England cricket team

England and Wales

England cricket crest
Test status granted 1877
First Test match v Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, 15–19 March 1877
Captain of Test Andrew Strauss
Captain of ODI Alastair Cook
Captain of Twenty20 Stuart Broad
Coach Andy Flower
Official ICC Test and ODI ranking 1st (Test)
6th (ODI)
1st (T20)
Test matches
 – This year
915
8
Last Test match v India
Wins/losses
 – This year
326/261
6/0
As of 25 October 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 they have played (with 328 draws). 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 sixth place in the ICC ODI Championship and, as of August 2011, are the top ranked Test side in the world.

Contents

History

The first recorded incidence of a team with a claim to represent England comes from 9 July 1739 when an "All-England" team, which consisted of eleven gentlemen from any part of England exclusive of Kent, played against "the Unconquerable County" of Kent and lost by a "very few notches".[3] Such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of a century.

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.

Early tours

The 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]

The Ashes

England would lose their first home series 1–0 in 1882 with The Sporting Times 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.

Inter-war period

England'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.

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.

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 and Nobby 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.

Post-war period

After 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 1954–55 thanks 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 at Lords 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 Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.

1971 to 2000

The 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 in 2011, 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. At this time, there were two main problems:

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".

Since 2000

One 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 and Bangladesh, 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 Anderson and 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.

HOME AWAY
Test One Day International Twenty20 Test One Day International Twenty20
Last match won 4th Test v India 2011 5th ODI v India 2011 Only T20 v India 2011 5th Test v Australia 2010–11 1st ODI v Netherlands in 2011 World Cup 1st T20 v Australia 2011
Last match lost 3rd Test v Pakistan 2010 3rd ODI v Sri Lanka 2011 Only T20 v Sri Lanka 2011 3rd Test v Australia 2010–11 England v Sri Lanka, 2011 World Cup Quarter-final 2nd T20 v Australia 2011
Last series won India 2011 India 2011 Pakistan 2010 Australia 2010–11 Bangladesh 2010 New Zealand 2008
Last series lost South Africa 2008 Australia 2009 West Indies 2009 Australia 2010–11 West 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.

Upcoming fixtures

'Future Home Test Schedule'

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Performances

England have traditionally been one of the stronger teams in international cricket, fielding a competitive side for most of cricket's history. Up to the end of August 2011 England had played 915 Test matches, winning 326 (35.63%), losing 261 (28.52%), and drawing 328 (38.85%).[16] As on 24 August 2011 in test cricket, 650 players had been capped for their country.[17][18] Up to the Super 8 World Cup match against Australia on 8 April 2007, England had played 464 ODIs, winning 224 (48.28%), losing 221 (47.63%), tying 4 (0.86%) and having 15 (3.23%) with no result. 222 players had played for England in One Day International matches up to 28 August 2011. [19] After Australia won The Ashes for the first time in 1881–82, England had to fight with them for primacy and one of the fiercest rivalries in sport dominated the cricket world for seventy years. In 1963 this duopoly of cricket dominance began to fall away with the emergence of a strong West Indies team.

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.

Governing body

The 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.[20]

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.

Team colours

England's kit is manufactured by Adidas, who replaced previous manufacturer Admiral on 1 April 2008.[21]

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.

International grounds

Test and ODI

Listed in order of date first used for Test match

ODI only

Statistics and records

Tournament history

World Cup

ICC Champions Trophy

(known as the "ICC Knockout" in 1998 and 2000)

ICC World Twenty20

England record in Test matches

Won Lost Drawn Total
v Australia home 45 47 64 156
away 57 86 27 170
total 102 133 91 326
v Bangladesh home 4 0 0 4
away 4 0 0 4
total 8 0 0 8
v India home 27 5 20 52
away 11 14 26 51
total 38 19 46 103
v New Zealand home 27 4 19 50
away 18 4 22 44
total 45 8 41 94
v Pakistan home 20 9 18 47
away 2 4 18 24
total 22 13 36 71
v South Africa home 27 11 23 61
away 29 18 30 77
total 56 29 53 138
v Sri Lanka home 6 2 5 13
away 3 4 4 11
total 9 6 9 24
v West Indies home 30 29 21 80
away 13 24 28 65
total 43 53 49 145
v Zimbabwe home 3 0 1 4
away 0 0 2 2
total 3 0 3 6
Home 189 107 171 467
Away 137 154 157 448
Overall 326 261 328 915
 % Breakdown 35.63% 28.52% 35.85% 100%

