Australian cricket captains list: Which cricket team has had most number of Test captains?

Gurpreet Singh | 06/01/2022
Australian cricket captains list: Which cricket team has had most number of Test captains?

Australian cricket captains list: A rich Australian Cricketing legacy has been witness to several captains over the years across all formats.

The Australian men’s Cricket team have been amongst the top Cricketing nations for quite some decades now. Having recently won the T20 World Cup in 2021 when it was least expected of them, the Aussies have time and again proved their fellow competing nations that they could write them off at their own peril, even if the side has been through the most tumultuous times in their rich Cricketing history.

The five-time 50-Over world champions continue to be one of the deadest sides in world Cricket producing some of the finest Cricketers with each successive generation.

The team has witnessed a dominating phase especially under the reigns of former skipper Steve Waugh (1999-2004) and then under Ricky Ponting (in both the ODIs and Tests) from 2004-2010.

Let’s have a look at the Australian men’s Cricket team captains list, starting with the Test format.

Australian cricket captains list in Test matches

Captain’s name Tenure
DW Gregory 1877-1879
WL Murdoch 1880-1890
TP Horan 1885-1885
HH Massie 1885-1885
JM Blackham 1885-1894
HJH Scott 1886-1886
PS McDonnell 1887-1888
G Giffen 1894-1895
GHS Trott 1896-1898
J Darling 1899-1905
H Trumble 1902-1902
MA Noble 1903-1909
C Hill 1910-1912
SE Gregory 1912-1912
WW Armstrong 1920-1921
HL Collins 1921-1926
W Bardsley 1926-1926
J Ryder 1928-1929
WM Woodfull 1930-1934
VY Richardson 1935-1936
DG Bradman 1936-1948
WA Brown 1946-1946
AL Hassett 1949-1953
AR Morris 1951-1954
IWG Johnson 1954-1956
RR Lindwall 1956-1956
ID Craig 1957-1958
R Benaud 1958-1963
RN Harvey 1961-1961
RB Simpson 1964-1978
BC Booth 1965-1966
WM Lawry 1968-1971
BN Jarman 1968-1968
IM Chappell 1971-1975
GS Chappell 1975-1983
GN Yallop 1978-1979
KJ Hughes 1979-1984
AR Border 1984-1994
MA Taylor 1994-1999
SR Waugh 1999-2004
AC Gilchrist 2000-2004
RT Ponting 2004-2010
MJ Clarke 2011-2015
SR Watson 2013-2013
SPD Smith 2014-2021
TD Paine 2018-2021
PJ Cummins 2021-2022

 

ALSO READ: Most wickets in an Ashes series

As far as teams with most number of Test captains are concerned, England is way ahead of the rest of the Test playing nations, with Australia taking up the second spot.

Team No.of captains
England 81
Australia 47
West Indies 37
South Africa 37
Pakistan 34
India 34
New Zealand 30
Sri Lanka 17
Zimbabwe 12
Bangladesh 11
Afghanistan 6

Australian cricket captains in ODIs

Australia men’s Cricket side have had a total of 26 ODI captains till date.

Player Span
WM Lawry 1971-1971
IM Chappell 1972-1975
GS Chappell 1975-1983
RB Simpson 1978-1978
GN Yallop 1979-1979
KJ Hughes 1979-1984
DW Hookes 1983-1983
AR Border 1985-1994
RJ Bright 1986-1986
GR Marsh 1987-1991
MA Taylor 1992-1997
IA Healy 1996-1997
SR Waugh 1997-2002
SK Warne 1998-1999
AC Gilchrist 2001-2007
RT Ponting 2002-2012
MEK Hussey 2006-2007
MJ Clarke 2008-2015
CL White 2011-2011
SR Watson 2012-2013
GJ Bailey 2013-2015
SPD Smith 2015-2018
DA Warner 2016-2016
AJ Finch 2017-2020
TD Paine 2018-2018
AT Carey 2021-2021

List of T20I Australian captains

Off the total 11 T20I captains Australia men’s side have had till date, Aaron Finch has led in 56* of them till date- the most by an Aussie in this format.

Player Span
AJ Finch 2014-2021
GJ Bailey 2012-2014
MJ Clarke 2007-2010
RT Ponting 2005-2009
DA Warner 2016-2018
SPD Smith 2015-2016
MS Wade 2020-2021
CL White 2011-2011
AC Gilchrist 2007-2007
BJ Haddin 2009-2009
SR Watson 2016-2016
Post Edited By: Gurpreet Singh

About the author

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh is a Cricket writer at The Sportsrush. His platonic relationship with sports had always been there since childhood, but Cricket managed to strike a special, intimate nerve of his heart. Although his initial dream of playing the sport at the highest level couldn't come to fruition, Gurpreet did represent the state of Jharkhand at the under-14 level. However, almost like taking a pledge to never let the undying passion for Cricket fade away even a tad, he made sure to continue the love relationship by assigning the field of journalism as an indirect Cupid. He thus, first finished his bachelor's in journalism and then pursued the PG Diploma course in English journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Soon after and since 2019, he has been working at The Sportsrush. Apart from sports, he takes keen interest in politics, and in understanding women and gender-related issues.