England cricket team

England
Test status granted	1877
First Test match	v Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, 15–19 March 1877
Captain of Test and ODI teams	Andrew Strauss
Captain of Twenty20	Paul Collingwood
Coach	Andy Flower
Official ICC Test and ODI ranking	5th (Test), 6th (ODI)
Test matches – This year	891 12
Last Test match	v Australia (The Ashes)
Wins/losses – This year	310/258 4/2
As of 23 August 2009

The England cricket team ( Welsh: Tîm criced Lloegr) is the cricket team which represents England and Wales. 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.

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. England played their first Twenty20 match on 13 June 2005, facing Australia once again.

As of 23 August 2009, England have won 310 of the 890 Test matches they have played and are ranked fifth in the ICC Test Championship. They have finished runners-up in 3 Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992), an ICC Champions Trophy (2004) and are ranked sixth in the ICC ODI Championship.

England also currently hold the Ashes, which is a contest between England and Australia which has been fought since the 19th century.

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. 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.

Early tours

The first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England going to North America. This team had 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 for 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 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 first 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 this match carried little significance and was classed as another tour match and was labelled as the James Lillywhite's XI v South Australia and New South Wales. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England winning this series 1–0. The series was also the first for England to field a fully representative side with W.G. Grace being present in the team.

The Ashes

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 with a mixture of amateurs and professionals won the series 2–1. 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. England would dominate many of these early contests with England winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98. During this period England also 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. 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. During this period England would lose their first series against South Africa in the 1905/06 season 4–1 as their 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. 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:

“

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.

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 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.

Post-war period

After World War II, 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 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 The Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.

1971 to 2000

They then suffered a loss of form losing to India and a rising West Indian side. This culminated in a 4–1 defeat in the 1974–75 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 (WCS) were felt in Test cricket with Australia and Pakistan losing many of its star players. England replaced captain Tony Greig, who had joined WCS, with Mike Brearley while Geoffrey Boycott returned from his Test exile. England would defeat a divided Australian side 3–0 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 Ian Botham and Bob Willis at their peak with the ball, Boycott and Graham Gooch opening the batting, and a young David Gower in the middle order, England had a promising team whose early results were encouraging. However, the team's lack of real quality was evidenced by a string of defeats, some heavy, against West Indies, the outstanding Test team at the time. England won the 1981 Ashes series 3–1, coming from behind after Brearley, who had retired, was reinstated as captain. The third Test at Headingley saw England win by 18 runs after following-on, only the second time in the history of England v Australia Tests that this has been achieved. After losing the Ashes in 1982–83, England recovered them in 1985 when they comfortably beat a poor Australian team. But England suffered two series "whitewashes" against the West Indies in 1984 and on the 1985–86 tour.

A shocked England team never truly recovered from this defeat and, although they managed to retain the Ashes in 1986–87, they would only win one further Test series in the 1980s against newcomers Sri Lanka. Australia meanwhile staged a recovery and easily defeated England in 1989 to begin a long period of domination.

England continued to decline through the 1990s, a situation not helped by squabbles between players and selectors. 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.

There was a string of disappointing results as England did not win a Test match for two and half years. However, England's performance in ODI cricket was still good, 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 surprise win against South Africa in 1998 was England's first five Test series win since 1986–87, but this would be a false dawn as they were eliminated in the first round of the 1999 Cricket World Cup (which they hosted) and lost a home Test series against New Zealand 2–1, resulting in England being officially ranked as the worst Test nation at the end of the 20th century.

21st century

With the appointment of Duncan Fletcher as coach and Nasser Hussain as captain, England began to rebuild the team. They won four consecutive Test series which included impressive wins against West Indies (a first in 32 years) and Pakistan. England were still no match for Steve Waugh's Australia and lost the 2001 Ashes 4–1. Good results against India and Sri Lanka gave England some hope for the 2002–03 Ashes series but a 4–1 defeat showed that they were still inferior to Australia. But that setback did not stop England's resurgence as they defeated the West Indies 3–0 and followed up with whitewashes against New Zealand and the West Indies at home. A victory in the first Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth meant England had won their eighth successive Test, their best sequence of Test match wins for 75 years.

In 2005, England under Michael Vaughan's captaincy and aided by Kevin Pietersen's batting in his maiden series (most notably 158 at the Oval), and Andrew Flintoff's superb all-round performances, defeated Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.

Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a serious spate of injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition.

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.

Since then, England's Test record has been indifferent and the team has 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 LOI series.

In 2007, 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 2007 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 and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0. Almost immediately, they played West Indies in a home series which they won 1–0.

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 Lords 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.

This victory has left England in fifth place in the ICC rankings but it had the effect of demoting Australia from first to fourth. England's next series is away to South Africa, who have taken over the top ranking.

HOME				AWAY
	Test	One Day International	Twenty20	Test	One Day International	Twenty20
Last match won	5th Test v Australia 2009	3rd ODI v West Indies 2009	1st Twenty20 v New Zealand 2008	3rd Test v New Zealand 2008	5th ODI v West Indies 2009	2nd Twenty20 v New Zealand 2008
Last match lost	4th Test v Australia 2009	1st ODI v Australia 2009	1st Twenty20 v West Indies 2007	1st Test v West Indies 2009	4th ODI v West Indies 2009	1st Twenty20 v Australia 2007
Last series won	Australia 2009	West Indies 2009	New Zealand 2008	New Zealand 2008	West Indies 2009	New Zealand 2008
Last series lost	South Africa 2008	New Zealand 2008		West Indies 2009	India 2008	2007 ICC World Twenty20
-	Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 08 May 2009.	Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 2 August 2008.	Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 11 August 2008.	Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 12 February 2009.	Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 12 February 2009.	Source: Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 11 August 2008.

Upcoming fixtures

• England will host Australia from July to September 2009. The teams will contest the 5 match Ashes Test series plus 2 Twenty20 Internationals and 7 ODI matches.
• England will play in the ICC Champions Trophy in September and October 2009 in South Africa.
• England will tour South Africa between November 2009 and January 2010.
• England will host Pakistan in August to September 2010.
• England will tour Australia between November 2010 and February 2011.
• England will host India in 2011. The teams will contest 4 Test matches, 5 ODI matches and a Twenty20 match.

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 2007 England had played 867 Test matches, winning 301 (34.72%), losing 252 (29.06%), and drawing 314 (36.22%) 639 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 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 means England are 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" (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.

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 (20th-23rd 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.

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.

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 Vodafone 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 Vodafone name and logo across the centre, with the three lions badge on the left of the shirt and the Adidas logo on the right. In one-day cricket, England wear a navy shirt and navy trousers. In Twenty20 cricket, England wear navy trousers and a red shirt.

International grounds

Test and ODI

Listed in order of date first used for Test match

• The Oval, London ( Surrey)
• Old Trafford, Manchester ( Lancashire)
• Lord's, London ( Middlesex)
• Trent Bridge, Nottingham ( Nottinghamshire)
• Headingley, Leeds ( Yorkshire )
• Edgbaston, Birmingham ( Warwickshire)
• Bramall Lane, Sheffield ( Yorkshire )
• Riverside, Durham ( County Durham)
• SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff ( Glamorgan)

ODI only

• Bristol ( Gloucestershire)
• Rose Bowl, Southampton. Test and ODI status from summer 2011. ( Hampshire)

Statistics and records

Tournament History

World Cup

• 1975: Semi-Final
• 1979: Runners up
• 1983: Semi-Final
• 1987: Runners up
• 1992: Runners up
• 1996: Quarter-Final
• 1999: Pool Stage
• 2003: Pool Stage
• 2007: Super 8s

ICC Champions Trophy

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

• 1998: Quarter-Final
• 2000: Quarter-Final
• 2002: Pool Stage
• 2004: Runners up
• 2006: Pool Stage
• 2009:

ICC World Twenty20

• 2007: Super 8s
• 2009: Super 8s
• 2010:

