England cricket team is the national cricket team which represents England and Wales. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from 1903 until the end of 1996.[1][2]England and Australia were the first teams to be granted Test status on 15 March 1877 and they gained full membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also took part in the first One Day International (ODI) on 5 January 1971. England played their first Twenty20 match on 13 June 2005 and once again their opponents were Australia.
As of 2 September 2008 England have won 305 of the 877 Test matches they have played and are ranked fifth in the ICC Test Championship.[3][4] They have finished runners-up in three Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992) and are ranked third in the ICC ODI Championship.[5]
Peter Moores was appointed head coach on 1 May 2007, following the resignation of Duncan Fletcher. Moores subsequently named Andy Flower as his assistant coach.[6] Kevin Pietersen was announced as both Test and ODI captain on 4 August 2008. Pietersen replaced Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, who resigned their roles as Test and ODI captains respectively.[7]
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 eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent. This team played against 'the Unconquerable County' of Kent and lost by a 'very few notches'. Such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of the 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 1857 to 1866. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season, if judged by the quality of the players.
The first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England going to North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven and six from the United All-England Eleven, and was captained by George Parr. With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned to Australia and New Zealand with the inaugural tour of Australia taking place in 1861-2. England would visit New
