List of England cricket captains

This is a list of England cricket captains, comprising all the men, women and youths who have captained an England cricket team at official international level. The international match categories are Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I).

International cricket began in 1877 when the England men's team played in the first-ever Test match. England have played more Test matches, and had more captains, than any other team. In the 19th century, the captains for overseas tours were chosen by the promoters. The early tours were mostly organised by professionals, especially James Lillywhite, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury. Some amateur-led tours went abroad under Lord Harris and Lord Hawke. Home captains were selected by the home ground authority, who often favoured a local player. For over 73 years, commencing with the 1903–04 tour of Australia and ending with the Centenary Test in 1977, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) organised international tours and selected the England team. On these tours, the team was called MCC in non-international matches and England in the internationals. MCC established a tradition of having amateur, rather than professional, captains. After Shrewsbury in 1886–87, there was no professional captain until Len Hutton in 1952. The amateur/professional distinction was abolished in 1962, though some former amateurs captained England after that. In 1971, Ray Illingworth captained England in their first ODI. In 1977, management of the England team was taken over by the former Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) until 1 January 1997, and from then by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). England played their first T20I in 2005 under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan.

The England Women's team made their international debut on the 1934–35 tour of Australia and New Zealand when they were captained by Betty Archdale. Women's internationals were played sporadically until the last quarter of the 20th century when ODIs became frequent. The first ODI match was played in 1973 when England Women were led by Rachael Heyhoe-Flint. England Women's first T20I was played in 2004 under the captaincy of Clare Connor.

The England under-19 cricket team began playing Test matches in 1974 and ODI matches in 1976. Their first captains were Nigel Briers and Chris Cowdrey respectively.

Men's cricket

Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England men's team in at least one Test match. Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which he captained at least one Test, that denotes that player deputised for the appointed captain or was appointed for part of a series. The dagger classification follows that adopted by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

The table of results is complete up to the third Test against Sri Lanka in September 2024.

