England cricket team

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England
As of June 2007
File:ECB Logo.gif
The logo of the England Cricket Team which shows the three Lions of England below a five-pointed crown

The England cricket team is the national cricket team which represents England and Wales. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and was previously governed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) since 1903.[1][2]

England along with Australia were the first team to be granted Test status on 15 March 1877 and gained full membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 15 June 1909. They also took part in the first ever One Day International (ODI) against Australia on 5 January 1971. While their first Twenty20 match occurred on 13 June 2005 with their opponents being Australia.

As of October 2007 the England team have won 301 of its 864 Test matches and are ranked second in the ICC Test Championship holding this position since February 2006. They have finished runners-up in three Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992) and are currently ranked seventh in the ICC ODI rankings

Peter Moores was given the job of Head Coach on 1 May 2007 following the resignation of Duncan Fletcher after a poor 2007 Cricket World Cup campaign. He subsequently employed Andy Flower as assistant coach.

History

Template:Details3

The first England team to tour Australia.

The first evidence of an England team occurred in 9 July 1739 when an "All-England" team which consisted of eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent. This team played against 'the Unconquerable County' of Kent and lost by a 'very few notches'. Such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of the 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.

The first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England going to North America. This team comprised of six players from the All-England Eleven and six from the United All-England Eleven, and was captained by George Parr. With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned to Australia and New Zealand with the inaugural tour of Australia taking place in 1861-2. England would visit New Zealand in 1863–64 with the tour being the first to be organised by the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). Most tours prior to 1877 were played "against odds", meaning the opposing team was permitted to have more than 11 players (usually 22) in order to make a more even contest. As a result these matches were not considered first-class matches and were organised purely for commercial reasons.

James Lillywhite led the England team which had 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 and came to be regarded as the first Test match. The combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. The first Test match in English soil occurred in 1880 with England winning this series 1–0. England 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.

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 won the series 2–1 and 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 series was born. England would dominate many of these early contests with Australia winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98. During this period England played their first Test match against South Africa in 1889 at Port Elizabeth. The 1899 Ashes series was the first tour where the MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee. It comprised 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 England struggle as they lost four of the eight Ashes series between 1900 and 1914. They lost their first series against South Africa in 1908 4–1 as England's batting faltered.

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. Hampered by a very wet summer and player disputes the tournament was considered a failure with The Daily Telegraph stating:

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. England would go on one more tour against South Africa before the outbreak of World War I.

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.

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.

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 sub continent. 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 wickets of the time were friendly to batsmen resulting in many matches ending in high scoring draws. 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 the World War II, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played.

England fell under difficult times suffering a heavy defeat 3–0 to Australia. This 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 for five years and secured famous victories in the 1954–55 and 1956 Ashes series. 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 1960s was a period for English cricket. Despite England's strength on paper, Australia held the Ashes for the entire decade and might not of even been the second best Test team with the West Indies dominating England in the early part of the decade. England would the end 60s on a high however regaining the Wisden Trophy in 1968 and drawing the Ashes series in the same year 1–1.

England carried their good form from the late 60s into the 70s regaining the Ashes in 1970 but then suffered a loss of form losing to India and a rising West Indian side. This culminated in a 4–1 defeat in the 1974 Ashes series. The inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup saw England reach the semi-finals and was to be the turning point in England's fortunes. The results of the Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket were felt in Test cricket with Australia and Pakistan losing many of its star players. England replaced captain Tony Greig who had joined the league for Mike Brearley while Geoffrey Boycott returned from his England exile. England would defeat a divided Australian side 3–1 in the centenary Ashes series. This was followed by a comfortable 4–0 win against Pakistan and a World Cup final appearance against the West Indies.

With a young David Gower, Ian Botham and Bob Willis at their peak with the ball and Boycott and Graham Gooch opening the batting England were a formidable team. Their results were initially promising narrowly losing to the West Indies who were the unofficial champions at the time. England would then fightback to win the 1981 Ashes series, often referred to as "Botham's Ashes" 2–1. The third Test at Headingley saw a revitalised Botham perform well with bat and ball taking 6/65 and then scoring a unbeaten 149. England won by 18 runs after following-on, only the second time in the history of England v Australia Tests that this has been achieved. England suffered their second whitewash series against the West Indies in 1984 but continued to produce good results defeating India 2–1 and regained the Ashes in the 1984–85 season with a comfortable 4–1 victory. Hopes that this victory could see a challenge mounted on the 1985–86 tour of the West Indies were dashed as England were soundly defeated 5–0. A shocked England team never really recovered from this defeat, and although England managed to retain the 1986–87 Ashes they would only win one further Test series in the 80’s against a relatively weak Sri Lankan team and suffered heavy defeats to Australia and the West Indies.

