England cricket team

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 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.

Early tours

The first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England touring North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven, six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned elsewhere. English tourists visited Australia in 1861-62 with this first tour organised as a commercial venture by Messrs Spiers and Pond, restaurateurs of Melbourne. Most matches played during tours prior to 1877 were "against odds", with the opposing team fielding more than 11 players to make for a more even contest. This first Australian tour were mostly against odds of at least 18/11.

The tour was so successful that George Parr led a second tour in 1863–64. James Lillywhite led a subsequent England team which sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876. They would play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of 11 a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came to be regarded as the inaugural Test match. The combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. At the time, the match was promoted as James Lillywhite's XI v Combined Victoria and New South Wales. The teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter, 1877, when Lillywhite's team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious; this was the first time England fielded a fully representative side with W.G. Grace included in the team.

1880s

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.

1890s

England won the 1890 Ashes Series 2-0, with the third match of the series being the first Test match to be abandoned. England lost 2-1 in the 1891-92 series, although England regained the urn the following year. England again won the 1894-95 series, winning 3-2 under the leadership of Andrew Stoddart. In 1895-96 England played Test South Africa, winning all Tests in the series. 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.

1900s

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.

England lost their first series of the new century to Australia in 190-02 Ashes. Australia also won the 1902 series, which was memorable for exciting cricket, including Gilbert Jessop scoring a Test century in just seventy minutes. England regained the Ashes in 1904 under the captaincy of Plum Warner. R.E. Foster scored 287 on his debut and Wilfred Rhodes took 15 wickets in a match. In 1905-06 England lost 4-1 against South Africa. England avenged the defeat in 1907, when they won the series 1-0 under the captaincy of R.E. Foster. However, they lost the 1909 Ashes series against Australia, suing 25 players in the process. England also lost to South Africa, with Jack Hobbs scoring his first of fifteen centuries on the tour.

1910s

England toured Australia in 1911-12 and beat their opponents 4-1. The team included the likes of Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley, Sydeney Barnes and Wilfried Rhodes. England lost the first match of the series but bounced back and won the next four Tests. This proved to be the last Ashes series before the war.

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.

England's final tour before the outbreak of World War One saw England beat South Africa 4-0. Sydney Barnes took 49 wickets in the series.

1920s

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.

1930s

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 was 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 1,981 runs were scored, and the concept of timeless Tests was abandoned. England would go in one final tour of the West Indies in 1939 before World War II, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played.

1940s

Test cricket resumed after the Second World War in 1946, and England won their first match back against India. However, they struggled in the 1946-1947 Ashes series, losing 3-0 in Australia under Willy Hammond’s captaincy. England beat South Africa 3-0 in 1947 with Dennis Compton scoring 1,187 runs in the series.

The 1947-48 series against the West Indies was another disappointment for England, with the side losing 2-0 following injuries to several key players. England suffered further humiliation against Don Bradman’s invincible in the 1948 Ashes series. Len Hutton was controversially dropped for the third Test, and England were bowled out for just 52 at The Oval. The series proved to be Bradman’s final Ashes series.

In 1948-49, England beat South Africa 2-0 under the captaincy of George Mann. The series included a record breaking stand of 359 between Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook. The decade ended with England drawing the Test series against New Zealand, with every match ending in a draw.

1950s

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.

On 24 August 1959, England inflicted its only 5-0 whitewash over India. All out for 194 at The Oval, India lost the last test by an innings.

1960s

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 Lord's in the Second Test of the 1968 Ashes series and ended in 1971 when India won the Third Test at the Oval by 4 wickets. They played 13 Tests with only one defeat immediately beforehand and so played a total of 40 consecutive Tests with only one defeat, dating from their innings victory over the West Indies at The Oval in 1966. During this period they beat New Zealand, India, the West Indies, Pakistan and, under Ray Illingworth's determined leadership, regained The Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.