Table correct 23 August 2011

Team records

Individual records

Batting

Bowling

Fielding

England record in One Day Internationals

Won Tied Lost No Result Total
v Australia home 20 2 25 1 48
away 20  – 36 1 57
neutral 2  – 6  – 8
total 42 2 67 2 113
v Bangladesh home 5  – 1  – 6
away 6  – 1  – 7
neutral 2  –  –  – 2
total 13  – 2  – 15
v Canada home 1  –  –  – 1
neutral 1  –  –  – 1
total 2  –  –  – 2
v East Africa home 1  –  –  – 1
v India home 18 1 11 3 33
away 13  – 26  – 39
neutral 2 1 6  – 9
total 33 2 43 3 81
v Ireland away 3  –  –  –  –
neutral 1  – 1  – 2
total 4  – 1  – 5
v Kenya home 1  –  –  – 1
neutral 1  –  –  – 1
total 2  –  –  – 2
v Namibia neutral 1  –  –  – 1
v Netherlands neutral 3  –  –  – 3
v New Zealand home 9  – 5 1 15
away 13 2 16 2 33
neutral 6  – 10  – 16
total 28 2 31 3 64
v Pakistan home 22  – 13 1 36
away 9  – 10  – 19
neutral 7  – 5 1 13
total 38  – 28 2 68
v South Africa home 10  – 5 1 16
away 7 1 15 2 25
neutral 3  – 4  – 7
total 20 1 24 3 48
v Sri Lanka home 11  – 9  – 20
away 4  – 9  – 13
neutral 11  – 6  – 17
total 26  – 24  – 50
v United Arab Emirates neutral 1  –  –  – 1
v West Indies home 16  – 15 2 33
away 13  – 22 3 38
neutral 11  – 6  – 17
total 40  – 43 5 88
v Zimbabwe home 6  – 2 1 9
away 12  – 3  – 15
neutral 3  – 3  – 6
total 21  – 8 1 30
Home 119 3 86 10 218
Away 100 3 137 8 248
Neutral 55 1 47 1 104
Overall 274 7 270 19 570

Table correct 25 October 2011

Team records

Individual records

Batting

Bowling

Wicketkeeping

Figures correct as on 13 July 2011. Qualification of 20 innings minimum where appropriate

Most England Test caps

Personnel

This lists all the players who have played for England in the past year, and the forms in which they have played. In addition, leg spinner Adil Rashid was a non-playing member of England's 2011 ICC World Cup squad, whilst fast-bowler Graham Onions and left-arm spinner Monty Panesar have been included in England's 27-man Performance Squad for 2011.[27]

Key

Name Age Batting style Bowling style Domestic team Forms S/N
Test captain; opening batsman
Andrew Strauss1 34 Left-handed bat Left-arm medium Middlesex Test, ODI 14
Test vice-captain and ODI captain; opening batsman
Alastair Cook 27 Left-handed bat Right-arm off-break Essex Test, ODI 26
Twenty20 captain and ODI vice-captain; Pace bowler
Stuart Broad 25 Left-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Nottinghamshire Test, ODI, Twenty20 8
Opening batsmen
Alex Hales 23 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium Nottinghamshire Twenty20 35
Michael Lumb 32 Left-handed bat Right-arm medium Hampshire Twenty20 45
Middle-order batsmen
Ian Bell 29 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium Warwickshire Test, ODI, Twenty20 7
Ravi Bopara 26 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium Essex Test, ODI, Twenty20 42
Eoin Morgan 25 Left-handed bat Right-arm medium Middlesex Test, ODI, Twenty20 16
Kevin Pietersen 31 Right-handed bat Right-arm off-break Surrey Test, ODI, Twenty20 24
James Taylor 22 Right-handed bat Right-arm leg-break Nottinghamshire ODI 38
Jonathan Trott 30 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium Warwickshire Test, ODI 4
Wicket-keepers
Jonathan Bairstow 22 Right-handed bat  — Yorkshire ODI, Twenty20 51
Jos Buttler 21 Right-handed bat  — Somerset Twenty20 63
Steven Davies 25 Left-handed bat  — Surrey ODI, Twenty20 43
Craig Kieswetter 24 Right-handed bat  — Somerset ODI, Twenty20 22
Matt Prior 29 Right-handed bat  — Sussex Test, ODI 23
All-rounders
Tim Bresnan 26 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Yorkshire Test, ODI, Twenty20 20
Paul Collingwood2 35 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium Durham Test, ODI, Twenty20 5
Samit Patel 27 Right-handed bat Slow left-arm orthodox Nottinghamshire ODI, Twenty20 29
Ben Stokes 20 Left-handed bat Right-arm medium Durham ODI, Twenty20 59
Luke Wright 26 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium-fast Sussex ODI, Twenty20 6
Michael Yardy 31 Left-handed bat Slow left-arm orthodox Sussex ODI, Twenty20 40
Pace bowlers
James Anderson 29 Left-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Lancashire Test, ODI 9
Jade Dernbach 25 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Surrey ODI, Twenty20 46
Steven Finn 22 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Middlesex Test, ODI, Twenty20 25
Stuart Meaker 23 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast Surrey ODI 60
Liam Plunkett 26 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Durham ODI 17
Ajmal Shahzad 26 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Yorkshire ODI, Twenty20 13
Chris Tremlett 30 Right-handed bat Right-arm fast-medium Surrey Test, ODI 33
Chris Woakes 22 Right-handed bat Right-arm medium-fast Warwickshire ODI, Twenty20 31
Spin bowlers
Scott Borthwick 21 Right-handed bat Right-arm leg break Durham ODI, Twenty20 37
Graeme Swann 32 Right-handed bat Right-arm off-break Nottinghamshire Test, ODI, Twenty20 66
James Tredwell 29 Left-handed bat Right-arm off-break Kent ODI 53

1Andrew Strauss retired from One Day Internationals in May 2011
2Paul Collingwood retired from Test cricket in January 2011.