England continued their decline during the 1990s. This was not helped by squabbles between key players and the chairman of selectors, Raymond Illingworth. Other reasons to their poor performances were the demands of county cricket meant that England could rarely lead 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.

In the early 90's players such as Botham, Gower and Allan Lamb all came to the end of their international careers and specifically in the case of Botham, England had trouble replacing these players. This lead to a string of disappointing results as England did not win a Test match for two and half years. England’s performance in ODI cricket was still good however as they defeated Australia, the West Indies and South Africa to reach the final of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Shortly after the world cup Mike Atherton replaced Gooch as England captain but his captaincy was regarded as a failure with England winning only one Test series under his captaincy. A win against South Africa in 1998 was England’s first five series since 1986–87 this would be a false dawn as they were eliminated in the first round of the 1999 Cricket World Cup and lost a Test series against New Zealand 2–1 resulting in England being officially ranked as the worst Test nation.[3]

With the recent appointment of Duncan Fletcher as coach and Nasser Hussain as captain England begin to rebuild its team. They won four consecutive Test series which included impressive wins against West Indies (a first in 32 years) and Pakistan. England was still left wanting against Australia however and lost the 2001 Ashes 4–1. Promising results against India and Sri Lanka gave England some positive sentiments towards their chances against Australia, yet a 4–1 defeat showed that they were still falling short. This setback did not stop England’s resurgence however as they defeated the West Indies 3–0 and followed this up by whitewashes over New Zealand and the West Indies at home. A first Test victory against South Africa at Port Elizabeth meant England had won their eighth successive Test, their best sequence of Test match wins for 75 years. England would then defeat Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.

Recent form

Since the historic Ashes win, the team has suffered from a serious and ongoing spate of injuries to key players. Andrew Flintoff, Michael Vaughan, Simon Jones and Ashley Giles all suffered serious injuries. Jones and Vaughan have both returned to cricket, although Jones has not been involved in the England set up. Some have also claimed that they seemed to suffer from a lack of focus and 'killer instinct'. This can be seen in their 22 run loss to Pakistan at Multan in November 2005 (a match which they had dominated before the last day), and their failure to wrap up victory against Sri Lanka at Lord's in May 2006 after securing a first-innings lead of 359 and enforcing the follow-on. However, especially in the recent series victory against Pakistan in July-August 2006, several new players have emerged who have performed well and promise much for the future, leading to suggestions that even when the injured players recover, they may struggle to get back into the team. Most notable has been the left-arm orthodox spin bowler Monty Panesar, the first Sikh to play Test cricket for England. He has impressed with the excellence of his bowling (including match figures of 8/93 in the innings victory over Pakistan at Old Trafford in July 2006) and has also become a crowd favourite. He was one of the favourites to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year, but did not receive the award. Other new players of note include left-handed batsman Alastair Cook and fast bowler Sajid Mahmood. The injury crisis has also allowed previously marginal players Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell to consolidate their places. The outstanding recent performances of the team, albeit against a Pakistan side which was also weakened by injuries, mean that the 2006/07 Ashes series was one of the most keenly anticipated of recent years, and was expected to provide a level of competition comparable to the 2005 series. In the event, England lost all five Tests, the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years.

The team's form in ODIs had been consistently poor, they are currently ranked 7th the world and have won only 38% of their matches against major test nations since 1992. They only narrowly avoided the ignominy of having the play in the qualifying rounds of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and were humiliatingly defeated 5–0 by Sri Lanka in June-July 2006. Steve Harmison now holds the unwanted record of the worst bowling figures for England in ODI history (0/97 in the match at Headingley) and retired from ODIs during the 2006/7 Ashes tour. There was some improvement in the latest one-day series against Pakistan in England, when England won the last two matches to record a 2–2 draw. A similar story unveiled in the one-day triangular in Australia, where England lost Kevin Pietersen to injury, and had won one and lost five of their first six games. Then, England won their next four games, scraping into the finals series before winning both finals and their first ODI tournament overseas since 1997.

