List of England cricket captains

This is a list of all English national cricket captains, comprising all of the men, boys and women who have captained an English national cricket team at official international level. England played in the first Test match in 1877 and 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, with James Lillywhite, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury being the main professional promoters. However, some amateur tours went abroad under Lord Harris and Lord Hawke. Home captains were selected by the home ground authority, who often went for their local favourites. For around sixty years, from 1902/3, the Marylebone Cricket Club took over the organisation of all overseas tours, with the games played being technically by the "MCC" rather than "England". They brought with them the tradition of having amateur, rather than professional, captains, and after Shrewsbury there wasn't another professional captain until Len Hutton around sixty years later. The amateur/professional distinction was abolished in 1962, and a new breed of captain in Brian Close and then Ray Illingworth was born.

From the mid-1980s until the late 1990s, English cricket was in decline, with the England team suffering many heavy defeats. The desperation was most clear in the "summer of four captains" in 1988, during the West Indies tour of England, when the captaincy started with Mike Gatting, who was sacked after the first Test as a result of a dalliance with a barmaid. He was initially replaced by John Emburey, who lasted just two Tests before being sacked after two consecutive defeats. Chris Cowdrey was appointed amidst accusations of nepotism on the part of chief of selectors Peter May, but sustained an injury in his only Test as captain. Finally, Graham Gooch became England's fourth captain of the summer. Unsurprisingly, England lost the five-Test series 4–0. The following year, England faced Australia in the 1989 Ashes series. Gooch didn't remain in his post, with David Gower being brought back as captain. Gower had been an Ashes winning captain back in 1985, although some people favoured bringing back Mike Gatting who had also won the Ashes as England captain in 1986-1987. In the event, Gower's captaincy return was wholly unsuccessful, the 1989 Ashes being lost 4-0. Graham Gooch was reappointed captain for the subsequent tour to the West Indies and remained in the post until 1993 after the fourth Test against Australia, having failed to win a Test match that year.

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