English Test match captains^[1]
Number	Name	Year	Report	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	James Lillywhite	1876–77	Report	Australia	Australia	2	1	1	0
2	Lord Harris	1878–79	Report	Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		1880	Report	Australia	England	1	1	0	0
		1884	Report	Australia	England	2	1	0	1
		Total				4	2	1	1
3	Alfred Shaw	1881–82	Report	Australia	Australia	4	0	2	2
4	A N Hornby	1882	Report	Australia	England	1	0	1	0
		1884†	Report	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		Total				2	0	1	1
5	Hon. Ivo Bligh	1882–83	Report	Australia	Australia	4	2	2	0
6	Arthur Shrewsbury	1884–85	Report	Australia	Australia	5	3	2	0
		1886–87	Report	Australia	Australia	2	2	0	0
		Total				7	5	2	0
7	Allan Steel	1886	Report	Australia	England	3	3	0	0
		1888†	Report	Australia	England	1	0	1	0
		Total				4	3	1	0
8	Walter Read	1887–88	Report	Australia	Australia	1	1	0	0
		1891–92	Report	South Africa	South Africa	1	1	0	0
		Total				2	2	0	0
9	W G Grace	1888	Report	Australia	England	2	2	0	0
		1890	Report	Australia	England	2	2	0	0
		1891–92	Report	Australia	Australia	3	1	2	0
		1893	Report	Australia	England	2	1	0	1
		1896	Report	Australia	England	3	2	1	0
		1899†	Report	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		Total				13	8	3	2
10	C. Aubrey Smith	1888–89	Report	South Africa	South Africa	1	1	0	0
11	Monty Bowden^[a]	1888–89†	Report	South Africa	South Africa	1	1	0	0
12	Andrew Stoddart	1893†	Report	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		1894–95	Report	Australia	Australia	5	3	2	0
		1897–98	Report	Australia	Australia	2	0	2	0
		Total				8	3	4	1
13	Sir Tim O'Brien	1895–96†	Report	South Africa	South Africa	1	1	0	0
14	Lord Hawke	1895–96	Report	South Africa	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		1898–99	Report	South Africa	South Africa	2	2	0	0
		Total				4	4	0	0
15	Archie MacLaren	1897–98†	Report	Australia	Australia	3	1	2	0
		1899	Report	Australia	England	4	0	1	3
		1901–02		Australia	Australia	5	1	4	0
		1902	Report	Australia	England	5	1	2	2
		1909		Australia	England	5	1	2	2
		Total				22	4	11	7
16	Plum Warner	1903–04	Report	Australia	Australia	5	3	2	0
		1905–06		South Africa	South Africa	5	1	4	0
		Total				10	4	6	0
17	Hon. Stanley Jackson	1905		Australia	England	5	2	0	3
18	Tip Foster	1907		South Africa	England	3	1	0	2
19	Frederick Fane	1907–08†		Australia	Australia	3	1	2	0
		1909–10†		South Africa	South Africa	2	1	1	0
		Total				5	2	3	0
20	Arthur Jones	1907–08		Australia	Australia	2	0	2	0
21	H D G Leveson-Gower	1909–10		South Africa	South Africa	3	1	2	0
22	Johnny Douglas	1911–12^[b]		Australia	Australia	5	4	1	0
		1913–14		South Africa	South Africa	5	4	0	1
		1920–21		Australia	Australia	5	0	5	0
		1921†		Australia	England	2	0	2	0
		1924†		South Africa	England	1	0	0	1
		Total				18	8	8	2
23	C B Fry	1912	Report	South Africa	England	3	3	0	0
		1912	Report	Australia	England	3	1	0	2
		Total				6	4	0	2
24	Hon. Lionel Tennyson	1921		Australia	England	3	0	1	2
25	Frank Mann^[c]	1922–23		South Africa	South Africa	5	2	1	2
26	Arthur Gilligan^[d]	1924		South Africa	England	4	3	0	1
		1924–25		Australia	Australia	5	1	4	0
		Total				9	4	4	1
27	Arthur Carr	1926		Australia	England	4	0	0	4
		1929†		South Africa	England	2	1	0	1
		Total				6	1	0	5
28	Percy Chapman	1926†		Australia	England	1	1	0	0
		1928		West Indies	England	3	3	0	0
		1928–29		Australia	Australia	4	4	0	0
		1930		Australia	England	4	1	1	2
		1930–31		South Africa	South Africa	5	0	1	4
		Total				17	9	2	6
29	Rony Stanyforth	1927–28		South Africa	South Africa	4	2	1	1
30	Greville Stevens	1927–28†		South Africa	South Africa	1	0	1	0
31	Jack White	1928–29†		Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		1929		South Africa	England	3	1	0	2
		Total				4	1	1	2
32	Harold Gilligan ^[d]	1929–30^[e]		New Zealand	New Zealand	4	1	0	3
33	Hon. Freddie Calthorpe	1929–30^[e]		West Indies	West Indies	4	1	1	2
34	Bob Wyatt	1930†		Australia	England	1	0	1	0
		1932–33†		New Zealand	New Zealand	1	0	0	1
		1933†		West Indies	England	1	1	0	0
		1934		Australia	England	4	1	1	2
		1934–35		West Indies	West Indies	4	1	2	1
		1935		South Africa	England	5	0	1	4
		Total				16	3	5	8
35	Douglas Jardine	1931		New Zealand	England	3	1	0	2
		1932		India	England	1	1	0	0
		1932–33	Report	Australia	Australia	5	4	1	0
		1932–33		New Zealand	New Zealand	1	0	0	1
		1933		West Indies	England	2	1	0	1
		1933–34		India	India	3	2	0	1
		Total				15	9	1	5
36	Cyril Walters	1934†		Australia	England	1	0	1	0
37	Gubby Allen	1936		India	England	3	2	0	1
		1936–37		Australia	Australia	5	2	3	0
		1947–48		West Indies	West Indies	3	0	2	1
		Total				11	4	5	2
38	Walter Robins	1937		New Zealand	England	3	1	0	2
39	Wally Hammond	1938		Australia	England	4	1	1	2
		1938–39		South Africa	South Africa	5	1	0	4
		1939		West Indies	England	3	1	0	2
		1946		India	England	3	1	0	2
		1946–47		Australia	Australia	4	0	2	2
		1946–47		New Zealand	New Zealand	1	0	0	1
		Total				20	4	3	13
40	Norman Yardley	1946–47†		Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		1947		South Africa	England	5	3	0	2
		1948		Australia	England	5	0	4	1
		1950		West Indies	England	3	1	2	0
		Total				14	4	7	3
41	Ken Cranston	1947–48†		West Indies	West Indies	1	0	0	1
42	George Mann^[c]	1948–49		South Africa	South Africa	5	2	0	3
		1949		New Zealand	England	2	0	0	2
		Total				7	2	0	5
43	Freddie Brown	1949†		New Zealand	England	2	0	0	2
		1950†		West Indies	England	1	0	1	0
		1950–51		Australia	Australia	5	1	4	0
		1950–51		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	0	1
		1951		South Africa	England	5	3	1	1
		Total				15	5	6	4
44	Nigel Howard	1951–52		India	India	4	1	0	3
45	Donald Carr	1951–52†		India	India	1	0	1	0
46	Len Hutton	1952		India	England	4	3	0	1
		1953		Australia	England	5	1	0	4
		1953–54	Report	West Indies	West Indies	5	2	2	1
		1954		Pakistan	England	2	0	1	1
		1954–55		Australia	Australia	5	3	1	1
