
- England play India in 5 Test Matches. They will be played at Lord's, Old Trafford, The Oval and the Rose Bowl with the last Test Match to be allocated.
- England play New Zealand in 2 Test Matches. They will be played at Headingley and Lord's.
- England play Australia in the 2015 Ashes Series. Two of the matches will be at Lord's and the Oval with the other three yet to be decided.
- England play Sri Lanka in 3 Test Matches. They will be played at Chester-le-Street, Headingley and Lord's.
- England play Pakistan in 4 Test Matches. They will be played at Lords, Old Trafford and The Oval with the last game yet to be allocated.
England failed to win a series against the West Indies between 1969 and 2000. England similarly failed to compete with Australia for a long period and The Ashes stayed in Australian hands between 1989 and 2005. England struggled against other nations over this period as well and after a series loss to New Zealand in 1999 they were ranked at the bottom of the ICC Test cricket ratings. From 2000, English cricket had a resurgence and England reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and regained The Ashes in 2005. The team was second behind Australia in the Test rankings following victory in the 2005 Ashes series, although the 2006–07 whitewash, coupled with a 2008 series defeat to South Africa and the 2008–09 series loss to the West Indies, meant England were ranked 5th in the ICC Test rankings as of May 2009. ODI performances have been very poor, with England falling to 7th place in the ICC rankings.
In the 2006/07 tour of Australia, The Ashes were lost in a 0–5 "whitewash" but England did succeed in clinching victory in the Commonwealth bank ODI Tri-series against Australia and New Zealand. The loss of The Ashes prompted the announcement by the England and Wales Cricket Board of an official review of English cricket amid much criticism from the media, former players and fans. England failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies after defeats against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
In the summer of 2009 England regained The Ashes in a 2–1 series win with a 197-run victory against Australia at the Brit Oval, Kennington, London (20–23 August). Andrew Strauss was named nPower Man of the Series and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff retired from international Test cricket at the end of the 5th Test.
[edit]Governing bodyMain article: England and Wales Cricket BoardThe England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the governing body of English cricket and the England cricket team. The Board has been operating since 1 January 1997 and represents England on the International Cricket Council. The ECB is also responsible for the generation of income from the sale of tickets, sponsorship and broadcasting rights, primarily in relation to the England team. The ECB's income in the 2006 calendar year was £77.0 million.[21]
Prior to 1997 the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the governing body for the English team. Apart from in Test matches, when touring abroad the England team officially played as MCC up to and including the 1976–77 tour of Australia, reflecting the time when MCC had been responsible for selecting the touring party. The last time the England touring team wore the bacon-and-egg colours of the MCC was on the 1996–97 tour of New Zealand.
[edit]Team coloursEngland's kit is manufactured by Adidas, who replaced previous manufacturer Admiral on 1 April 2008.[22]
When playing Test cricket, England's cricket whites feature red piping across the chest and trouser legs. The three lions badge is on the left of the shirt and the name and logo of the sponsor Brit Insurance is on the right. The Adidas logo features on the right sleeve. English fielders may wear a navy blue cap or sun hat with the ECB logo in the middle. Helmets are coloured similarly.
In limited overs cricket, England's ODI and Twenty20 shirts feature the Brit Insurance logo across the centre, with the three lions badge on the left of the shirt and the Adidas logo on the right. England wear a navy shirt with red trim and navy trousers. They have also used an all red kit in some Twenty20's and in the 2009 ODI series against Australia.
Until January 2010, Vodafone were the official shirt sponsor across all formats in a long-lasting deal.
[edit]International groundsMain article: List of cricket grounds in England and Wales[edit]Test and ODIListed in order of date first used for Test match
- The Oval, London (Surrey)
- Old Trafford, Greater Manchester (Lancashire)
- Lord's, London (Middlesex)
- Trent Bridge, Nottingham (Nottinghamshire)
- Headingley, Leeds (Yorkshire)
- Edgbaston, Birmingham (Warwickshire)
- Riverside, Durham (County Durham)
- SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff (Glamorgan)
- Rose Bowl, Southampton(Hampshire)
- 1975: Semi-Final
- 1979: Runners up
- 1983: Semi-Final
- 1987: Runners up
- 1992: Runners up
- 1996: Quarter-Final
- 1999: Group Stage
- 2003: Group Stage
- 2007: Super Eights
- 2011: Quarter-Final
- 1998: Quarter-Final
- 2000: Quarter-Final
- 2002: Group Stage
- 2004: Runners up
- 2006: Group Stage
- 2009: Semi-Final
[edit]Team records
- Highest team total: 903–7 dec v Australia at The Oval in 1938
- Lowest team total: 45 v Australia at Sydney in 1886/87
- Most matches: 133 Tests – Alec Stewart[23]
- Longest Serving Captain: 54 Tests – Michael Atherton
- Most runs: 8,900 – Graham Gooch[24]
- Best average: 60.73 – Herbert Sutcliffe[25]
- Highest individual score: 364 – Len Hutton v Australia at The Oval in 1938
- Record partnership: 411 – Colin Cowdrey and Peter May v West Indies at Birmingham in 1957
- Most centuries: 22 – Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott
- England's most prolific opening partnership was Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. In 38 innings they averaged 87.81 for the first wicket, with 15 century partnerships and 10 others of 50 or more.