1970s

The 1970s, for the England team, can be largely split into three parts. The early 70s saw Ray Illingworth's side dominate world cricket winning the Ashes away in 1971 and then retaining them at home in 1972. The same side beat Pakistan at home in 1971 and played by far the better cricket against India that season. However, England were largely helped by the rain to sneak the Pakistan series 1–0 but the same rain saved India twice and one England collapse saw them lose to India. This was, however, one of (if not the) strongest England team ever with Boycott, Edrich, D'Oliveira, Amiss, Illingworth, Knott, Snow, Underwood amongst its core.

The mid-1970s were more turbulent. Illingworth and several others had refused to tour India in 1972–73 which led to a clamour for Illingworth's job by the end of that summer  – England had just been thrashed 2–0 by a flamboyant West Indies side  – with several England players well over 35. Mike Denness was the surprising choice but only lasted 18 months; his results against poor opposition were good, but England were badly exposed as ageing and lacking in good fast bowling against the 1974–75 Australians, losing that series 4–1 to lose the Ashes.

Denness was replaced in 1975 by Tony Greig. While he managed to avoid losing to Australia, his side were largely thrashed the following year by the young and very much upcoming West Indies for whom Greig's infamous "grovel" remark acted as motivation. Greig's finest hour was probably the 1976–77 win over India in India. When Greig was discovered as being instrumental in World Series Cricket, he was sacked, and replaced by Mike Brearley.

Brearley's side showed again the hyperbole that is often spoken when one side dominates in cricket. While his side of 1977–80 contained some young players who went on to become England greats, most notably future captains Ian Botham, David Gower and Graham Gooch, their opponents were often very much weakened by the absence of their World Series players, especially in 1978, when England beat New Zealand 3–0 and Pakistan 2–0 before thrashing what was effectively Australia's 2nd XI 5–1 in 1978–79.

1980s

The England team, with Brearley's exit in 1980, was never truly settled throughout the 1980s, which will probably be remembered as a low point for the team. While some of the great players like Botham, Gooch and Gower had fine careers, the team seldom succeeded in beating good opposition throughout the decade and did not score a home Test victory (except against minnows Sri Lanka) between September 1985 and July 1990.

Botham took over the captaincy in 1980 and they put up a good fight against the West Indies, losing a five match Test series 1-0, although England were humbled in the return series. After scoring a pair in the first Test against Australia, Botham lost the captaincy due to his poor form, and was replaced by Mike Brearley. Botham returned to from and played exceptionally in the remainder of the series, being named man of the match in the third, fourth and fifth Tests. The series became known as Botham's Ashes as England recorded a 3-1 victory.

Keith Fletcher took over as captain in 1981, but England lost his first series in charge against India. Bob Willis took over as captain in 1982 and enjoyed victories over India and Pakistan, but lost the Ashes after Australia clinched the series 2-1. England hosted the World Cup in 1983 and reached the semi-finals, but their Test form remained poor, as they suffered defeats against New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies.

David Gower took over as skipper in 1984 and led the team to a 2-1 victory over India. They went on to win the 1985 Ashes 3-1, although after this came a poor run of form. Defeat to the West Indies dented the team's confidence, and they went on to lose to India 2-0. In 1986 Mickey Stewert was appointed the first full-time England coach. England beat New Zealand, but there was little hope of them retaining the Ashes in 1986/87. However, despite being described as a team that 'can't bat, can't bowl and can't field', they went on to win the series 2-1.

After losing consecutive series against Pakistan, England drew a three match Test series against New Zealand 0-0. They reached the final of the 1987 World Cup, but lost by seven runs against Australia. After losing 4-0 to the West Indies, England lost the Ashes to a resurgent Australia led by Allan Border. With the likes of Graham Gooch banned following a rebel tour to South Africa, a new look England side suffered defeat again against the West Indies, although this time by a margin of 2-1.

1990s

If the 1980s were a low point for English Test cricket then the 1990s were only a slight improvement. The arrival of Graham Gooch as captain in 1990 forced a move toward more professionalism and especially fitness though it took some time for old habits to die. Even in 2011, one or two successful county players have been shown up as physically unfit for international cricket. Creditable performances against India and New Zealand in 1990 were followed by a hard fought draw against the 1991 West Indies, but landmark losses against Australia in 1990–91 and especially Pakistan in 1992 showed England up badly in terms of bowling. So bad was England's bowling in 1993 that Rodney Marsh described England's pace attack at one point as "pie throwers". Having lost three of the first four Tests played in England in 1993 Graham Gooch resigned to be replaced by Mike Atherton.