		1954–55		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	2	0	0
		Total				23	11	4	8
47	David Sheppard	1954†		Pakistan	England	2	1	0	1
48	Peter May	1955		South Africa	England	5	3	2	0
		1956		Australia	England	5	2	1	2
		1956–57		South Africa	South Africa	5	2	2	1
		1957		West Indies	England	5	3	0	2
		1958		New Zealand	England	5	4	0	1
		1958–59		Australia	Australia	5	0	4	1
		1958–59		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	0	1
		1959		India	England	3	3	0	0
		1959–60		West Indies	West Indies	3	1	0	2
		1961		Australia	England	3	1	1	1
		Total				41	20	10	11
49	Colin Cowdrey^[f]	1959†		India	England	2	2	0	0
		1959–60†		West Indies	West Indies	2	0	0	2
		1960		South Africa	England	5	3	0	2
		1961†		Australia	England	2	0	1	1
		1962†		Pakistan	England	1	1	0	0
		1966		West Indies	England	3	0	2	1
		1967–68		West Indies	West Indies	5	1	0	4
		1968		Australia	England	4	1	1	2
		1968–69		Pakistan	Pakistan	3	0	0	3
		Total				27	8	4	15
50	Ted Dexter	1961–62		Pakistan	Pakistan	3	1	0	2
		1961–62		India	India	5	0	2	3
		1962		Pakistan	England	4	3	0	1
		1962–63		Australia	Australia	5	1	1	3
		1962–63		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	3	0	0
		1963		West Indies	England	5	1	3	1
		1964		Australia	England	5	0	1	4
		Total				30	9	7	14
51	M. J. K. Smith	1963–64		India	India	5	0	0	5
		1964–65		South Africa	South Africa	5	1	0	4
		1965		New Zealand	England	3	3	0	0
		1965		South Africa	England	3	0	1	2
		1965–6		Australia	Australia	5	1	1	3
		1965–66		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	0	3
		1966†		West Indies	England	1	0	1	0
		Total				25	5	3	17
52	Brian Close	1966†		West Indies	England	1	1	0	0
		1967		India	England	3	3	0	0
		1967		Pakistan	England	3	2	0	1
		Total				7	6	0	1
53	Tom Graveney	1968†		Australia	England	1	0	0	1
54	Ray Illingworth^[g]	1969		West Indies	England	3	2	0	1
		1969		New Zealand	England	3	2	0	1
		1970–71^[h]		Australia	Australia	6	2	0	4
		1970–71		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	0	1
		1971		Pakistan	England	3	1	0	2
		1971		India	England	3	0	1	2
		1972		Australia	England	5	2	2	1
		1973		New Zealand	England	3	2	0	1
		1973		West Indies	England	3	0	2	1
		Total				31	12	5	14
55	Tony Lewis	1972–73		India	India	5	1	2	2
		1972–73		Pakistan	Pakistan	3	0	0	3
		Total				8	1	2	5
56	Mike Denness	1973–74		West Indies	West Indies	5	1	1	3
		1974		India	England	3	3	0	0
		1974		Pakistan	England	3	0	0	3
		1974–75		Australia	Australia	5	1	3	1
		1974–75		New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	0	1
		1975†		Australia	England	1	0	1	0
		Total				19	6	5	8
57	John Edrich	1974–75†		Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
58	Tony Greig	1975		Australia	England	3	0	0	3
		1976		West Indies	England	5	0	3	2
		1976–77		India	India	5	3	1	1
		1976–77		Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		Total				14	3	5	6
59	Mike Brearley	1977		Australia	England	5	3	0	2
		1977–78		Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	0	2
		1978		Pakistan	England	3	2	0	1
		1978		New Zealand	England	3	3	0	0
		1978–79		Australia	Australia	6	5	1	0
		1979		India	England	4	1	0	3
		1979–80		Australia	Australia	3	0	3	0
		1979–80		India	India	1	1	0	0
		1981		Australia	England	4	3	0	1
		Total				31	18	4	9
60	Geoffrey Boycott	1977–78†		Pakistan	Pakistan	1	0	0	1
		1977–78		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	1	1
		Total				4	1	1	2
61	Ian Botham	1980		West Indies	England	5	0	1	4
		1980		Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		1980–81		West Indies	West Indies	4	0	2	2
		1981†		Australia	England	2	0	1	1
		Total				12	0	4	8
62	Keith Fletcher	1981–82		India	India	6	0	1	5
		1981–82		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	1	1	0	0
		Total				7	1	1	5
63	Bob Willis	1982		India	England	3	1	0	2
		1982		Pakistan	England	2	2	0	0
		1982–83		Australia	Australia	5	1	2	2
		1983		New Zealand	England	4	3	1	0
		1983–84		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	1	2
		1983–84†		Pakistan	Pakistan	1	0	1	0
		Total				18	7	5	6
64	David Gower	1982†		Pakistan	England	1	0	1	0
		1983–84		Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	0	2
		1984		West Indies	England	5	0	5	0
		1984		Sri Lanka	England	1	0	0	1
		1984–85		India	India	5	2	1	2
		1985		Australia	England	6	3	1	2
		1985–86		West Indies	West Indies	5	0	5	0
		1986†		India	England	1	0	1	0
		1989		Australia	England	6	0	4	2
		Total				32	5	18	9
65	Mike Gatting	1986		India	England	2	0	1	1
		1986		New Zealand	England	3	0	1	2
		1986–87		Australia	Australia	5	2	1	2
		1987		Pakistan	England	5	0	1	4
		1987–88		Pakistan	Pakistan	3	0	1	2
		1987–88		Australia	Australia	1	0	0	1
		1987–88		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	0	3
		1988†		West Indies	England	1	0	0	1
		Total				23	2	5	16
66	John Emburey	1988		West Indies	England	2	0	2	0
67	Chris Cowdrey^[f]	1988†		West Indies	England	1	0	1	0
68	Graham Gooch	1988†		West Indies	England	1	0	1	0
		1988		Sri Lanka	England	1	1	0	0
		1989–90		West Indies	West Indies	2	1	0	1
		1990		New Zealand	England	3	1	0	2
		1990		India	England	3	1	0	2
		1990–91		Australia	Australia	4	0	2	2
		1991		West Indies	England	5	2	2	1
		1991		Sri Lanka	England	1	1	0	0
		1991–92		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	2	0	1
		1992		Pakistan	England	5	1	2	2
		1992–93		India	India	2	0	2	0
		1993		Australia	England	4	0	3	1
		Total				34	10	12	12
69	Allan Lamb	1989–90†		West Indies	West Indies	2	0	2	0
		1990–91†		Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		Total				3	0	3	0
70	Alec Stewart	1992–93†		India	India	1	0	1	0
		1992–93		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	1	0	1	0
		1998		South Africa	England	5	2	1	2
		1998		Sri Lanka	England	1	0	1	0
		1998–99		Australia	Australia	5	1	3	1
		2000†		West Indies	England	1	1	0	0
		2001†		Pakistan	England	1	0	1	0
		Total				15	4	8	3
71	Michael Atherton	1993†		Australia	England	2	1	1	0