England record in Test Matches

Table correct 23 August 2009

		Won	Tied	Lost	Drawn	Total
v Australia	home	45	-	47	64	156
	away	54	-	85	26	165
	total	99	-	132	90	321
v Bangladesh	home	2	-	-	-	2
	away	2	-	-	-	2
	total	4	-	-	-	4
v India	home	23	-	5	20	48
	away	11	-	14	26	51
	total	34	-	19	46	99
v New Zealand	home	27	-	4	19	50
	away	18	-	4	22	44
	total	45	-	8	41	94
v Pakistan	home	17	-	8	18	43
	away	2	-	4	18	24
	total	19	-	12	36	67
v South Africa	home	27	-	11	23	61
	away	28	-	17	28	73
	total	55	-	28	51	134
v Sri Lanka	home	5	-	2	3	10
	away	3	-	4	4	11
	total	8	-	6	7	21
v West Indies	home	30	-	29	21	80
	away	13	-	24	28	65
	total	43	-	53	49	145
v Zimbabwe	home	3	-	-	1	4
	away	-	-	-	2	2
	total	3	-	-	3	6
Home		179	-	106	169	454
Away		131	-	152	154	437
Overall		310	-	258	323	891
% Breakdown		34.79%	0%	28.96%	36.25%	100%

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

Individual records

• Most matches: 133 Tests – Alec Stewart
• Longest Serving Captain: 54 Tests – Michael Atherton

Batting

• Most runs: 8900 – Graham Gooch
• Best average: 60.73 – Herbert Sutcliffe
• 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

Bowling

• 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 for England v New Zealand at Christchurch in 1929–30, Kenneth Cranston for England v South Africa at Headingley in 1947, Fred Titmus for England v New Zealand at Headingley in 1965, Chris Old for England v Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1978 and Andy Caddick for England v West Indies at Headingley in 2000.

Fielding

• Most catches by an outfielder: 120 – Ian Botham and Colin Cowdrey
• Most dismissals as wicketkeeper: 269 – Alan Knott
• 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

England record in One Day Internationals

Correct up to 6 September 2009

		Won	Tied	Lost	No Result	Total
v Australia	home	16	2	19	1	38
	away	19	-	30	1	50
	neutral	2	-	5	-	7
	total	37	2	54	2	95
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	15	-	11	2	28
	away	13	-	16	-	29
	neutral	2	-	6	-	8
	total	30	-	33	2	65
v Ireland	away	2	-	-	-	2
	neutral	1	-	-	-	1
	total	3	-	-	-	3
v Kenya	home	1	-	-	-	1
	neutral	1	-	-	-	1
	total	2	-	-	-	2
v Namibia	neutral	1	-	-	-	1
v Netherlands	home	-	-	1	-	1
	neutral	2	-	-	-	2
v New Zealand	home	9	-	5	1	15
	away	13	2	16	2	32
	neutral	6	-	9	-	15
	total	28	1	30	3	62
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	-	4	-	6
	total	11	1	22	1	35
v Sri Lanka	home	8	-	7	-	15
	away	4	-	9	-	13
	neutral	10	-	5	-	15
	total	22	-	21	-	43
v United Arab Emirates	neutral	1	-	-	-	1
v West Indies	home	14	-	15	1	30
	away	10	-	20	3	33
	neutral	11	-	6	-	17
	total	32	-	39	4	75
v Zimbabwe	home	6	-	2	1	9
	away	12	-	3	-	15
	neutral	3	-	3	-	6
	total	21	-	8	1	30
Home		98	2	77	7	184
Away		78	3	117	7	205
Neutral		52	-	43	1	96
Overall		228	5	237	15	485

Team records

• Highest team total: 391–4 (50 overs) v Bangladesh at Nottingham in 2005
• Lowest team total: 86–10 (32.4 overs) v Australia at Manchester in 2001

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

• Most runs: 4677 – Alec Stewart
• Best average: 47.83 – Kevin Pietersen (as of 10 May 2009)
• Highest individual score: 167* – Robin Smith v Australia at Birmingham in 1993
• Record partnership: 226 – Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss v West Indies at Lord's in 2004
• Most centuries: 12 – Marcus Trescothick

Bowling

• 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: 32.2 – James Anderson
• Best economy rate: 3.27 – Mike Hendrick

Wicketkeeping

• Most dismissals: 184 – 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

Most England Test Caps

• 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

• 86 Derek Underwood

• 85 Wally Hammond

• 82 Ken Barrington

• 82 Michael Vaughan

• 79 Mike Gatting

• 79 Allan Lamb

• 79 Tom Graveney

• 79 Len Hutton

• 78 Denis Compton

• 77 Andrew Flintoff

• 77 John Edrich

• 76 Marcus Trescothick

Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for England in the past year, and the forms in which they have played. Michael Vaughan has played for England during that period, but has since retired from cricket.