More selectorial problems abounded during Atherton's reign as new chairman of selectors / coach Ray Illingworth (then into his 60s) assumed almost sole responsibility for the team off the field. The youth policy which had seen England emerge from the West Indies tour of 1993–94 with some credit (though losing to a seasoned Windies team) was abandoned and players such as Gatting and Gooch were persisted with when well into their 30s and 40s. England duly continued to do well at home against weaker opponents such as India, New Zealand and a West Indies side beginning to fade but struggled badly against improving sides like Pakistan and South Africa. Atherton had offered his resignation after losing the 1997 Ashes series 3–2 having been 1–0 up after 2 matches  – eventually to resign one series later in early 1998. England, looking for talent, went through a whole raft of new players during this period, such as Ronnie Irani, Adam Hollioake, Craig White, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. At this time, there were two main problems:

Alec Stewart took the reins as captain in 1998, but another losing Ashes series and early World Cup exit cost him Test and ODI captaincy in 1999. This should not detract from the 1998 home Test series where England showed great fortitude to beat a powerful South African side 2–1.

Another reason for their poor performances were the demands of County Cricket teams on their players, meaning that England could rarely field a full strength team on their tours. This would eventually lead to the ECB taking over the MCC as the governing body of England and the implementation of central contracts. 1992 also saw Scotland sever ties with the England and Wales team, and begin to compete independently as the Scotland national cricket team.

By 1999, with coach David Lloyd resigning after the World Cup exit and new captain Nasser Hussain just appointed, England hit rock bottom (literally ranked as lowest-rated Test nation) after losing in shambolic fashion to New Zealand 2–1. Hussain was booed on the Oval balcony as the crowd jeered "We've got the worst team in the world" to the tune of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

2000s

One year later, with central contracts now installed reducing players workloads and the arrival of Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher, England had thrashed the fallen West Indies 3–1. England's results in Asia improved markedly that winter with series wins against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka though one-day success still eluded them.

England's fortunes improved under the new management  – not without the occasional "blip" particularly against Australia but home Test wins became commonplace. Hussain's side had a far harder edge to it, even managing to avoid the anticipated "Greenwash" in the 2001 Ashes series against the all-powerful Australian team. The nucleus of a side of fighters was slowly coming together as players such as Hussain himself, Graham Thorpe, Darren Gough and Ashley Giles began to be regularly selected. By 2003 though, having endured another Ashes drubbing as well as another first-round exit from the World Cup, Hussain felt he could not continue and resigned after one Test against South Africa, though carried on as a batsman until 2004.

Michael Vaughan took over and, while keeping the emphasis as Hussain on fitness and control, encouraged players to express themselves. This especially brought the best out of Andrew Flintoff who, in a career blighted by serious injury managed a real purple patch of 18 months from 2004 to 2005 in which England won five consecutive test series prior to facing Australia in the 2005 Ashes series, taking the team to second place in the ICC Test Championship table. During this period England defeated the West Indies home and away, New Zealand, and Bangladesh at home, and South Africa in South Africa.

In June 2005, England played its first ever T20 international match, defeating Australia by 100 runs.

Later that year, England defeated Australia 2–1 in a thrilling series to regain the Ashes for the first time in 16 years having lost them in 1989. Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a spate of serious injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Giles and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition. A 2–0 defeat in Pakistan was followed by two drawn away series with India and Sri Lanka.

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 who was deputising for the injured Vaughan, lost all five Tests to concede the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years.

England's form in ODIs had been consistently poor. They only narrowly avoided the ignominy of having to play in the qualifying rounds of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. Despite this, in the ODI triangular in Australia, England recorded its first ODI tournament win overseas since 1997. But, in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, England lost to most of the Test playing nations they faced, beating only the West Indies and Bangladesh, although they also avoided defeat by any of the non-Test playing nations. Even so, the unimpressive nature of most of their victories in the tournament, combined with heavy defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, left many commentators criticising the manner in which the England team approached the one-day game. Coach Duncan Fletcher resigned after eight years in the job as a result and was succeeded by former Sussex coach Peter Moores.