		1993–94		West Indies	West Indies	5	1	3	1
		1994		New Zealand	England	3	1	0	2
		1994		South Africa	England	3	1	1	1
		1994–95		Australia	Australia	5	1	3	1
		1995		West Indies	England	6	2	2	2
		1995–96		South Africa	South Africa	5	0	1	4
		1996		India	England	3	1	0	2
		1996		Pakistan	England	3	0	2	1
		1996–97		Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	2	0	0	2
		1996–97		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	2	0	1
		1997		Australia	England	6	2	3	1
		1997–98		West Indies	West Indies	6	1	3	2
		2001†		Australia	England	2	0	2	0
		Total				54	13	21	20
72	Nasser Hussain	1999		New Zealand	England	3	1	2	0
		1999–2000		South Africa	South Africa	5	1	2	2
		2000		Zimbabwe	England	2	1	0	1
		2000		West Indies	England	4	2	1	1
		2000–01		Pakistan	Pakistan	3	1	0	2
		2000–01		Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	2	1	0
		2001		Pakistan	England	1	1	0	0
		2001	Report	Australia	England	3	1	2	0
		2001–02		India	India	3	0	1	2
		2001–02		New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	1	1
		2002		Sri Lanka	England	3	2	0	1
		2002		India	England	4	1	1	2
		2002–03	Report	Australia	Australia	5	1	4	0
		2003		Zimbabwe	England	2	2	0	0
		2003†		South Africa	England	1	0	0	1
		Total				45	17	15	13
73	Mark Butcher	1999†		New Zealand	England	1	0	0	1
74	Michael Vaughan	2003	Report	South Africa	England	4	2	2	0
		2003–04	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	2	0	0
		2003–04	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	0	1	2
		2003–04	Report	West Indies	West Indies	4	3	0	1
		2004	Report	New Zealand	England	2	2	0	0
		2004	Report	West Indies	England	4	4	0	0
		2004–05	Report	South Africa	South Africa	5	2	1	2
		2005	Report	Bangladesh	England	2	2	0	0
		2005	Report	Australia	England	5	2	1	2
		2005–06	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	1	1
		2007	Report	West Indies	England	3	3	0	0
		2007	Report	India	England	3	0	1	2
		2007–08	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	0	1	2
		2007–08	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	2	1	0
		2008	Report	New Zealand	England	3	2	0	1
		2008	Report	South Africa	England	3	0	2	1
		Total				51	26	11	14
75	Marcus Trescothick	2004†	Report	New Zealand	England	1	1	0	0
		2005–06†	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	1	0	1	0
		Total				2	1	1	0
76	Andrew Flintoff	2005–06	Report	India	India	3	1	1	1
		2006	Report	Sri Lanka	England	3	1	1	1
		2006–07	Report	Australia	Australia	5	0	5	0
		Total				11	2	7	2
77	Andrew Strauss	2006	Report	Pakistan	England	4	3	0	1
		2007†	Report	West Indies	England	1	0	0	1
		2008–09	Report	West Indies	West Indies	5	0	1	4
		2009	Report	West Indies	England	2	2	0	0
		2009	Report	Australia	England	5	2	1	2
		2009–10	Report	South Africa	South Africa	4	1	1	2
		2010	Report	Bangladesh	England	2	2	0	0
		2010	Report	Pakistan	England	4	3	1	0
		2010–11	Report	Australia	Australia	5	3	1	1
		2011	Report	Sri Lanka	England	3	1	0	2
		2011	Report	India	England	4	4	0	0
		2011–12	Report	Pakistan	UAE	3	0	3	0
		2011–12	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	1	1	0
		2012	Report	West Indies	England	3	2	0	1
		2012	Report	South Africa	England	3	0	2	1
		Total				50	24	11	15
78	Kevin Pietersen	2008†	Report	South Africa	England	1	1	0	0
		2008–09	Report	India	India	2	0	1	1
		Total				3	1	1	1
79	Alastair Cook	2009–10	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	2	0	0
		2012–13	Report	India	India	4	2	1	1
		2012–13	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	0	3
		2013	Report	New Zealand	England	2	2	0	0
		2013	Report	Australia	England	5	3	0	2
		2013–14	Report	Australia	Australia	5	0	5	0
		2014	Report	Sri Lanka	England	2	0	1	1
		2014	Report	India	England	5	3	1	1
		2014–15	Report	West Indies	West Indies	3	1	1	1
		2015	Report	New Zealand	England	2	1	1	0
		2015	Report	Australia	England	5	3	2	0
		2015–16	Report	Pakistan	UAE	3	0	2	1
		2015–16	Report	South Africa	South Africa	4	2	1	1
		2016	Report	Sri Lanka	England	3	2	0	1
		2016	Report	Pakistan	England	4	2	2	0
		2016–17	Report	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	1	1	0
		2016–17	Report	India	India	5	0	4	1
		Total				59	24	22	13
80	Joe Root	2017	Report	South Africa	England	4	3	1	0
		2017	Report	West Indies	England	3	2	1	0
		2017–18	Report	Australia	Australia	5	0	4	1
		2017–18	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	0	1	1
		2018	Report	Pakistan	England	2	1	1	0
		2018	Report	India	England	5	4	1	0
		2018–19	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	3	0	0
		2018–19	Report	West Indies	West Indies	3	1	2	0
		2019	Report	Ireland	England	1	1	0	0
		2019	Report	Australia	England	5	2	2	1
		2019–20	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	0	1	1
		2019–20	Report	South Africa	South Africa	4	3	1	0
		2020	Report	West Indies	England	2	2	0	0
		2020	Report	Pakistan	England	3	1	0	2
		2020–21	Report	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	2	0	0
		2020–21	Report	India	India	4	1	3	0
		2021	Report	New Zealand	England	2	0	1	1
		2021	Report	India	England	4	1	2	1
		2021–22	Report	Australia	Australia	5	0	4	1
		2021–22	Report	West Indies	West Indies	3	0	1	2
		Total				64	27	26	11
81	Ben Stokes	2020†	Report	West Indies	England	1	0	1	0
		2022	Report	New Zealand	England	3	3	0	0
		2022	Report	India	England	1	1	0	0
		2022	Report	South Africa	England	3	2	1	0
		2022–23	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	3	3	0	0
		2022–23	Report	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	1	1	0
		2023	Report	Ireland	England	1	1	0	0
		2023	Report	Australia	England	5	2	2	1
		2024	Report	India	India	5	1	4	0
		2024	Report	West Indies	England	3	3	0	0
		2024-25†	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	2	0	2	0
		Total				29	17	11	1
82	Ollie Pope	2024†	Report	Sri Lanka	England	3	2	1	0
		2024-25†	Report	Pakistan	Pakistan	1	1	0	0
		Total				4	3	1	0
Grand total						1080	398	327	355

