The England cricket team is that represents England, Wales and Scotland (Scotland Since-1992) in international cricket. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, having been previously governed by Marley bone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end of 1996.
England may be the birthplace of cricket, but that doesn't always translate to trophies. After winning the 2010 ICC World Twenty 20, retaining the Ashes and being ranked the No.1 Test nation in 2011, a slide began that saw a 5-0 Test series white wash in Australia and failure to even get out of their ODI World Cup group. Ashes triumph on home soil in 2015 hinted at a brighter future.
Current squad
The England Cricket ODI, Test, T20 Team List given below:-
ODI, T20 Captain: Eoin Morgan
ODI, T20 Vice Captain: Jos Buttler
Test Captain: Alastair Cook
Test Vice Captain: Joe Root
Coach : Trevor Bayliss
Name | Batting Style | Bowling Style | Forms |
Alastair Cook | L- H | Right-arm off-break | Test |
Eoin Morgan | L- H | Right-arm medium | ODI, Twenty20 |
Joe Root | R- H | Right-arm off-break | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Jos Buttler | R- H | N/A | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Gary Ballance | L- H | Right-arm off-break | Test |
Ian Bell | R- H | Right-arm medium | Test |
Nick Compton | R- H | Right-arm off-break | Test |
Alex Hales | R- H | Right-arm medium | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Adam Lyth | L- H | Right-arm off-break | Test |
Jason Roy | R- H | Right-arm off-break | ODI, Twenty20 |
James Vince | R- H | Right-arm medium | Twenty20 |
Jonny Bairstow | R- H | N/A | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Sam Billings | R- H | N/A | ODI, Twenty20 |
Moin Ali | L- H | Right-arm off-break | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Samit Patel | R- H | Slow left-arm | Test |
Adil Rashid | R- H | Right-arm leg-break | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Ben Stokes | L- H | Right-arm fast-medium | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
David Willey | L- H | Left-arm medium-fast | ODI, Twenty20 |
Chris Woakes | R- H | Right-arm fast-medium | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
James Anderson | L- H | Right-arm fast-medium | Test |
Stuart Broad | L- H | Right-arm fast-medium | Test, ODI |
Steven Finn | R- H | Right-arm fast-medium | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Chris Jordan | R- H | Right-arm fast-medium | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Liam Plunkett | R- H | Right-arm fast | ODI, Twenty20 |
Reece Topley | R- H | Left-arm medium-fast | ODI, Twenty20 |
Mark Wood | R- H | Right-arm fast | Test, ODI, Twenty20 |
Stephen Parry | R- H | Slow left-arm | Twenty20 |
England | |
First Test match | v Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, 15–19 March 1877 |
Test captain | Alastair Cook |
ODI and Twenty20 captain | Eoin Morgan |
Coach | Trevor Bayliss |
Current ICC Test,ODI and T20Iranking | 4th (Test) 5th(ODI) 5th (T20I) |
All-time best ICCTest, ODI and T20Iranking | 1st (Test) 1st (ODI) 1st (T20I) |
Test matches – This year | 976 10 |
Last Test match | vs Pakistan at The Oval, London, 11-14 August 2016 |
Wins/losses – This year | 350/284 5/3 |
As of 14 August 2016 | |
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 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,
History
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. Cricket was introduced to the world by England way back in the 18th century; WG Grace can almost certainly be considered the man responsible for shaping cricket the way we know it is today. The history of the England team though, can be traced back to 1877 when they took on Australia. It was the first ever Test match played in the history of the game.
By 1882-83, when England played Australia, the contest came to be known as the Ashes. Since then, both teams have fought tooth and nail to regain the Ashes Urn. In 1932-33, the showdown between both teams reached epic proportions when Douglas Jardine, in an attempt to stop Don Bradman from scoring mountains of runs, had decided to develop the fast leg theory which in turn came to be known as Bodyline.
In 1952, when England crushed India 3-0 at home, Len Hutton had the honour of becoming the first professional captain to lead them. David Sheppard had captained the first two Tests in his absence.
England were one of the top teams in Test cricket even till 1980s, but they reached their nadir in the 1990s. It took Nasser Hussain's battle-hardened captaincy, followed by Michael Vaughan's tranquil presence and collected approach to resurrect the fortunes of English cricket.
England also was the first team to play an One-Day International. In ODIs, they have been known as perennial bridesmaids, having reached the final of World Cup thrice in four editions, but losing on all three. In 2010 Kevin Pietersen inspired England to win the ICC World T20 their maiden ICC title.
England were one of the top teams in Test cricket even till 1980s, but they reached their nadir in the 1990s. It took Nasser Hussain's battle-hardened captaincy, followed by Michael Vaughan's tranquil presence and collected approach to resurrect the fortunes of English cricket.
England also was the first team to play an One-Day International. In ODIs, they have been known as perennial bridesmaids, having reached the final of World Cup thrice in four editions, but losing on all three. In 2010 Kevin Pietersen inspired England to win the ICC World T20 their maiden ICC title.
England and Australia were the first teams to play a Test match (between 15–19 March 1877), and these two countries together with South Africa formed the Imperial Cricket Conference (predecessor to today's International Cricket Council) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also played the first One Day International (ODI) on 5 January 1971. England's first Twenty20 International (T20I) was played on 13 June 2005, once more against Australia.
