England cricket team

The England men’s cricket team plays for both England and Wales in international matches. Since 1997, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has run the team; before that, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) had been in charge since 1903. As founding members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), England and Wales hold Full Member status, which gives them Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20I) standing. Up until the 1990s, players from Scotland and Ireland could also turn out for England, because those countries had not yet become ICC members on their own.

England and Australia played the first Test match ever, from 15 to 19 March 1877. Along with South Africa, these three nations founded the Imperial Cricket Conference (the forerunner of today’s ICC) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also featured in the first ODI, on 5 January 1971. England’s first T20I came on 13 June 2005, again against Australia.

As of 30 August 2026, England have taken part in 1,099 Test matches, winning 407 and losing 336, with 356 draws. In Test series against Australia, they compete for The Ashes, one of sport’s most famous trophies, and have won the urn 32 times. England have also played 826 ODIs, winning 411. They have reached the Cricket World Cup final four times (1979, 1987, 1992, and 2019), finally winning the tournament in 2019; they have also finished as runners-up in the ICC Champions Trophy twice (2004 and 2013). In T20Is, England have played 230 matches and won 125. They claimed the ICC T20 World Cup in 2010 and 2022, and were runners-up in 2016. According to the ICC rankings from August 2026, England sit fifth in Tests, seventh in ODIs, and second in T20Is.

**History**

The earliest known team claiming to represent England played on 9 July 1739. An “All-England” side, made up of 11 gentlemen from anywhere in England except Kent, took on “the Unconquerable County” of Kent and lost by “very few notches.” Similar matches happened many times over the next century. In 1846, William Clarke founded the All-England Eleven. This team later faced a United All-England Eleven in annual matches from 1847 to 1856, which, based on the quality of players involved, were arguably the most important contests of the English season.

**Early tours**

England’s first overseas tour set off in September 1859, heading to North America. The squad included six players from the All-England Eleven and six from the United All-England Eleven, captained by George Parr. When the American Civil War broke out, attention shifted elsewhere. English tourists visited Australia in 1861–62, a trip organised as a commercial venture by Messrs Spiers and Pond, restaurateurs from Melbourne. Before 1877, most matches on these tours were “against odds,” meaning the opposing team fielded more than 11 players to create a fairer contest. That first Australian tour mostly featured odds of at least 18 to 11.

The tour proved so successful that Parr led a second one in 1863–64. James Lillywhite later captained an England team that sailed on the P&O steamship *Poonah* on 21 September 1876. They played a combined Australian XI on even terms—11 a side—for once. That match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, later became known as the first Test match. The combined Australian XI won by 45 runs, with Charles Bannerman scoring the first Test century. At the time, it was advertised as James Lillywhite’s XI versus Combined Victoria and New South Wales. A return match took place at the same ground over Easter 1877, and Lillywhite’s team won by four wickets. The first Test on English soil happened in 1880, with England victorious; this was also the first time England fielded a fully representative side, including W. G. Grace.

**1880s**

England lost their first home series 1–0 in 1882. In response, *The Sporting Times* printed an obituary for English cricket. Because of that defeat, England captain Ivo Bligh called the 1882–83 tour “the quest to regain the ashes.” England, a mix of amateurs and professionals, won the series 2–1. Bligh received an urn containing some ashes—said to be from a bail, a ball, or even a woman’s veil—and so The Ashes began. A fourth match was played, which Australia won by four wickets, but it was not counted as part of the Ashes series. England dominated many early contests, winning the Ashes 10 times between 1884 and 1898. During this period, England also played their first Test against South Africa, in 1889 at Port Elizabeth.

**1890s**

England won the 1890 Ashes 2–0; the third match of that series was the first Test ever abandoned. They lost 2–1 in the 1891–92 series but regained the urn the following year. England again won the 1894–95 series 3–2 under Andrew Stoddart. In 1895–96, they faced South Africa and won every Test. The 1899 Ashes series was the first where the MCC and the counties set up a selection committee, which included three active players: Grace, Lord Hawke, and Warwickshire captain Herbert Bainbridge. Before that, home Tests were chosen by the club hosting the match. England lost the 1899 Ashes 1–0, and Grace played his final Test in the first match of the series.

**1900s**

The early 20th century brought mixed results. England lost four of the eight Ashes series between 1900 and 1914. They also suffered their first series defeat to South Africa in the 1905–06 season, losing 4–1 as their batting struggled. England lost the first Ashes series of the new century to Australia in 1901–02, and Australia also won the next series.