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. However, the unimpressive nature of most of their victories in the tournament, combined with their heavy defeats to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, left many commentators criticising the manner in which the England team approached the one day game[4][5][6]

HOME AWAY
Test One Day International Twenty20 Test One Day International Twenty20
Last match won 4th Test v West Indies 2007 7th ODI v India 2007 2nd Twenty20 v West Indies 2007 3rd Test v India 2006 3rd ODI Sri Lanka 2007 Group B v Zimbabwe
Last match lost 2nd Test v India 2007 6th ODI v India 2007 1st Twenty20 v West Indies 2007 5th Test v Australia 1st ODI Sri Lanka 2007 Super 8s v India
Last series won Wisden Trophy 2007 NatWest Challenge v India 2007 - South Africa 2005 Sri Lanka 2007 -
Last series lost npower Test series vs India 2007 NatWest Challenge v West Indies 2007 - Ashes 2006 ICC Champions Trophy 2006 2007 ICC World Twenty20
- Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 13 August 2007. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 8 September 2007. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 29 June 2007. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 5 January 2007. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 4 October 2007. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 19 September 2007.

Upcoming tour fixtures

England tour of Sri Lanka

Main article: English cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2007-08

England will play 5 One-day Internationals and 3 Test matches against Sri Lanka between October and December 2007.

Performances

England has 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 2006 England had played 857 test matches, winning 298 (34.77%), losing 250 (29.17%), and drawing 309 (36.06%) 636 players had been capped for their country. Up to the Super 8 World Cup match against Australia on April 8, 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. 203 players had played for England in ODIs up to that date.

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 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 is currently ranked second behind Australia in the Test rankings, but 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" (see 2006-07 Ashes series) 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.

Governing body

Main article: England and Wales Cricket Board

The (ECB) is the governing body over the England cricket team. The Board has been operating since 1 January 1997 and represents England with 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.[7]

Prior to 1997 the MCC was the governing body of England and outside of Test matches the touring England team officially played as MCC up to and including the 1976-77 tour of Australia. The last time the England touring team wore the bacon-and-egg colours of the Marylebone Cricket Club was on the 1996-97 tour of New Zealand.

Team colours

When playing Test match cricket, England’s cricket whites contain blue piping across the front and sleeves while the three lion badge is on the left and the sponsor Vodafone on the right. English fielders may wear a navy cap or sun hat with the ECB logo in the middle of the cap/sun hat. Helmets are coloured similarly.

England's ODI team wears a union blue shirt and pants. The shirt sleeves are red with the three lion badge on the left and the kit sponsor admiral on the right. The name and logo of their main sponsor Vodafone is at the centre of the shirt. The one-day cap is also union blue with the ECB logo on the front. In Twenty20 cricket England wear the same colour union blue pants but their shirt is red with blue stripes on the sleeves. This kit is not sponsored by Vodafone with the centre of the shirt simply stating England.

International grounds

Main article: List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

Test and ODI

ODI only

Statistics and records

Tournament History

World Cup

  • 1975: Semi-Finals
  • 1979: Runners up
  • 1983: Semi-Finals
  • 1987: Runners up
  • 1992: Runners up
  • 1996: Quarter-Finals
  • 1999: First round
  • 2003: First round
  • 2007: Eliminated at Super-8 stage (5th Place)

ICC Champions Trophy

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

  • 1998: Quarter-Finals
  • 2000: Quarter-Finals
  • 2002: Second in Group Pool 2
  • 2004: Runners up
  • 2006: Main Round

ICC World Twenty20

  • 2007: Eliminated at Super 8 stage

England Record in Test Matches

Table correct May 1, 2007.