^ Monty Bowden, aged 23 years 144 days, became England's youngest captain on 25 March 1889.
^ Plum Warner captained the touring party, but illness prevented him from appearing in any of the Tests
^ ^a ^b George Mann was the son of Frank Mann, making them the first father and son to both captain England.
^ ^a ^b Arthur Gilligan and Harold Gilligan were the first brothers to captain England.
^ ^a ^b England had two overlapping Test series in the winter of 1929/30. Their first Test against New Zealand started on 10 January 1930. Their first Test against the West Indies started on 11 January 1930, making the first time England had simultaneously played two Test matches at once.
^ ^a ^b Chris Cowdrey is the son of Colin Cowdrey, making them the second father and son to both captain England after George and Frank Mann.
^ The 1970 South Africa tour to England was called off and a Rest of the World XI was arranged to play a 5 match series to replace it. The games were originally regarded as Test matches, but were later stripped of Test status. The Rest of the World XI won the series 4–1, with Illingworth captaining England in each match.
^ The third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia in 1970–71 was abandoned without a ball being bowled and is excluded from these statistics. This is in line with the approach adopted by Wisden and most statisticians, although the match has been recognised as an official Test match by the Australian Board of Control.

One Day International captains

This is a complete list of every man who has captained England in at least one One Day International.

The most successful captain in terms of win percentage, after a minimum of 10 games, is Mike Gatting. Eoin Morgan is the only captain to lead England to a trophy, taking England to victory in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Thirteen men (Alan Knott, Norman Gifford, Adam Hollioake, Graham Thorpe, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Stuart Broad, James Taylor, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, and Liam Livingstone) have captained the England ODI side without ever captaining the Test team.

The table of results is complete up to the third ODI against the West Indies in November 2024.

English ODI captains^[2]
Number	Name	Period of captaincy	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	No result
1	Ray Illingworth	1971–1973	3	1	0	1	1
2	Brian Close	1972	3	2	0	1	0
3	Mike Denness	1973–1975	12	7	0	4	1
4	John Edrich	1975	1	0	0	0	1
5	Alan Knott	1976	1	0	0	1	0
6	Tony Greig	1976	2	0	0	2	0
7	Mike Brearley	1977–1980	25	15	0	9	1
8	Geoffrey Boycott	1977–1978	2	2	0	0	0
9	Bob Willis	1978–1984	29	16	0	13	0
10	Ian Botham	1980–1981	9	4	0	5	0
11	Keith Fletcher	1981–1982	5	2	0	3	0
12	David Gower	1984–1989	24	10	1	13	0
13	Norman Gifford	1985	2	0	0	2	0
14	Mike Gatting	1986–1988	37	26	0	11	0
15	John Emburey	1987	4	2	0	2	0
16	Graham Gooch	1988–1993	50	24	0	23	3
17	Allan Lamb	1990	4	1	0	3	0
18	Alec Stewart	1992–2003	41	15	0	25	1
19	Mike Atherton	1994–1997	43	20	1	21	1
20	Nasser Hussain	1997–2003	56	28	0	27	1
21	Adam Hollioake	1997–1999	14	6	0	8	0
22	Graham Thorpe	2001	3	0	0	3	0
23	Marcus Trescothick	2001–2005	10	5	0	5	0
24	Michael Vaughan	2003–2007	60	32	2	22	4
25	Andrew Flintoff	2006–2007	14	4	0	10	0
26	Andrew Strauss	2006–2011	62	27	1	33	1
27	Paul Collingwood	2007–2009	25	11	1	12	1
28	Kevin Pietersen	2008	12	4	0	6	2
29	Alastair Cook	2010–2014	69	36	1	30	2
30	Eoin Morgan	2011–2022	126	76	2^[a]	40	8
31	Stuart Broad	2014	3	2	0	1	0
32	James Taylor	2015	1	0	0	0	1
33	Jos Buttler	2016–present	39	18	0	20	1
34	Ben Stokes	2021	3	3	0	0	0
35	Moeen Ali	2022	1	0	0	1	0
36	Zak Crawley	2023	2	1	0	0	1
37	Harry Brook	2024	5	2	0	3	0
38	Liam Livingstone	2024	3	1	0	2	0
Grand total			801	401	9	360	31

^ Includes 2019 Cricket World Cup Final, which was tied after 50 overs and the Super Over, but England won the match on boundary count

Twenty20 International captains

England played their first Twenty20 International in June 2005. Eoin Morgan holds the record for the most games as captain of the England T20I team, with 72 which includes 42 victories. He is also the most successful captain in terms of win percentage, after a minimum of 10 games.

English Twenty20 International captains^[3]
No.	Name	Period	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	No Result
1	Michael Vaughan	2005–2007	2	1	0	1	0
2	Andrew Strauss	2006–2009	3	0	0	3	0
3	Paul Collingwood	2007–2010	30	17	0	11	2
4	Alastair Cook	2009	1	0	0	1	0
5	Stuart Broad	2011–2014	27	11	0	15	1
6	Graeme Swann	2011	3	2	0	1	0
7	Eoin Morgan	2012–2022	72	42	2^[a]	27	1
8	James Tredwell	2013	1	0	0	0	1
9	Jos Buttler	2015–present	41	22	0	17	2
10	Moeen Ali	2020–2023	12	5	0	7	0
11	Phil Salt	2024	2	1	0	1	0
Grand total			194	101	2	84	7

^ Both games finished with scores level, but England won the Super-over deciders

Other men's captains

England v Rest of the World, 1970

In 1970, the proposed South African tour of England was aborted. To replace the tour, a series of five games was played between a "Rest of the World" XI and the England Test team. At the time, these matches were thought of as Test matches. However, later they were stripped of Test status. England's captain in all five games was Ray Illingworth, who won one game, and lost the other four.