Name	Age	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Domestic team	Forms	S/N
Test and ODI Captain and Opening Batsman
Andrew Strauss	36	Left-Handed Bat	Left-Arm Medium	Middlesex	Test, ODI, Twenty20	14
Twenty20 Captain and Middle Order Batsman
Paul Collingwood	36	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium	Durham	Test, ODI, Twenty20	5
Opening Batsmen
Alastair Cook	28	Left-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Off-Break	Essex	Test, ODI	26
Joe Denly	26	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Leg-Break	Kent	ODI, Twenty20	55
Middle-Order Batsmen
Ian Bell	30	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium	Warwickshire	Test, ODI	7
Eoin Morgan	26	Left-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium	Middlesex	ODI, Twenty20	39
Kevin Pietersen	32	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Off-Break	Hampshire	Test, ODI, Twenty20	24
Robert Key	33	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Off-Break	Kent	Twenty20	35
Owais Shah	34	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Off-Break	Middlesex	Test, ODI, Twenty20	3
Jonathan Trott	31	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium-Fast	Warwickshire	Test, ODI, Twenty20	4
Wicket-keepers
Tim Ambrose	30	Right-Handed Bat	-	Warwickshire	Test	12
Steven Davies	26	Left-Handed Bat	-	Worcestershire	Twenty20	43
James Foster	32	Right-Handed Bat	-	Essex	Twenty20	15
Matt Prior	31	Right-Handed Bat	-	Sussex	Test, ODI, Twenty20	13
All rounders
Ravi Bopara	27	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium	Essex	Test, ODI, Twenty20	42
Tim Bresnan	28	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium-Fast	Yorkshire	Test, ODI	31
Andrew Flintoff	35	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Fast	Lancashire	ODI, Twenty20	11
Dimitri Mascarenhas	35	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium-Fast	Hampshire	ODI, Twenty20	32
Samit Patel	28	Right-Handed Bat	Slow Left-Arm Orthodox	Nottinghamshire	ODI	29
Adil Rashid	25	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Leg-Break	Yorkshire	ODI, Twenty20	95
Luke Wright	28	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium-Fast	Sussex	ODI, Twenty20	45
Stuart Broad	26	Left-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Fast-Medium	Nottinghamshire	Test, ODI, Twenty20	8
Pace Bowlers
James Anderson	30	Left-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Fast-Medium	Lancashire	Test, ODI, Twenty20	9
Steve Harmison	34	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Fast	Durham	Test, ODI	10
Graham Onions	30	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Medium-Fast	Durham	Test	90
Ryan Sidebottom	35	Left-Handed Bat	Left-Arm Fast-Medium	Nottinghamshire	Test, ODI, Twenty20	78
Amjad Khan	32	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Fast-Medium	Kent	Test, Twenty20	30
Spin Bowlers
Gareth Batty	35	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Off-Break	Worcestershire	ODI, Twenty20	41
Monty Panesar	30	Left-Handed Bat	Slow Left-Arm Orthodox	Northamptonshire	Test, ODI	77
Graeme Swann	33	Right-Handed Bat	Right-Arm Off-Break	Nottinghamshire	Test, ODI, Twenty20	66

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: Kevin Shine (senior coach), Ottis Gibson & Stuart Barnes
• Spin Bowling Coaches: Mushtaq Ahmed
• Fielding Coach: Richard Halsall
• Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Nick Peirce
• Team Physiotherapist: Kirk Russell
• Team Physiologist: Nigel Stockill
• Team Psychologist: Dr. Steve Bull
• Masseur: Nathan Atlay

Eligibility of players

The England cricket team represents England and Wales. However, under ICC regulations , 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 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 four South Africans, Tony Greig, Allan Lamb, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. South African Cape Coloured player Basil D'Oliveira, famously played for England during the Apartheid era.

In recent times Graeme Hick (Zimbabwe); Andrew Caddick (New Zealand); Geraint Jones (Papua New Guinea/Australia); and Kevin Pietersen (South Africa) have all played for England. Some players have played for another (non Test-playing) country as well as England, such as 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. Eoin Morgan, who previously represented Ireland, including the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, went on to represent England during the ICC World T20 Championships in 2009.