Won Tied Lost Drawn Total
v Australia home 43 - 46 62 151
away 54 - 85 26 165
total 97 - 131 88 316
v Bangladesh home 2 - - - 2
away 2 - - - 2
total 4 - - - 4
v India home 23 - 4 18 45
away 11 - 13 25 49
total 34 - 17 43 94
v New Zealand home 25 - 4 18 47
away 16 - 3 22 41
total 41 - 7 40 88
v Pakistan home 17 - 8 18 43
away 2 - 4 18 24
total 19 - 12 36 67
v South Africa home 26 - 9 22 57
away 28 - 17 28 73
total 54 - 26 50 130
v Sri Lanka home 5 - 2 3 10
away 3 - 3 2 8
total 8 - 5 5 18
v West Indies home 25 - 29 20 74
away 13 - 23 24 60
total 38 - 52 44 134
v Zimbabwe home 3 - - 1 4
away - - - 2 2
total 3 - - 3 6
Home 169 - 102 162 433
Away 129 - 148 147 424
Overall 298 - 250 309 857
% Breakdown 34.77% 0% 29.17% 36.06% 100%
Main article: List of England Test cricket records

Team records

Individual records

Batting

Bowling

Fielding

England Record in One Day Internationals

Correct up to April 13, 2007.

Won Tied Lost No Result Total
v Australia home 16 2 17 1 36
away 19 - 30 1 50
neutral 2 - 5 - 7
total 37 2 52 2 93
v Bangladesh home 3 - - - 3
away 3 - - - 3
neutral 2 - - - 2
total 8 - - - 8
v Canada home 1 - - - 1
neutral 1 - - - 1
total 2 - - - 2
v East Africa home 1 - - - 1
v India home 11 - 8 2 21
away 13 - 16 - 29
neutral 2 - 6 - 8
total 26 - 30 2 58
v Ireland away 1 - - - 1
neutral 1 - - - 1
total 2 - - - 2
v Kenya home 1 - - - 1
neutral 1 - - - 1
total 2 - - - 2
v Namibia neutral 1 - - - 1
v Netherlands neutral 2 - - - 2
v New Zealand home 9 - 5 1 15
away 12 1 14 2 29
neutral 6 - 9 - 15
total 27 1 28 3 59
v Pakistan home 19 - 11 1 31
away 9 - 10 - 19
neutral 7 - 5 1 13
total 35 - 26 2 63
v South Africa home 6 - 5 - 11
away 3 1 13 1 18
neutral 2 - 3 - 5
total 11 1 21 1 34
v Sri Lanka home 8 - 7 - 15
away 1 - 7 - 8
neutral 10 - 5 - 15
total 19 - 19 - 38
v United Arab Emirates neutral 1 - - - 1
v West Indies home 13 - 13 1 27
away 6 - 18 3 27
neutral 11 - 6 - 17
total 30 - 37 4 71
v Zimbabwe home 6 - 2 1 9
away 12 - 3 - 15
neutral 3 - 3 - 6
total 21 - 8 1 30
Home 94 2 68 7 171
Away 79 2 111 7 199
Neutral 52 - 42 1 95
Overall 225 4 221 15 465
Main article: List of England One-Day International cricket records

Team records

Individual records

  • Most matches: 170 - Alec Stewart
  • England is one of only two Test-playing nations (the other being Bangladesh) to have no players over the 200-cap milestone in ODIs
  • Longest Serving Captain: 56 matches - Nasser Hussain

Batting

Bowling

Fielding

Most England Test Caps

Main article: List of English Test cricketers

Current Squad

This lists all the active players who have played for England in the past year.

