Captains: Ben Stokes (Tests), Harry Brook (ODIs, T20Is)
Coaches: Brendon McCullum (head coach), Marcus Trescothick, Paul Collingwood, Jeetan Patel (assistant coaches)
First international match: 1877
Cricket board: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
ICC titles: 3

England Men's Cricket Team History

The history of the England cricket team can be dated back to at least 1739, when an "All England" team is recorded as taking on "Kent", but the contest that retrospectively became known as the first Test match occurred when James Lillywhite's XI took on (and lost to) an Australian XI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877.

England's first home Test was against Australia at home in 1880, in which WG Grace - arguably the most famous man in Victorian Britain - made 152 in a five-wicket win. Two years later, Australia's seven-run victory at The Oval caused the publication of a mock newspaper obituary for English cricket. The following winter in Australia, England's captain, Ivo Bligh, was presented with an urn containing some ashes and a legendary rivalry was born.

Over the next 50 years England - under the control of MCC, based at Lord's - began to play Test cricket with a number of Britain's former colonies: South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and India. In 1932-33, Douglas Jardine's uncompromising bid to regain the Ashes - in the so-called Bodyline series, spearheaded by fast bowler Harold Larwood - caused a diplomatic incident after a number of Australia batters were struck by short-pitched intimidatory bowling.

England next won the Ashes in 1953 under the leadership of Len Hutton, who successfully retained them in Australia in 1954-55. By then England had played their first series (a 1-1 draw) against the newly independent Pakistan, led by former India allrounder Abdul Kardar, in 1954.

In 1971, England and Australia played the world's first one-day international. The format gained popularity so quickly that, in 1975, England hosted the first World Cup - as they did the next two editions in 1979 and 1983. They reached at least the semi-finals in each of the first five stagings but lost in the final three times, including to Pakistan at the MCG in 1992. England won the tournament in 2019 at last, after a thrilling tied final against New Zealand.

World-class players like Peter May, Fred Trueman and Jim Laker kept England's stocks high in the 1950s and '60s. Under Ray Illingworth's shrewd captaincy they reclaimed the Ashes in 1970-71. The years that followed were marked by the rise of the obdurate and controversial Geoffrey Boycott; allrounder Tony Greig, who led charismatically and sometimes provocatively; and Ian Botham, arguably the world's best allrounder at the time when cricket was blessed with them.

England regained the Ashes in 1981, thanks to Botham's heroics, but endured inconsistent performances through the decade despite the individual brilliance of the likes of Botham, Graham Gooch and David Gower. The 1990s were turbulent, with a revolving door of captains against a backdrop of Ashes drubbings and a certain amount of administrative chaos.

England's fortunes took a turn for the better under Nasser Hussain and then Michael Vaughan in the 2000s. The iconic 2005 Ashes victory was a zenith that sparked renewed interest in the game through the country. Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower led England to the No. 1 Test ranking in 2011, and Alastair Cook captained them to a memorable series win in India, but the era ended with dressing-room tensions over star batter Kevin Pietersen's controversial axing in 2014.

Joe Root's long captaincy that ran into the 2020s was marked by prolific run-scoring by Root, who is England's all-time highest Test run-maker, but mixed results for the team. Ben Stokes took over in 2022, with coach Brendon McCullum, ushering in a philosophy of attacking, positive cricket, that came to be called "Bazball". To many, that aggressive outlook was born of the T20 game, which England had devised about two decades before for a new county competition. That format rapidly gained popularity after India's victory in the inaugural World Cup, in 2007. England won their first ICC silverware in T20, beating Australia to win the 2010 edition, then became the first team to hold the 50-over and 20-over world titles concurrently by winning the T20 World Cup final in 2022.

England Cricket Team's Current Ranking

Tests: 4
ODIs: 7
T20Is: 3

England Men's Cricket Team Records

England Cricket Team Trophies and Milestones

1739: First recorded instance of an "All-England" team

1787: Foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)

1877: First Test match (and first in cricket) vs Australia, Melbourne

1882: The Ashes come into being after a mock obituary in the Sporting Times

1932-33: Bodyline series takes place in Australia

1971: First ODI (and first in cricket) vs Australia, Melbourne

1975: Host inaugural World Cup; reach semi-final

2010: T20 World Cup win, Bridgetown

2019: ODI World Cup win, Lord's

2022: T20 World Cup win, Melbourne

England Squad

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