Every cricketer aspires to represent their country in an ODI World Cup, but only a few can do so. Some players could even captain their team and have a significant influence on it. England, one of the world’s best cricketing nations, has produced some outstanding World Cup captains over the years. In this article, we look at the England cricketers who have played the most ODI World Cup matches as a captain.
1. Eoin Morgan (17 MATCHES)
Eoin Morgan, England’s most successful white ball captain, is the first to feature on the list. He represented England in ODIs from 2011 to 2022 and was the captain in 126 matches. Morgan captained England in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups in 17 games. England won the 2019 World Cup under his captaincy.
2. Michael Vaughan (09 MATCHES)
Michael Vaughan, a right-handed top-order batter and a former England captain, played for England in 50-over cricket for seven years (2001–2007) and represented them in 86 matches. Vaughan captained England in nine ODI World Cup matches, winning five and losing four, with a win percentage of 55.55.
3. Mike Gatting (08 MATCHES)
Mike Gatting is a former right-handed batter from Middlesex. Gatting was the captain of the ODI team from 1986 to 1988 in 37 matches and had a win percentage of 70.27, the highest for an English ODI captain with a minimum of ten games as a captain. In the 1987 ODI World Cup, he captained the team in eight matches, winning five and losing three.
4. Graham Gooch (08 MATCHES)
Graham Gooch, a right-handed top-order batter from Essex, is the next to feature on the list. Gooch represented the England ODI team from 1988 to 1993 in 125 matches and scored 4290 runs. He was the team captain in the 1992 ODI World Cup in eight games, winning five, losing two and one game resulting in no result.
5. Alec Stewart (08 MATCHES)
Alec Stewart, England’s premier wicketkeeper batter in the 90s, comes next on the list. Stewart made his ODI dbut in 1989 against Sri Lanka and played his last match in 2003 against Australia. He also got to captain England in the ODI World Cup in eight matches, winning five and losing three, with a win percentage of 62.50.
6. Andrew Strauss (07 MATCHES)
Next on the list is Andrew Strauss, a left-handed opening batter who loved to play his shots and look for runs. Strauss has been regarded as one of the best English captains. He played ODI cricket from 2003 to 2011 and was the captain of the team in the 2011 ODI World Cup. The team won three, lost three, and tied one match out of the seven matches he captained in the World Cup.
7. Bob Willis (07 MATCHES)
Bob Willis is a former right-arm fast bowler from Durham. From 1973 to 1984, Willis played 64 ODIs and took 80 wickets. He was named the captain of the English team in the 1983 ODI World Cup. Willis led the team in seven World Cup matches, winning five and losing two.
8. Mike Atherton (06 MATCHES)
Next, we have Mike Atherton, who represented England in the 50-over format from 1990 to 1998 in 54 games. Atherton was a right-handed opening batter and the captain of the team in the 1996 ODI World Cup in six matches. The team could win only two games under his captaincy in that World Cup, losing four.
9. Mike Brearley (05 MATCHES)
Mike Brearley, a right-handed wicketkeeper batter from Middlesex, is next on the list. Brearley was known as a fantastic captain and led the team in the 1979 ODI World Cup in five matches. The English team won four and lost only one game under his captaincy in the 1979 World Cup.
10. Mike Denness (04 MATCHES)
Mike Denness, a right-handed top-order batter born in Scotland, is the next to feature on the list. He was one of England’s most stylish batters in the 70s and was England’s captain in the first edition of the ODI World Cup in 1975. He captained the team in four matches, winning two and losing two.