Name Batting Style Bowling Style Domestic team Forms
ODI and Twenty20 Captain and All-Rounder
Paul Collingwood Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Durham Test, ODI, Twenty20
Test Captain and Middle-Order Batsman
Michael Vaughan Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Yorkshire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Opening Batsmen
Alastair Cook Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Essex Test, ODI, Twenty20
Mal Loye Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Lancashire ODI
Darren Maddy Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Warwickshire Twenty20
Andrew Strauss Left-Handed Bat Left-Arm Medium Middlesex Test, ODI
Middle-Order Batsmen
Ian Bell Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Warwickshire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Ed Joyce Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Middlesex ODI, Twenty20
Kevin Pietersen Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Hampshire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Owais Shah Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Middlesex Test, ODI, Twenty20
Vikram Solanki Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Worcestershire Twenty20
Jonathan Trott Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Warwickshire Twenty20
Wicket-keepers
Geraint Jones Right-Handed Bat - Kent Test
Phil Mustard Left-Handed Bat - Durham ODI
Paul Nixon Left-Handed Bat - Leicestershire ODI, Twenty20
Matthew Prior Right-Handed Bat - Sussex Test, ODI, Twenty20
Chris Read Right-Handed Bat - Nottinghamshire Test
All rounders
Ravi Bopara Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Essex Test, ODI
Jamie Dalrymple Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Glamorgan ODI, Twenty20
Andrew Flintoff Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Lancashire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Dimitri Mascarenhas Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium-Fast Hampshire ODI, Twenty20
Luke Wright Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium-Fast Sussex ODI, Twenty20
Michael Yardy Left-Handed Bat Left-Arm Medium Sussex ODI, Twenty20
Pace Bowlers
James Anderson Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Lancashire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Stuart Broad Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Leicestershire ODI, Twenty20
Steve Harmison Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast Durham Test
Matthew Hoggard Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Yorkshire Test
James Kirtley Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium-Fast Sussex Twenty20
Jon Lewis Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Gloucestershire ODI, Twenty20
Sajid Mahmood Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Lancashire Test, ODI
Liam Plunkett Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Durham Test, ODI
Ryan Sidebottom Left-Handed Bat Left-Arm Fast-Medium Nottinghamshire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Chris Tremlett Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Hampshire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Spin Bowlers
Monty Panesar Left-Handed Bat Slow Left-Arm Orthodox Northamptonshire Test, ODI, Twenty20
Chris Schofield Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Legbreak Surrey Twenty20
Jeremy Snape Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Leicestershire Twenty20
Graeme Swann Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Nottinghamshire ODI

Coaching Staff

  • Managing Director England Cricket: Hugh Morris
  • Managing Driector Cricket Partnerships: Mike Gatting
  • Team Manager: Phil Neale
  • England Teams Director: Peter Moores
  • Batting/Assistant Coach: Andy Flower
  • Fast Bowling Coaches: Kevin Shine (senior coach), Ottis Gibson & Stuart Barnes
  • Spin Bowling Coaches: David Parsons (senior coach) & Jeremy Snape
  • Fielding Coach: (to be appointed as per Schofield Report recommendation)
  • Computer Analyst: Mark Garaway
  • Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Mark Peirce
  • Team Physiotherapist: Kirk Russell
  • Team Physiologist: Nigel Stockhill
  • Team Psychologists: Dr. Steve Bull & Jeremy Snape
  • Masseur: Mark Saxby

Eligibility of players

The England cricket team represents England and Wales. However, under ICC regulations[4], 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[5] 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. England have been captained by a Scot, Mike Denness, and three South Africans, Tony Greig, Allan Lamb and Andrew Strauss. The South African cape coloured, Basil D'Oliveira, famously played for England during the apartheid era. In recent times Graeme Hick (Zimbabwe); Andrew Caddick (New Zealand); Geraint Jones (Australia via Papua New Guinea); and Kevin Pietersen (South Africa) have all played for England. Some players have played for another (non Test-playing) country as well as England, for example Gavin Hamilton who played for Scotland in the 1999 World Cup and later played one Test match for England, while Ed Joyce played for Ireland in the ICC Trophy before making his England ODI debut in June 2006 against his former team.

England Facts and Feats

Notable Series

  • Botham's Ashes. Ian Botham was sacked as England captain after the first Ashes test in 1981. The team were lambasted in the press and Botham mocked for his performances and captaincy. In the second Test at Headingley England were forced to follow on 227 runs behind. Botham came to the crease at 105 for 5 with the match and series all but over. Botham scored 149 and Bob Willis took 8 for 43. England won by 18 runs and went on to win the series.
  • The Bodyline series, Australia v. England 1932-3. England bowled the cricket ball at the body of the Australia batsmen in the hope of creating legside deflections that could be caught by fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. A number of Australians were injured and the tactic led to a diplomatic incident between the UK and Australia.

