Captain (cricket)

Ricky Ponting (left) is the most successful ICC tournament-winning captain, having won 2 Cricket World Cups and 2 Champions Trophies as captain. MS Dhoni (right) is the only captain to win all 3 ICC limited-overs tournaments - The Cricket World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup.

Clive Lloyd (left) is the first captain to win 2 Cricket World Cups alongside being the tournament's first ever victorius captain, while Darren Sammy (right) is the only captain to win 2 T20 World Cups.

Graeme Smith (left) holds the record for most Test matches as captain, as well as most Test wins. ^[1] Steve Waugh (right) is the most successful Test captain, with a winning ratio of 72%. ^[2]

Some countries opt for a split captaincy, with different captains for different formats to manage workload. Tim Southee (left) captains New Zealand in Tests, while Kane Williamson (right) leads the team in ODIs and T20Is.

The captain of a cricket team, often referred to as the skipper, ^[3] is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of the other players. As in other sports, the captain is usually experienced and has good communication skills, and is likely to be one of the most regular members of the team, as the captain is responsible for the team selection. Before the game the captains toss for innings. During the match the captain decides the team's batting order, who will bowl each over, and where each fielder will be positioned. While the captain has the final say, decisions are often collaborative. A captain's knowledge of the complexities of cricket strategy and tactics, and shrewdness in the field, may contribute significantly to the team's success.

Due to the smaller coaching/management role played out by support staff, as well as the need for greater on-field decision-making, the captain of a cricket team typically shoulders more responsibility for results than team captains in other sports. ^[4]

Captain's responsibilities

During a match

The toss

Starting from team selection and then toss Before the start of a match the home captain tosses a coin and the away captain calls heads or tails. The captain who wins the toss is given the choice of whether to bat or bowl first. ^[4] The decision usually depends on the condition of the pitch and whether it is likely to deteriorate, the weather conditions and the weather forecast.

The decision also depends on the relative strengths of the team's batting and bowling. For instance in Test cricket, a side with only fast bowlers may choose to bowl first to try to take advantage of any early moisture in the pitch, knowing that it will be harder to take wickets later in the match. Similarly a side with a weak opening batting pair may choose to bowl first in order to protect their batsmen. ^[5]

Fielding positions

The captain decides where the fielders will stand, in consultation with the bowler and sometimes other senior players. The fielding positions will usually be dictated by the type of bowler, the batsman's batting style, and the captain's assessment of the state of the match (and hence whether to set an attacking or a defensive field). ^[4]

Bowling

The captain decides when each bowler will bowl. If a batsman is seeking to dominate the current bowler, the captain may ask someone else to bowl; alternatively, keeping the bowler on may be deemed the best chance of getting the batsman out or restricting the scoring rate. If the regular bowlers are not achieving the desired results, the captain may decide to use non-regular bowlers to attempt to unsettle the batsmen. The captain may also change the bowlers around to introduce variation, and to prevent the batsmen getting "set". ^[4]

In limited overs cricket the captain additionally has to make certain that bowlers bowl no more than their allotted maximum number of overs, and that experienced bowlers are available at the end of the batting side's innings, when the batsmen are usually looking to take risks to attack and score quickly. ^[4]

In the longer forms of cricket, when a new ball becomes available the captain decides whether to use it, and when given that it can be taken any time after it becomes available. ^[4]

Batting order

See also: Batting order (cricket)

When the team bats, the captain decides the batting order. In professional cricket the captain usually changes the established batting order only for exceptional reasons, because batsmen tend to specialise in batting at certain positions. However, in certain circumstances it may be in the team's interest to change the batting order. If quick runs are needed, a naturally attacking batsman may be promoted up the order. A player who is 'in form' may be promoted to a higher batting position, at the expense of a player who is 'out of form'. ^[4]

If a wicket falls near the end of a day's play, especially if the light is failing, or if the bowlers seem particularly confident, the captain may choose to send in a non-specialist batsman, referred to as a nightwatchman. If the nightwatchman does not get out before the end of that day's play then the specialist batsman will have been protected, and will not need to bat until the following day when conditions are likely to have improved. If the nightwatchman does get out, the cost of losing a late wicket will have been minimised, because the specialist batsman is still available to bat. ^[4]

Declarations

The captain may declare the team's innings closed at any time, but usually only does so as an attacking ploy, for instance if the captain thinks the team has enough runs to win the match, or if a sudden change in conditions has made it advantageous to bowl rather than bat. ^[4]

Follow-on

In a two-innings match, if the situation arises the captain decides whether to impose the follow-on. ^[4]

Appeals

Fielding captains may withdraw appeals with consent of the umpires. ^[6] This often occurs in cases of injury, miscommunication, or unsportsmanlike conduct, and is considered to uphold the spirit of cricket and fair play within the game.