Afterwards, England's Test record was indifferent and the team slumped to fifth in the ICC rankings. There was a convincing 3–0 Test series win over West Indies in 2007 but it was followed in the second half of the summer by a 1–0 loss to India, although England did defeat India 4–3 in the ODI series.

In 2007–08, England toured Sri Lanka and New Zealand, losing the first series 1–0 and winning the second 2–1. They followed up at home in May 2008 with a 2–0 home series win against New Zealand, these results easing the pressure on Moores, who was not at ease with his team, particularly star batsman Kevin Pietersen, who succeeded Vaughan as captain in June 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. Moores was replaced as coach by Zimbabwean Andy Flower. Against this background, England toured the West Indies under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0.

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 Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. England drew that match thanks to a last wicket stand by bowlers James Anderson and Monty Panesar. A victory for each team followed before the series was decided at The Oval. Thanks to fine bowling by Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann and a debut century by Jonathan Trott, England regained the Ashes.

2010s

After a drawn Test series in South Africa, England won their first ever ICC world championship, the 2010 World Twenty20, with a seven-wicket win over Australia in Barbados. The following winter in the 2010-11 Ashes, they thrashed Australia 3-1 to retain the urn and record their first series win in Australia for 24 years. Furthermore, all three of their wins were innings victories - the first time a touring side had ever recorded three innings victories in a single Test series. Alastair Cook earned Man of the Series with 766 runs.

England struggled to match their Test form in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite beating South Africa and tying with eventual winners India, England suffered shock losses to Ireland and Bangladesh before losing in the quarter-finals to Sri Lanka. However the team's excellent form in the Test match arena continued and on 13 August 2011, they became the world's top-ranked Test team after comfortably whitewashing India 4–0, their sixth consecutive series victory and eighth in the past nine series. However, this status only lasted a year – having lost 3–0 to Pakistan over the winter, England were beaten 2–0 by South Africa, who replaced them at the top of the rankings. It was their first home series loss since 2008, against the same opposition.

This loss saw the resignation of Strauss as captain (and his retirement from cricket). His replacement, Alastair Cook, who was already in charge of the ODI side, led England to a 2–1 victory in India – their first in the country since 1984–85. In doing so, Cook became the first ever captain to score centuries in his first five Tests as captain and became England's leading century-maker with 23 centuries to his name.

After finishing as runners-up in the ICC Champions Trophy, England faced Australia in back-to-back Ashes series. A 3–0 home win secured England the urn for the fourth time in five series. However, in the return series, they found themselves utterly demolished in a 5–0 defeat, their second Ashes whitewash in under a decade. Their misery was compounded by batsman Jonathan Trott leaving the tour early due to a stress-related illness and the mid-series retirement of spinner Graeme Swann. Following the tour, head coach Andy Flower resigned his post whilst batsman Kevin Pietersen was dropped indefinitely from the England team. Flower was replaced by his predecessor, Peter Moores, but he was sacked for a second time after a string of disappointing results including failing to advance from the group stage at the 2015 World Cup. He was replaced by Australian Trevor Bayliss who oversaw an upturn of form in the ODI side, including series victories against New Zealand and Pakistan. In the test arena, England reclaimed the Ashes 3–2 in the summer of 2015.

Forthcoming fixtures

As set out by the ICC's Future Tours Programme, below is England's full international fixture list until the end of the 2019–20 season. It therefore does not include the 2021 ICC World Test Championship to be held in India, the 2023 Cricket World Cup to be held in India or the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Australia. The venues for the home games are in brackets.

Winter 2016–17

Summer 2017

Winter 2017–18

Summer 2018

Winter 2018–19

Summer 2019

Winter 2019–20

Performances

England has traditionally been one of the stronger teams in international cricket, fielding a competitive side for most of cricket's history. As of 20 December 2016, the England cricket team was ranked fifth in the Test rankings and had played 983 Test matches, winning 351 (35.71%), losing 289 (29.40%), and drawing 343 (34.89%). Up to this date, 676 players had played Test matches for England.