English vs Rest of the World Test match captains
Number	Name	Year	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	Ray Illingworth	1970	Rest of the World	England	5	1	4	0
Grand total					5	1	4	0

Women's cricket

Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England women's cricket team for at least one women's Test match. The table of results is complete to the away Test against India in December 2023. Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which she captained at least one Test, that denotes that player was captain for a minor proportion in a series.

English women's Test match captains^[4]
Number	Name	Year	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	Betty Archdale	1934/5	Australia	Australia	3	2	0	1
		1934/5	New Zealand	New Zealand	1	1	0	0
		Total			4	3	0	1
2	Molly Hide	1937	Australia	England	3	1	1	1
		1948/9	Australia	Australia	3	0	1	2
		1948/9	New Zealand	New Zealand	1	1	0	0
		1951†	Australia	England	1	1	0	0
		1954	New Zealand	England	3	1	0	2
		Total			11	4	2	5
3	Myrtle Maclagan	1951	Australia	England	2	0	1	1
4	Mary Duggan	1957/8	New Zealand	New Zealand	2	0	0	2
		1957/8	Australia	Australia	2	0	0	2
		1963	Australia	England	3	1	0	2
		Total			7	1	0	6
5	Cecilia Robinson	1957/8†	Australia	Australia	1	0	0	1
6	Helen Sharpe	1960/1	South Africa	South Africa	4	1	0	3
7	Rachael Heyhoe-Flint	1966	New Zealand	England	3	0	0	3
		1968/9	Australia	Australia	3	0	0	3
		1968/9	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	2	0	1
		1976	Australia	England	3	0	0	3
		Total			12	2	0	10
8	Susan Goatman	1979	West Indies	England	3	2	0	1
9	Jan Southgate	1984	New Zealand	England	3	0	0	3
		1984/5	Australia	Australia	5	1	2	2
		Total			8	1	2	5
10	Carole Hodges	1986	India	England	3	0	0	3
		1987	Australia	England	3	0	1	2
		Total			6	0	1	5
11	Helen Plimmer	1991/2	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	0	2
		1991/2	Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		Total			4	1	1	2
12	Karen Smithies	1995/6	India	India	3	1	0	2
		1996	New Zealand	England	3	0	0	3
		1998	Australia	England	3	0	0	3
		1999	India	England	1	0	0	1
		Total			10	1	0	9
13	Clare Connor	2001	Australia	England	2	0	2	0
		2001/2	India	India	1	0	0	1
		2002	India	England	1	0	0	1
		2002/3	Australia	Australia	2	0	1	1
		2003	South Africa	England	2	1	0	1
		2004	New Zealand	England	1	0	0	1
		2005	Australia	England	2	1	0	1
		Total			11	2	3	6
14	Charlotte Edwards	2005/6	India	India	1	0	0	1
		2006	India	England	2	0	1	1
		2007/8	Australia	Australia	1	1	0	0
		2009	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		2010/1	Australia	Australia	1	0	1	0
		2013	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		2013/4	Australia	Australia	1	1	0	0
		2014	India	England	1	0	1	0
		2015	Australia	England	1	0	1	0
		Total			10	2	4	4
15	Heather Knight	2017/18	Australia	Australia	1	0	0	1
		2019	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
		2021	India	England	1	0	0	1
		2021/22	Australia.	Australia	1	0	0	1
		2022	South Africa	England	1	0	0	1
		2023	Australia	England	1	0	1	0
		2023/24	India	India	1	0	1	0
		Total			7	0	2	5
Grand total					100	20	16	64

Women's One Day International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England women's cricket team for at least one Women's One Day International. The table of results is complete to the ODI series against India in July 2021.

English women's ODI captains^[5]
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	No result
1	Rachael Heyhoe-Flint	1973–1976	9	7	0	2	0
2	Mary Pilling	1977/8	3	2	0	1	0
3	Susan Goatman	1979–1981/2	15	8	2	5	0
4	Jan Southgate	1984–1984/5	6	3	0	3	0
5	Carole Hodges	1986–1987	5	4	0	1	0
6	Jane Powell	1988/9–1990	16	13	0	3	0
7	Karen Smithies	1990–1999/2000	45	23	0	21	1
8	Helen Plimmer	1991–1991/2	8	5	0	2	1
9	Ella Donnison	1999	3	3	0	0	0
10	Clare Connor	2000–05	66	26	0	39	1
11	Arran Brindle	2001	3	2	0	1	0
12	Charlotte Edwards	2005–2016	117	72	0	38	7
13	Nicky Shaw	2007–10	4	3	0	1	0
14	Heather Knight	2016–present	52	36	0	15	1
15	Danielle Hazell	2016	1	1	0	0	0
16	Anya Shrubsole	2018	1	0	1	0	0
Grand total			354	208	2	126	11

Women's Twenty20 International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England women's team for at least one Women's Twenty20 International. The table of results is complete as of 14 July 2021.