Coaching staff

Eligibility of players

The England cricket team represents England and Wales. However, under ICC regulations[1], players can qualify to play for a country by nationality, place of birth or residence, so (as with any national sports team) some people are eligible to play for more than one team. ECB regulations[2] state that to play for England, a player must be a British or Irish citizen, and have either been born in England or Wales, or have lived in England or Wales for the last four years. This has led to players of many other nationalities becoming eligible to play for England. ICC regulations allow cricketers who represent associate (i.e. non-Test-playing) nations to switch to a Test-playing nation, provided nationality requirements are fulfilled. In recent years, this has seen Irish internationals Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan switch to represent England, whilst Gavin Hamilton previously played for Scotland – though four years after his last appearance for England, he became eligible to play for Scotland again.

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.

See also

References

  1. ^ "About ECB". ECB. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20071006140121/http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about/. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  2. ^ "MCC History". MCC. http://www.lords.org/history/mcc-history/. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  3. ^ Waghorn, pp.22–23.
  4. ^ a b "England v Australia 1861 – 1888". Cricinfo. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausveng/content/story/259952.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  5. ^ "Australia in England 1880". Wisden. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154315.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  6. ^ Williams, Marcus (6 November 2002). "The Ashes in The Times". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,23070-471469,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  7. ^ a b "England in Australia, 1882–83". Wisden. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154318.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  8. ^ "Australia v England". Wisden. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/engine/match/62408.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  9. ^ "Test matches". Cricinfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;opposition=2;spanmax1=31+Dec+1899;spanmax2=31+Dec+1898;spanmin1=1+Jan+1884;spanmin2=1+Jan+1884;spanval1=span;spanval2=span;team=1;template=results;type=team;view=series. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  10. ^ "South Africa v England". Wisden. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/engine/match/62426.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  11. ^ "Test matches". Cricinfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;opposition=2;orderby=start;spanmax1=31+Dec+1914;spanmin1=1+Jan+1900;spanval1=span;team=1;template=results;type=team;view=series. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  12. ^ "Test matches". Cricinfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;opposition=3;orderby=start;spanmax1=24+Jan+1911;spanval1=span;team=1;template=results;type=team;view=series. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  13. ^ "England v Australia 1890 – 1914". Cricinfo. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausveng/content/story/260677.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  14. ^ "Australia v South Africa". Wisden. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/237048.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  15. ^ "Sri Lanka vs England, 4th Quarter-Final ICC World Cup 2011". http://iccworld-cup2011.blogspot.com/2011/03/4th-quarter-final-sri-lanka-vs-england.html. 
  16. ^ Playing records in Test Cricket Retrieved on 26 August 2011
  17. ^ Number of player involves in test cricket Retrieved on 24 August 2011
  18. ^ Number of player engaged in Test cricket Retrieved on 28 August 2011
  19. ^ Number of player engaged in ODI Retrieved on 28 August 2011
  20. ^ "ECB Annual Report and Accounts 2006" (PDF). ECB. http://static.ecb.co.uk/files/ecb-annual-report-accounts-2006-group-financial-statements-1846.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
  21. ^ "adidas provide England kit", ECB, 18 April 2007. Retrieved on 12 August 2008.
  22. ^ Alec Stewart: most Test matches playing for England, stats.espncricinfo.com, http://stats.espncricinfo.com/england/engine/records/individual/most_matches_career.html?class=1;id=1;type=team  Retrieved on 3 September, 2011
  23. ^ Most Runs for England, stats.espncricinfo.com, http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;team=1;template=results;type=batting  Retrieved on 4 September, 2011.
  24. ^ Highest Career Batting Average, CricketArchive.com, http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/England/Tests/Batting/Highest_Career_Batting_Average.html  Retrieved on 24 August 2011.
  25. ^ "Records tumble in England victory". BBC News. 21 June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/4111184.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  26. ^ "Records / England / One-Day Internationals / Most matches as captain". Cricinfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/individual/most_matches_as_captain.html?class=2;id=1;type=team. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
  27. ^ "England Performance Squad unveiled". ECB. http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/england/eps,313594,EN.html. Retrieved 2011-05-04. 

Bibliography

External links