Up to 9 March 2017, England had played 683 ODIs, winning 332 (48.45%), losing 320 (46.97%), tying 8 (1.18%) and having 23 (3.4%) with no result. 246 players had played for England in One Day International matches up to then.

In T20Is, England has played 89, won 43, lost 41, tied 1 and have had 4 end in no result as of 7 September 2016. 77 players had played T20I matches for England.

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.

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, 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.

Status of Wales

Because of the traditional status of Wales as part of England, which lasted until the 1950s, the England team also represents Wales in international cricket. Plaid Cymru have argued that Wales should have its own international team and withdraw from the existing arrangement under which Welsh players play for England. The proposal has aroused strong opposition from Cricket Wales and Glamorgan County Cricket Club, who argue such a move would be financially disastrous. The debate focused on a report produced by the Welsh National Assembly’s petitions committee, which reflected the passionate arguments on both sides. Bethan Jenkins, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on heritage, culture, sport and broadcasting, and a member of the petitions committee, said: "Cricket Wales and Glamorgan CCC say the idea of a Welsh national cricket team is ‘an emotive subject’. Of course having a national team is emotive. You only have to look at the stands during any national game to see that. To suggest this as anything other than natural is a bit of a misleading argument."

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 the three lions badge on the left of the shirt and the name and logo of the sponsor Waitrose on the right. The Adidas logo appears on either the left or right sleeve depending on which handed bat the player is, allowing it to face the camera when the player is on strike. English fielders may wear a navy blue cap or white sun hat with the ECB logo in the middle. Helmets are also coloured navy blue.

In limited overs cricket, England's ODI and Twenty20 shirts feature the Waitrose logo across the centre, with the three lions badge on the left of the shirt and the Adidas logo on the right. In ODIs, the kit comprises a blue shirt with navy trousers, whilst the Twenty20 kit comprises a red shirt with black trousers. In ICC limited-overs tournaments, a modified kit design is used with sponsor's logo moving to the sleeve and 'ENGLAND' printed across the front.

Until January 2010, Vodafone were the official shirt sponsor across all formats in a long-lasting deal whilst Brit Insurance sponsored the team before Waitrose.

Test and ODI

Listed chronologically in order of first Test match

ODI only

ICC Champions Trophy

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

Test team records

Test individual records

Test batting records

Test bowling records

Test fielding records

ODI team records

ODI individual records

ODI batting records

ODI bowling records

ODI fielding records

T20 Internationals

Where applicable, a minimum of 10 innings batted or 50 balls bowled applies. Figures include games up to 29 January 2017.

T20I team records

T20I individual records

T20I batting records

T20I bowling records

T20I fielding records

Most England appearances

Playing staff

This lists all the players who have played for England in the past year (since 16 March 2016) and the forms in which they have played, or any players (in italics) outside this criteria who have been selected in the team's most recent squad. The ECB offers a number of Central Contracts in September each year to England players whom the selectors think will form the core of the team. Players can now gain contracts for Test and White-Ball (Limited-Over) cricket and in some cases both. Other players who play enough games during the year can also gain Incremental contracts.

Key

England Men's Cricketer of the Year

At the start of each season the ECB present the England Men’s Cricketer of the Year award to "recognise outstanding performances in all formats of international cricket over the past year", voted on by members of the cricket media.

The previous winners of this award are:

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 seven years (reduced to four years if this period commenced before their 18th birthday). This has led to players of many other nationalities becoming eligible to play for England.

Of the current squad (see above), Jason Roy was born to British parents in South Africa while Zimbabwean-born Gary Ballance has British grandparents - both had to fulfil residency requirements. In addition, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes have British citizenship, having lived in England since their youth, while Eoin Morgan is an Irish citizen.

ICC regulations also allow cricketers who represent associate (i.e. non-Test-playing) nations to switch to a Test-playing nation, provided nationality requirements are fulfilled. In recent years, this has seen Irish internationals Ed Joyce, Boyd Rankin and Eoin Morgan switch to represent England, whilst Gavin Hamilton previously played for Scotland – though Joyce, Rankin and Hamilton were later able to re-qualify for and represent their home countries.