Notable Matches

  • At the Kennington Oval on 29 August 1882, in the ninth Test ever played, England, set 85 to win a one-off Test, were dismissed for 77 by Australia with 'the Demon' Fred Spofforth taking 7 for 44 . It was after this match that The Sporting Times carried a mock obituary stating that the body of English cricket would be cremated and The Ashes taken to Australia.
  • England scored just 45 in their first innings at Sydney in 1886-87. They then bowled the Australians out for 119, scored 194 second time around and skittled the home team for 97 to win by 13 runs. The start of the test had been delayed to allow a state match, New South Wales v Victoria, to finish in the morning and a fresh pitch was used for each innings.
  • England won the only Olympic cricket match ever held, at the 1900 Games, in a 12-a-side match at the Velodrome de Vincennes in Paris. England, represented by the Devon County Wanderers, scored 117 and 145 for 5 declared and beat All-Paris (78 and 26) by 163 runs. "All Paris" were largely British Embassy staff although one Frenchman, a M. Roques, was playing. The winners received models of the Eiffel Tower as Olympic medals were not introduced until 1908. The game was part of a 'Great Exposition' which was afforded Olympic status in 1912.
  • The highest score in any fourth innings of a Test is England's 654-5 at Durban in 1938-39. Set 696 to win in a 'timeless' match England were just 42 runs short of victory when rain ended play at tea on the 11th day. England had to leave to catch a train to meet their homeward bound boat in Cape Town and the match ended in a draw. Bill Edrich scored 219.
  • England beat South Africa at Durban in 1948-49 with a leg-bye off the last possible ball.
  • The shortest 'Test' in history came in January 1998 at Sabina Park in Jamaica. Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose reduced England to 17/3 in 75 minutes (10.2 overs) on a spiteful pitch before it was deemed unsafe and the match abandoned.

Batting Facts

  • KS Ranjitsinhji made 154 not out on his Test debut, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1896, and 175 in his first Test overseas.
  • England's 315 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain on 9-11 March 1986 is the highest total in Test cricket in which no batsman scored 50. David Gower scored 47 and extras (59) top-scored for only the seventh time in 1039 matches to that date.
  • Herbert Sutcliffe scored hundreds in both innings against Australia at Melbourne in 1924-25 and finished on the losing side, as did Robin Smith after his epic 167* in the Edgebaston ODI against Australia in 1993.
  • When Graham Thorpe scored his match winning hundred in Barbados in 2004, the next-highest score off the bat was 17. He scored 21 ODI fifties without ever recording three figures. He and Andrew Strauss once top scored in five test innings in a row.
  • Bobby Abel scored 120 at Cape Town in March 1889 before England dismissed South Africa for 47 and 43, in one innings he had scored more than the opposition managed in both of theirs. Len Hutton emulated the feat at The Oval in 1938, scoring a then world record 364 while Australia made only 201 and 123.
  • Mike Atherton make 24 ducks in 212 innings, an unwanted England record, while Bobby Peel in 1894-95 and Pat Pocock in 1984 bagged pairs in consecutive tests. Bob Willis posted a record 55 not outs in his 90 Test matches.
  • John Edrich hit a test record 52 boundaries in his triple century against New Zealand at Headingley in 1965.
  • 3 players have a top score of 99 for England. Alex Tudor, who remained 99*, the highest ever score by an England nightwatchman, Martyn Moxon and Norman Yardley. Mike Smith and Mike Atherton both scored 99 on two occasions and were both once run out going for their hundredth run. Frank Woolley made 95 and 93 in a Test against Australia in 1921. Against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1973-74, Geoff Boycott was out for 99 in the first innings and scored 112 in the second.
  • John Emburey, with 1713 runs and a best of 75, scored more test runs than any other Englishman without a test century. Fred Trueman scored 981 Test runs in 85 innings without reaching 50.
  • Peter Richardson scored England's slowest hundred in 488 minutes against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1956-57. Trevor Bailey took 357 minutes to reach 50 at Brisbane in 1958-59. In all he batted 438 minutes for 68, scoring off only 40 of the 425 balls he received. Godfrey Evans took 97 minute to get off the mark at Adelaide in 1946-47. Bob Taylor faced 4260 balls for his 1156 Test runs, a strike rate of 27.14. Mike Brearley scored at 29.80 and Chris Tavare 30.60.