- Most ducks: 21 – Steve Harmison
- Most wickets: 383 – Ian Botham
- Best average: 10.75 – George Lohmann
- Best innings bowling: 10/53 – Jim Laker v Australia at Manchester in 1956
- Best match bowling: 19/90 – Jim Laker v Australia at Manchester in 1956
- Best strike rate: 34.1 – George Lohmann
- Best economy rate: 1.31 – William Attewell
- 5 England bowlers have taken 4 wickets in an over, 3 of these at Headingley. Maurice Allom v New Zealand at Christchurch in 1929–30, Kenneth Cranston v South Africa at Headingley in 1947, Fred Titmus v New Zealand at Headingley in 1965, Chris Old v Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1978 and Andy Caddick v West Indies at Headingley in 2000.
- Most catches by an outfielder: 120 – Ian Botham and Colin Cowdrey
- Most dismissals as wicketkeeper: 277 – Alec Stewart
- Most dismissals in an innings: 7 – Bob Taylor v India at Bombay in 1979/80
- Most dismissals in a match: 11 – Jack Russell v South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995/96
[edit]Team records
- Highest team total: 391–4 (50 overs) v Bangladesh at Nottingham in 2005[26]
- Lowest team total: 86–10 (32.4 overs) v Australia at Manchester in 2001
- Most matches: 197 – Paul Collingwood
- Longest Serving Captain: 60 matches – Michael Vaughan[27]
- Most runs: 5,092 – Paul Collingwood
- Best average: 52.44 – Jonathan Trott
- Highest individual score: 167* – Robin Smith v Australia at Birmingham in 1993
- Record partnership: 250 – Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss v Bangladesh at Birmingham in 2010
- Most centuries: 12 – Marcus Trescothick
- Most wickets: 234 – Darren Gough
- Best average: 19.45 – Mike Hendrick
- Best bowling: 6/31 – Paul Collingwood v Bangladesh at Nottingham in 2005
- Best strike rate: 30.80 – Stuart Broad
- Best economy rate: 3.27 – Mike Hendrick
- Most dismissals: 163 – Alec Stewart
- Most dismissals in a match: 6 – Alec Stewart v Zimbabwe at Manchester in 2000; Matt Prior v South Africa at Nottingham in 2008
[edit]Most England Test capsMain article: List of English Test cricketers
- 133 Alec Stewart
- 118 Graham Gooch
- 117 David Gower
- 115 Mike Atherton
- 114 Colin Cowdrey
- 108 Geoff Boycott
- 102 Ian Botham
- 100 Graham Thorpe
- 96 Nasser Hussain
- 95 Alan Knott
- 91 Godfrey Evans
- 90 Bob Willis
- 89 Andrew Strauss
- 86 Derek Underwood
- 85 Wally Hammond
- 82 Ken Barrington
- 82 Michael Vaughan
- 79 Mike Gatting
- 79 Allan Lamb
- 79 Tom Graveney
Key
- S/N = Shirt number
2Paul Collingwood retired from Test cricket in January 2011.
3Ryan Sidebottom retired from international duty in September 2010.
[edit]Coaching staff
- Managing director, England Cricket: Hugh Morris
- Managing director, Cricket Partnerships: Mike Gatting
- Team manager: Phil Neale
- England teams director: Andy Flower
- Fast bowling coaches: David Saker
- Spin bowling coaches: Mushtaq Ahmed
- Batting coach: Graham Gooch
- Fielding coach: Richard Halsall
- Sports analyst (Tests): Nathan Leamon
- Sports analyst (ODIs): Gemma Broad
- Chief medical officer: Dr. Nick Peirce
- Team physiotherapist: Kirk Russell
- Strength and conditioning coach: Huw Bevan
- Team psychologist: Mark Bawden
- Masseur: Nathan Atlay
- Media manager: James Avery
- Kit man: Tom Smitherin
Of the current squad (see above), Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb are all South-African-born but qualify through British parentage (though they still had to fulfil residency requirements), whilst Eoin Morgan is an Irish citizen and Jade Dernbach has British citizenship having lived in England since his youth.
[edit]See alsoCricket portal
- ECB National Academy
- England Lions cricket team
- England women's cricket team
- List of England cricket captains
- List of England Test cricketers
- List of England ODI cricketers
- List of England Twenty20 International cricketers
- ^ "About ECB". ECB. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ "MCC History". MCC. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ Waghorn, pp.22–23.
- ^ a b "England v Australia 1861 – 1888". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Australia in England 1880". Wisden. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Williams, Marcus (6 November 2002). "The Ashes in The Times". London: The Times. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ a b "England in Australia, 1882–83". Wisden. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Australia v England". Wisden. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "South Africa v England". Wisden. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "England v Australia 1890 – 1914". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Australia v South Africa". Wisden. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Sri Lanka vs England, 4th Quarter-Final ICC World Cup 2011".
- ^ Dublin to host Ireland-England ODI in 2011
- ^ Playing records in Test Cricket Retrieved on 26 August 2011
- ^ Number of player involves in test cricket Retrieved on 24 August 2011
- ^ Number of player engaged in Test cricket Retrieved on 28 August 2011
- ^ Number of player engaged in ODI Retrieved on 28 August 2011
- ^ "ECB Annual Report and Accounts 2006" (PDF). ECB. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ "adidas provide England kit", ECB, 18 April 2007. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
- ^ Alec Stewart: most Test matches playing for England, stats.espncricinfo.com Retrieved on 3 September, 2011
- ^ Most Runs for England, stats.espncricinfo.com Retrieved on 4 September, 2011.
- ^ Highest Career Batting Average, CricketArchive.com Retrieved on 24 August 2011.
- ^ "Records tumble in England victory". BBC News. 21 June 2005. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "Records / England / One-Day Internationals / Most matches as captain". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ^ "England Performance Squad unveiled". ECB. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