As of 18 July 2016, England has played 973 Test matches, winning 348 and losing 283 (with 342 draws). The team has won The Ashes on 32 occasions, the same number as their opponents Australia. The team has played 666 ODIs, winning 321, and its record in major ODI tournaments includes finishing as runners-up in three Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992), and also in two ICC Champions Trophys (2004 and 2013). The team has played 86 T20Is, winning 42. They won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010, and were runners-up in 2016.
England invented many ball sports, including soccer, rugby and, of course, cricket, which dates back to the 16th Century. It was England's national sport by the end of the 18th century, and the game was expanded to the colonies. England is also responsible for introducing over arm bowling and one-day cricket - however inadvertently, and credit must also be shared with Australia. It also came up with the idea of professional Twenty20 matches - introduced to the counties in 2003 - which went on to take the world by storm.
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 11 gentlemen from any part of England exclusive of Kent, played against "the Unconquerable County" of Kent and lost by a margin of "very few notches". Such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of a century.
In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven. This team would eventually compete against a United All-England Eleven with annual matches occurring between 1847 and 1856. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season if judged by the quality of the players.
The Ashes
England lost their first home series 1–0 in 1882 with The Sporting Times printing an obituary on English cricket:
In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST 1882, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B. – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.
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 and 1898. 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 Herbert 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 start of the 20th 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.
International Competition
For the founder of cricket - and the country that subsequently spread it across the globe - it seems anomalous that the England's men side was yet to win a world event until its first victory in a major ICC tournament when it claimed the ICC World Twenty20 2010 title in the West Indies. It came close to winning a second major ICC tournament when it reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, in which it was narrowly defeated by India. In that respect, England's international success has been previously limited to Test series. In recent times, its greatest success has been winning the Ashes series at home in 2005, 2009 and 2013. However, the women's side has an outstanding recent record, winning the ICC Women's World Cup, the ICC World Twenty20 and the Ashes in 2009.
Domestic Cricket
There are 18 first-class counties in the English game. They are split into two divisions of nine for the County Championship, a four-day competition founded in 1889. There have been many different versions of one-day competitions - and many changes of name - but currently there are two tournaments, the two-division Pro40 League, and the 50-over four-group competition, the Friends Provident Trophy, which is also open to Ireland and Scotland. There is also a Twenty20 Cup, based on regions, which is open to the 18 first-class counties.
All-time Great
It's hard to go past Ian Botham when looking for the England great. Grace could bat; Trueman could bowl but Botham had it all - fast bowling, destructive batting, useful fielding and an electric personality. All those ingredients produced a potent - and memorable - recipe which will forever be encapsulated in the words Headingley '81. Having been dropped from the captaincy, Botham flashed back to take England from almost certain defeat in the Third Ashes Test. Hair flowing, bat too, he produced an outrageously cavalier innings to seal the win from odds of 500-1. His Test record stands at 14 centuries and 383 wickets. Off the field, he became a tireless fundraiser, marching at great pace to generate money for leukaemia charities. He was knighted in 2007 for his services to cricket and charity. There were other greats like Jack Hobbs who scored 197 first class centuries. Sydney Barnes who picked up 189 wickets in 27 Test matches at 16.43, Wally Hammond and of course Jim Laker who took a record 19 for 90 against Australia in 1956.
Performances
England has traditionally been one of the stronger teams in international cricket, fielding a competitive side for most of cricket's history. On 26 February 2016 the England cricket team was ranked 5 in the Test rankings. Up to 5 November 2015, England had played 965 Test matches, winning 344 (35.76%), losing 281 (29%), and drawing 340 (35.24%).As of 25 May 2015, 666 players had played Test matches for England. Up to 20 November 2015, England had played 659 ODIs, winning 317 (47.91%), losing 313 (47.6%), tying 7 (1.08%) and having 22 (3.41%) with no result. 222 players had played for England in One Day International matches up to 28 August 2011. 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 70 years. In 1963 this duopoly of cricket dominance began to fall away with the emergence of a strong West Indies team.
England failed to win a series against the West Indies between 1969 and 2000. England similarly failed to compete with Australia for a long period and The Ashes stayed in Australian hands between 1989 and 2005. England struggled against other nations over this period as well and after a series loss to New Zealand in 1999 they were ranked at the bottom of the ICC Test cricket ratings. From 2000, English cricket had a resurgence and England reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and regained The Ashes in 2005. The team was second behind Australia in the Test rankings following victory in the 2005 Ashes series, although the 2006–07 whitewash, coupled with a 2008 series defeat to South Africa and the 2008–09 series loss to the West Indies, meant England were ranked fifth in the ICC Test rankings as of May 2009. In the 2006–07 tour of Australia, The Ashes were lost in a 0–5 "whitewash" but England did succeed in clinching victory in the Commonwealth Bank ODI Tri-series against Australia and New Zealand. The loss of The Ashes prompted the announcement by the England and Wales Cricket Board of an official review of English cricket amid much criticism from the media, former players and fans. England failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies after defeats against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa. In the summer of 2009 England regained The Ashes in a 2–1 series win with a 197-run victory against Australia at the Brit Oval, Kennington, London (20–23 August).Andrew Strauss was named nPower Man of the Series and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff retired from international Test cricket at the end of the fifth Test.