Bowling Feats

  • Sydney Barnes is rated as the best bowler of all time for any country according to the LG ICC Best Ever Test Bowling rating.
  • Arthur Gilligan took 6 for 7 at Edgbaston in 1924 as South Africa were bowled out for 30. Steve Harmison took 7 for 12 for England against West Indies at Kingston in 2004. George Lohmann took 8 for 7 against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1895-96, and followed that in the next Test, at Johannesburg, with 9 for 28. He took 35 wickets in the three match series.
  • Johnny Briggs bagged 15 for 28 (7 for 17 and 8 for 11) against South Africa at Cape Town in 1888-89.
  • Hedley Verity bowled 768 balls in the Timeless Test against South Africa at Durban in March 1939.
  • Mark Ealham won 5 LBW decisions for 15 for England against Zimbabwe in an ODI in January 2000 at Kimberley.
  • Alec Bedser claimed 10 wicket hauls in his first two test matches, 11-145 at Lord's and 11-93 at Old Trafford against India in England's first postwar Tests in 1946.
  • David Gower is the only bowler to be called for throwing in a test in England. With New Zealand poised to win the Trent Bridge test of 1986 he threw the last ball to Martin Crowe, who hit it for four.
  • England off-spinner Jim Laker holds the Ashes wicket taking record with 46 in five Tests in 1956. The series record in all Tests is 49 by Sydney Barnes for England on jute matting pitches in South Africa in 1913-14. Barnes missed the final game of the rubber after a management disagreement about his wife's accommodation.

Captains

  • Len Hutton is usually held to be England's first professional captain. However, England's captain in the match latterly recognised as the first official Test match - against Australia at Melbourne in 1876-77 - was James Lillywhite of [Sussex CCC]. Lillywhite was a professional, like all the other players on that privately mounted tour.
  • Aubrey Smith who captained England in his only Test, against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1888-89, became a Hollywood actor who appeared in over a hundred films as an archetypal English gent.
  • The record for consecutive lost toss es by one country is 12 by England (1959-60 in WI (5); 1960 v SA (5); 1961 v A (2)). The captains were Peter May (3) and Colin Cowdrey (9).
  • Former England Captain Tony Greig played through his entire 58 match career without being dropped or missing a game through injury.

Wicket Keepers

  • England used 4 wicket keepers in New Zealand's first innings at Lord's in 1986 when the appointed keeper, Bruce French was injured during England's first innings. Bill Athey kept for the first two overs before veteran Bob Taylor was pulled out of the sponsors tent to keep, immaculately, for overs 3 to 76. Bobby Parks, the Hampshire keeper, was called up for overs 77 to 140 and French returned for the final ball.
  • Surrey wicket-keeper Harry Wood was the first player to score a century (134* against South Africa at Cape Town in 1891-92) in his final Test.
  • The highest score by an England 'keeper is Alec Stewart's 173 against New Zealand at Auckland in January 1997.
  • England's most capped 'keeper is Alan Knott with 95. He originally signed with Kent as a batsman who bowled useful leg breaks.
  • When all 11 England players bowled during Australia's 551 at The Oval in 1884 wicket-keeper Alfred Lyttelton took four wickets for eight runs with his lobs.
  • Matt Prior has the highest score by a wicket-keeper on debut, scoring 126 not out. He is the only wicket-keeper to score a century on debut.

Fielding

  • England ran out 5 Australians in the Sydney Test of 1920-21.
  • At 12.31 p.m. on the first day of the Lord's Test in 1990, India keeper Kiran More dropped Graham Gooch off the fourth ball of Sanjeev Sharma's fourth over. Gooch went on to score 333. He scored another century in the second innings, another of his record 6 centuries at Lords. He scored 2015 runs there in 21 Tests overall. Ted Dexter scored his 9 test centuries at 9 different venues.

One Test Wonders

  • At least 86 players have made a solitary Test match appearance for England.
  • Father Marriott took 11 for 96 with his leg-breaks and googlies on his only England appearance, against West Indies at The Oval in August 1933.
  • John MacBryan of Somerset did not bat, bowl or take a catch in his only test, against South Africa in 1924 at Old Trafford. Heavy rain allowed less than three hours play over five days. He did play for his country however - at hockey in the Olympic Games.
  • Buddy Oldfield scored 80 in his only test, against West Indies at The Oval in August 1939 in the final Test before World War 2.
  • Opener Andy Lloyd retired hurt after being hit on the head by Malcolm Marshall when 10* in the first test of 1984. He was hospitalised and never played Test cricket again.
  • Audley Miller made his first-class debut in the opening Test of Lord Hawke's first tour of South Africa in February 1896. He is one of the few England cricketers who never appeared for a first-class county.