English women's Twenty20 International captains^[6]
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	No result
1	Clare Connor	2004–2005	2	0	0	2	0
2	Charlotte Edwards	2006–2016	93	68	1	23	1
3	Nicky Shaw	2007	1	0	0	1	0
4	Jenny Gunn	2010–2013	3	2	1	0	0
5	Heather Knight	2016–present	51	38	1	12	0
6	Danielle Hazell	2018	1	0	0	1	0
7	Nat Sciver-Brunt	2021	1	1	0	0	0
Grand total			152	109	3	39	1

Youth cricket

Test match captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England under-19s for at least one under-19 Test match. The table of results is complete to 9 September 2021. Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which he captained at least one Test, that denotes that player was captain for a minor proportion in a series.

England Under-19 Test match captains
Number	Name	Year	Opposition	Location	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
1	Nigel Briers	1974	West Indies	England	3	0	1	2
2	Chris Cowdrey	1976	West Indies	England	1	1	0	0
3	Kevin Sharp	1978	West Indies	England	3	1	0	2
4	Nigel Felton	1978/9	Australia	Australia	2	0	0	2
5	Tim Boon	1979/80	West Indies	West Indies	3	0	2	1
		1981	India	India	3	0	0	3
		Total			6	0	2	4
6	Laurie Potter	1982	West Indies	England	3	0	2	1
7	Hugh Morris	1983	Australia	England	3	1	2	0
8	Neil Lenham	1984/5	West Indies	West Indies	3	0	2	1
9	Mike Roseberry	1986	Sri Lanka	England	3	1	0	2
10	Trevor Ward	1986/7†	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	1	0	0	1
11	Mike Atherton	1986/7	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	0	2
12	Mark Ramprakash	1989	New Zealand	England	2	0	1	1
13	Nick Knight	1989†	New Zealand	England	1	0	0	1
14	Wayne Noon	1989/90	Australia	Australia	3	0	1	2
		1990	Pakistan	England	3	1	0	2
		Total			6	1	1	4
15	John Crawley	1990/1	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	0	2	1
		1991	Australia	England	3	1	1	1
		Total			6	1	3	2
16	Phil Weston	1991/2	Pakistan	Pakistan	3	1	1	1
		1992	Sri Lanka	England	3	1	0	2
		Total			6	2	1	3
17	Matthew Walker	1992/3	India	India	3	1	1	1
		1993	West Indies	England	3	1	0	2
		Total			6	2	1	3
18	Michael Vaughan	1993/4	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	3	0	1	2
		1994	India	England	3	0	1	2
		Total			6	0	2	4
19	Marcus Trescothick	1994/5	West Indies	West Indies	3	0	1	2
		1995	South Africa	England	3	2	0	1
		Total			6	2	1	3
20	Alex Morris	1995/6	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	3	2	0	1
		1996†	New Zealand	England	1	0	0	1
		Total			4	2	0	2
21	Gareth Batty	1996	New Zealand	England	2	0	1	1
22	Andrew Flintoff	1996/7	Pakistan	Pakistan	3	1	0	2
		1997	Zimbabwe	England	2	1	0	1
		Total			5	2	0	3
23	Zac Morris	1997†	Zimbabwe	England	1	1	0	0
24	Paul Franks	1997/8	South Africa	South Africa	1	0	0	1
25	Owais Shah	1997/8†	South Africa	South Africa	1	0	0	1
		1998	Pakistan	England	3	2	1	0
		Total			4	2	1	1
26	Michael Gough	1998/9	New Zealand	New Zealand	3	1	1	1
		1999	Australia	England	3	1	1	1
		Total			6	2	2	2
27	Ian Bell	2000	Sri Lanka	England	2	1	1	0
		2000/1	India	India	3	0	1	2
		2001	West Indies	England	1	0	0	1
		Total			6	1	2	3
28	Mark Wallace	2000†	Sri Lanka	England	1	0	1	0
29	Nicky Peng	2001†	West Indies	England	1	0	1	0
30	James Tredwell	2001†	West Indies	England	1	0	0	1
31	Paul McMahon	2002	India	England	3	1	0	2
32	Bilal Shafayat	2002/3	Australia	Australia	3	1	2	0
		2003	South Africa	England	2	0	1	1
		Total			5	1	3	1
33	Joe Sayers	2003†	South Africa	England	1	0	1	0
34	Alastair Cook	2004	Bangladesh	England	3	2	0	1
35	Steven Davies	2004/5	India	India	3	0	3	0
36	Varun Chopra	2005	Sri Lanka	England	3	3	0	0
		2006	India	England	3	0	1	2
		Total			6	3	1	2
37	Ben Wright	2007	Pakistan	England	1	1	0	0
38	Rory Hamilton-Brown	2007	Pakistan	England	1	0	1	0
39	Tom Westley	2008	New Zealand	England	2	1	0	1
40	Hamza Riazuddin	2009	Bangladesh	England	2	1	0	1
41	Azeem Rafiq	2009/10	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	1	0	1	0
		2010	Sri Lanka	England	1	0	1	0
		Total			2	0	2	0
42	Paul Best	2010†	Sri Lanka	England	1	1	0	0
43	Lewis Gregory	2011	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	2	0	0	2
44	Olly Stone	2013	South Africa	South Africa	2	1	1	0
45	Will Rhodes	2014	South Africa	South Africa	2	0	0	2
46	Joe Weatherley	2014/15	Australia	Australia	1	0	0	1
47	Haseeb Hameed	2015	Australia	England	1	0	0	1
48	Max Holden	2016	Sri Lanka	England	2	0	1	1
		2016/17	India	India	2	0	0	2
		2017	India	England	2	0	2	0
		Total			6	0	3	3
49	Tom Banton	2018	South Africa	England	2	2	0	0
50	Tom Lammonby	2018/19	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	2	0	2	0
Grand total					149	36	44	69

Youth One Day International captains

This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England under-19 team for at least one Under-19 One Day International. The table of results is complete to the end of the 3rd Youth ODI against the West Indies in 2021.

