Cricketers Who Played First Test Match As Captain [FULL LIST]

As rare as it may sound, cricketers have played their first Test match as captain in the past. Unsurprisingly, it all started with Australia’s Dave Gregory and England’s James Lillywhite (Jnr) in the inaugural Test way back in 1877.

From then on, such instances were repeated frequently until the start of this century. However, the topic has come back into cricketing consciousness since the announcement of South Africa’s 14-member squad for an upcoming tour of New Zealand. Batter Neil Brand, who will lead a squad comprising a total of seven uncapped players including himself, is all in readiness of joining an elite list.

Brand, a campaigner of 51 first-class matches, will become the 35th player (ninth South African) to captain a team on Test debut. Fresh off beating West Indies A 2-1 in a three-match series, Brand’s leadership skills with South Africa A played a role in the selectors bestowing him with a significant promotion. In addition to his six centuries and 20 half-centuries at an average of 39.27 as a left-handed batter, the left-arm spinner in him also dismissed 72 batters across 81 attempts.

His comparatively short-lived career, however, might still not be enough to lead a national side away from home. Many, including the legendary Steve Waugh, are questioning the whole idea of preferring a T20 league over a Test series on the part of CSA (Cricket South Africa).

When cricket was at its nascent stage in several countries, teams had no option than to appoint entirely inexperienced players as captains. Lord Harris, who rebuilt Kent and became an able administrator later on, also led a team to the USA and Canada. He is often regarded as the “single most influential man to have been involved in cricket”.

Some of the below mentioned names eventually pursued other interests besides cricket. While South Africa’s Owen Dunell was an association footballer and Alfred Richards played Rugby at the highest level, England’s Charles Aubrey Smith became a stage and film actor and Johnny Douglas won a Gold Medal in Boxing.

Interestingly, England’s Frank Mann and George Mann are the only father-son duo to have both captained their nation in their respective first Test match.

In 1995, 10 months after his ODI debut, New Zealand’s Lee Germon was the last player to don the captain’s hat on Test debut when it wasn’t his country’s first-ever Test. Germon’s appointment was somewhat reasonable considering how he was the most successful captain of Canterbury, his first-class team.

That being said, with the sport becoming more global and popular than ever in the recent years, it’s almost impossible to achieve such a feat, making Brand’s accomplishment even more special.

Cricketers Who Played First Test Match As Captain [FULL LIST]

S. No.	Name	Team	Opposition	Venue	Year
1	Dave Gregory	Australia	England	Melbourne Cricket Ground	1877
2	James Lillywhite Jnr	England	Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	1877
3	Lord Harris	England	Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	1879
4	Ivo Bligh	England	Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	1883
5	Owen Dunell	South Africa	England	St. George’s Park	1889
6	Aubrey Smith	England	South Africa	St. George’s Park	1889
7	Alfred Richards	South Africa	England	Newlands	1896
8	Murray Bisset	South Africa	England	Old Wanderers	1899
9	Henry Taberer	South Africa	Australia	Old Wanderers	1902
10	Biddy Anderson	South Africa	Australia	Old Wanderers	1902
11	Percy Sherwell	South Africa	England	Old Wanderers	1906
12	Henry Leveson Gower	England	South Africa	Old Wanderers	1910
13	Johnny Douglas	England	Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	1911
14	Frank Mann	England	South Africa	Old Wanderers	1922
15	Rony Stanyforth	England	South Africa	Old Wanderers	1927
16	Karl Nunes	West Indies	England	Lord’s	1928
17	Harold Gilligan	England	New Zealand	Lancaster Park	1930
18	Tom Lowry	New Zealand	England	Lancaster Park	1930
19	Freddie Calthorpe	England	West Indies	Kensington Oval	1930
20	Nelson Betancourt	West Indies	England	Queen’s Park Oval	1930
21	Jackie Grant	West Indies	Australia	Adelaide Oval	1930
22	CK Nayudu	India	England	Lord’s	1932
23	Herby Wade	South Africa	England	Trent Bridge	1935
24	Maharaja of Vizianagram	India	England	Lord’s	1936
25	Alan Melville	South Africa	England	Old Wanderers	1938
26	George Mann	England	South Africa	Kingsmead	1948
27	Nigel Howard	England	India	Feroz Shah Kotla	1951
28	Tony lewis	England	India	Feroz Shah Kotla	1972
29	Bandula Warnapura	Sri Lanka	England	P Saravanamuttu Stadium	1982
30	Dave Houghton	Zimbabwe	India	Harare Sports Club	1992
31	Lee Germon	New Zealand	India	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium	1995
32	Naimur Rehman	Bangladesh	India	Bangabandhu National Stadium	2000
33	William Porterfield	Ireland	Pakistan	Malahide	2018
34	Asghar Afghan	Afghanistan	India	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium	2018
35	Neil Brand	South Africa	New Zealand	Bay Oval	2024