Family Connections

  • Three brothers, E.M., G.F. and W.G. Grace, made their debuts against Australia at The Oval in 1880, the first Test played in England.
  • Charles and George Studd played in the four Tests against Australia in 1882-83. Alec and George Hearne appeared at Cape Town in 1891-92 while a third brother, Frank, represented South Africa. The Richardson brothers played at Trent Bridge 65 years later, and Adam and Ben Hollioake made their joint debut against Australia in August 1997.
  • Dean Headley's father and grandfather played for West Indies while the senior Nawab of Pataudi, who represented England and India, had a son who captained India.

The Counties

  • England have fielded a side consisting of players from 11 different counties on four occasions - 1930-31 v South Africa at Durban, 1950 v West Indies at Nottingham, 1992 v Pakistan at Lord's and 1992-93 v India at Calcutta. Nottinghamshire CCC contributed 6 players, W Barnes, W Flowers, W Gunn, WH Scotton, M Sherwin and A Shrewsbury, to the England team which played against Australia at Sydney in January 1887. Arthur Shrewsbury was the first player to score 1,000 test runs, reaching the landmark during the last of his three centuries for England, against Australia at Lord's on 17 July 1893.

Youngest and Oldest

  • Denis Compton is the youngest, and Jack Hobbs the oldest, player to score a Test match century for England. 'Compo' was 20 years 19 days old when he completed his 102 against the 1938 Australians at Trent Bridge. It was his first Test against Australia, and his partnership of 206 in 138 minutes with Eddie Paynter remains the England record in Ashes Tests. Compton was incidentally out 'hit wicket' a record five times in his Test career. 'The Master' was 46 years and 82 days old when he made 142 at Melbourne in March 1929 which remains the record age for any batsman scoring a Test hundred. It was his 15th Test hundred and his 12th against Australia, which is still the England record.
  • Wilfred Rhodes, the great Yorkshire all-rounder, was 52 years and 165 days old when he played his final day of Test cricket at Kingston, Jamaica in April 1930. He is the England's, and the world's, oldest Test cricketer. His career spanned 30 years and 315 days. It took Wilfred Rhodes from June 1899 to January 1921 to collect 50 caps, Marcus Trescothick won 50 caps in 1407 days. When England played four tests in the West Indies in 1929-30 their side included both Wilfred Rhodes (born October 29, 1877) and Yorkshire paceman Bill Voce (August 8, 1909), a difference of almost 32 years. Rhodes made his Test debut over a decade before Voce was born. George Gunn and W.G. Grace also played tests aged over 50, Gunn passing 1,000 test runs aged almost 51 against the West Indies in 1929-30.
  • Brian Close is England's youngest test cricketer. He made his debut aged 18 years and 149 days and returned to the fray aged 45 against the fearsome West Indian pace attack in 1976, 27 years after his debut. He'd played only 22 matches in between.
  • Norman Gifford was only six days short of his 45th birthday when he made his ODI debut at Sharjah in 1984-85 - over 20 years after his Test debut in the 1964 Ashes and almost 12 years after his final Test in 1973.
  • James Southerton made his Test debut in the first ever Test in Melbourne in 1877, 23 years after his first class debut for Surrey. At 49 years and 119 days he remains the oldest Test match debutant. Three years later, when landlord of The Cricketer in Mitcham, he became the first Test cricketer to die.
  • The longest lived England player is the Mackinnon of Mackinnon whose Test career encompassed just the three days of the Melbourne Test of January 1879. Francis MacKinnon, the 35th Chief of his Clan, died at his Morayshire home, Drumduan in Forres, in 1947 at the age of 98 years 324 days. He appeared in 78 matches for Kent (1875-85) and was the Club's president in 1889.

Series Trivia

  • England kept an unchanged side through a five test series in Australia in 1884-85. This was in stark contrast to the Australian team which was completely changed from the first to second Test after a dispute about pay.
  • England beat the West Indies by an innings in all three tests of a series, at Lord's, Old Trafford and The Oval, in 1928. England lost 10 tests in a row against the West Indies in 1984 and 1985-86.
  • England drew all five tests against India on the tour of 1963-64.

The Long and the Short of it

Lost in War

See also

References

  1. ^ "About ECB". ECB. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  2. ^ "MCC History". MCC. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  3. ^ "England now ranked fourth". BCC Sport. 2001-03-17. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ "ECB Annual Report and Accounts 2006" (PDF). ECB. Retrieved 2007-10-07.

External links

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