English Under-19 ODI captains
Number	Name	Year	Played	Won	Tied	Lost	No result
1	Chris Cowdrey	1976	1	1	0	0	0
2	Kevin Sharp	1977–1978	3	2	0	1	0
3	Nigel Felton	1978/9	1	0	0	1	0
4	Tim Boon	1981	1	1	0	0	0
5	Laurie Potter	1982	2	2	0	0	0
6	Hugh Morris	1983	2	1	0	1	0
7	Neil Lenham	1984/5	3	1	0	2	0
8	Mike Roseberry	1986	2	0	0	2	0
9	Mike Atherton	1986/7–1987/8	11	5	0	6	0
10	Mark Ramprakash	1989	3	3	0	0	0
11	Wayne Noon	1989/90–1990	4	1	0	3	0
12	John Crawley	1990/1–1991	4	0	0	4	0
13	Phil Weston	1991/2	3	0	0	3	0
14	Matthew Walker	1992/3–1993	5	2	0	3	0
15	Michael Vaughan	1993/4–1994	5	3	0	2	0
16	Marcus Trescothick	1994/5–1995	5	4	0	1	0
17	Alex Morris	1995/6	1	1	0	0	0
18	Owais Shah	1996–1998	14	7	0	6	1
19	Andrew Flintoff	1996/7–1997	3	3	0	0	0
20	Michael Gough	1998/9–1999	6	2	0	4	0
21	Alex Loudon	1999/2000	6	3	0	3	0
22	Ian Bell	2000–2001	9	5	0	4	0
23	Nicky Peng	2001/2	6	2	0	4	0
24	Paul McMahon	2002	3	0	0	3	0
25	Bilal Shafayat	2002/3	3	0	0	3	0
26	Samit Patel	2002/3–2003	4	1	0	2	1
27	Alastair Cook	2003/4–2004	8	6	0	2	0
28	Steven Davies	2004/5	5	1	0	4	0
29	Varun Chopra	2005–2005/6, 2006	12	2	0	9	1
30	Moeen Ali	2005/6	5	3	0	2	0
31	Greg Wood	2006/7	11	5	0	6	0
32	Rory Hamilton-Brown	2007	5	1	0	3	1
33	Alex Wakely	2007/8	8	3	0	5	0
34	Tom Westley	2007/8–2008	7	2	1	1	3
35	Liam Dawson	2008/9	5	2	0	3	0
36	Azeem Rafiq	2009–2009/10	14	4	0	9	1
37	Paul Best	2009/10–2010	8	4	0	3	1
38	Lewis Gregory	2010/11	3	0	0	2	1
39	Adam Ball	2011/12	27	13	0	13	1
40	Ben Duckett	2013	11	2	0	9	0
41	Jonathan Tattersall	2013	1	0	1	0	0
42	Lewis McManus	2013	1	0	1	0	0
43	Will Rhodes	2013/14	14	9	0	5	0
44	Joe Weatherley	2014/15	4	1	0	3	0
45	Aneurin Donald	2014/15–2015	5	3	0	2	0
46	Brad Taylor	2015/16	10	4	0	5	1
47	Max Holden	2016–2016/17	5	0	1	4	0
48	Matthew Fisher	2016/17	3	1	0	2	0
49	Will Jacks	2017–2017/18	3	2	0	1	0
50	Harry Brook	2017–2017/18	11	4	0	7	0
51	Tom Banton	2018	2	0	0	2	0
52	Jamie Smith	2018/19	3	0	0	3	0
53	George Balderson	2019–2019/20	14	5	1	8	0
54	George Hill	2019–2019/20	7	5	0	2	0
55	Jacob Bethell	2021	2	2	0	0	0
56	Tom Prest	2021	1	0	0	1	0
Grand total			325	132	3	178	12

References

Specific

^ "England Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
^ "List of captains: England – One-Day Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
^ "List of captains: England – Twenty20 Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
^ "England Women – Women's Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
^ "England Women – Women's One-Day Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
^ "England Women – Women's Twenty20 Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.

General

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (2004) ISBN 0-947766-83-9
Cricinfo

[2] Monty Bowden, aged 23 years 144 days, became England's youngest captain on 25 March 1889.

[3] Plum Warner captained the touring party, but illness prevented him from appearing in any of the Tests

[Mann-4] George Mann was the son of Frank Mann, making them the first father and son to both captain England.

[gill-5] Arthur Gilligan and Harold Gilligan were the first brothers to captain England.

[over-6] England had two overlapping Test series in the winter of 1929/30. Their first Test against New Zealand started on 10 January 1930. Their first Test against the West Indies started on 11 January 1930, making the first time England had simultaneously played two Test matches at once.

[Cowdrey-7] Chris Cowdrey is the son of Colin Cowdrey, making them the second father and son to both captain England after George and Frank Mann.

[8] The 1970 South Africa tour to England was called off and a Rest of the World XI was arranged to play a 5 match series to replace it. The games were originally regarded as Test matches, but were later stripped of Test status. The Rest of the World XI won the series 4–1, with Illingworth captaining England in each match.

[aband-9] The third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia in 1970–71 was abandoned without a ball being bowled and is excluded from these statistics. This is in line with the approach adopted by Wisden and most statisticians, although the match has been recognised as an official Test match by the Australian Board of Control.

[11] Includes 2019 Cricket World Cup Final, which was tied after 50 overs and the Super Over, but England won the match on boundary count

[13] Both games finished with scores level, but England won the Super-over deciders

[cricinfocaptlist-1] "England Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

[ODI-10] "List of captains: England – One-Day Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.

[twenty20-12] "List of captains: England – Twenty20 Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

[womtest-14] "England Women – Women's Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.

[womODI-15] "England Women – Women's One-Day Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.

[16] "England Women – Women's Twenty20 Internationals". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2008.

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