Miscellaneous

The captain is also consulted on whether an injured batsman from the opposing team may use a runner when batting. Permission is usually given if the batsman has become injured during the course of the match, but if the batsman was carrying the injury at the start of the match then the captain may refuse. (As of 2012, runners are not allowed in Test cricket and injured batsmen are required to continue batting with the injury or retire hurt.) ^[7]

Other duties

As well as decisions taken either immediately before or during a match, captains also often have some responsibility for the good running of the cricket club. For instance, they may decide when the team is to practice, and for how long. In professional cricket the captain often has some say in who will form the squad from which teams are selected, and may also decide how young up-and-coming players are to be encouraged and improved, and how members of the squad who are not regularly selected for first-team matches are to gain match practice. ^[4]

Prior to July 2015, the captain was responsible for deciding when to take batting and bowling powerplays in limited overs matches. ^[8]

Vice-captain

Vice-captains are sometimes considered the full-time successor to the incumbent captain. Michael Clarke was Australia's vice-captain for three years before succeeding Ricky Ponting as captain in 2011.

The captain may be assisted by a vice-captain or in some instances joint vice-captains. This is particularly useful if the captain is forced to leave the field of play during fielding. Some teams also allocate the vice-captain a more or less formal role in assisting with team selection, discipline, field-setting and so on. Sometimes the role of vice-captain is seen as preparation for the player(s) becoming the captain of the side in future. ^[10]

Current men's international captains

ICC Full Members

Nation	Format	Captain	Vice-captain(s)
Afghanistan [11]	Test	Hashmatullah Shahidi	Rahmat Shah
	ODI
	T20I	Rashid Khan	Ibrahim Zadran
Australia [12] [13] [14] [15]	Test	Pat Cummins	Steve Smith / Travis Head
	ODI		Mitchell Marsh
	T20I	Mitchell Marsh	Matthew Wade
Bangladesh [16]	Test	Najmul Hossain Shanto	Vacant
	ODI
	T20I
England [17] [18] [19]	Test	Ben Stokes	Ollie Pope
	ODI	Jos Buttler	Vacant
	T20I
India [20] [21] [22] [23]	Test	Rohit Sharma	Jasprit Bumrah
	ODI		Hardik Pandya
	T20I
Ireland [24]	Test	Andrew Balbirnie	Paul Stirling
	ODI	Paul Stirling	Vacant
	T20I
New Zealand [25]	Test	Tim Southee	Tom Latham
	ODI	Kane Williamson
	T20I		Mitchell Santner
Pakistan [26] [27] [28]	Test	Shan Masood	Vacant
	ODI	Babar Azam
	T20I		Mohammad Rizwan
South Africa [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]	Test	Temba Bavuma	Neil Brand
	ODI		Aiden Markram
	T20I	Aiden Markram	Vacant
Sri Lanka [34] [35]	Test	Dhananjaya de Silva	Kusal Mendis
	ODI	Kusal Mendis	Charith Asalanka
	T20I	Wanindu Hasaranga
West Indies [36] [37] [38] [39]	Test	Kraigg Brathwaite	Alzarri Joseph
	ODI	Shai Hope
	T20I	Rovman Powell	Vacant
Zimbabwe [40]	Test	Craig Ervine
	ODI		Sean Williams
	T20I	Sikandar Raza

Associate Members

Nation	Captain	Vice-captain
Argentina	Daniel Sutton
Austria	Razmal Shigiwal
Bahamas	Gregory Taylor
Bahrain	Al Amin Shehzad
Belgium	Shaheryar Butt	Nemish Mehta
Belize	Kenton Young
Bermuda	Terryn Fray
Bhutan	Jigme Singye
Botswana	Karabo Modise
Brazil	Rashid Bazigar
Bulgaria	Prakash Mishra
Cameroon	Solefack James
Canada	Saad Bin Zafar
Cayman Islands	Ronald Ebanks
Chile	Kamlesh Gupta
China	Jiang Shuyao
Costa Rica	Christopher Prasad
Cyprus	Michalis Kyriacou
Czech Republic	Arun Ashokan
Denmark	Hamid Shah
Estonia	Marko Vaik
Eswatini	Naeem Gull
Fiji	Jone Seuvou
Finland	Nathan Collins
France	Arun Ayyavooraju
Germany	Rishi Pillai
Ghana	Obed Harvey
Gibraltar	Balaji Pai
Greece	Anastasios Manousis
Guernsey	Jamie Nussbaumer
Hong Kong	Nizakat Khan	Kinchit Shah
Hungary	Abhijeet Ahuja
Iran	Dad Dahani
Isle of Man	Matthew Ansell
Israel	Herschel Gutman
Italy	Gayashan Munasinghe
Japan	Tatsuro Chino
Jersey	Charles Perchard
Kenya	Shem Ngoche
Kuwait	Mohammad Amin
Lesotho	Samir Patel
Luxembourg	Joost Mees
Malawi	Moazzam Baig
Malaysia	Ahmed Faiz	Virandeep Singh
Maldives	Mohamed Mafooz
Malta	Bikram Arora
Mexico	Tarun Sharma
Mozambique	Kaleem Shah
Namibia	Gerhard Erasmus	David Wiese
Nepal	Rohit Paudel	Vacant
Netherlands	Scott Edwards	Vacant
Nigeria	Joshua Ayannaike	Dotun Olatunji
Norway	Raza Iqbal
Oman	Zeeshan Maqsood
Panama	Imran Bulbulia
Papua New Guinea	Assad Vala
Peru	Matthew Spry
Philippines	Jonathan Hill
Portugal	Najjam Shahzad
Qatar	Iqbal Hussain	Mohammed Rizlan
Romania	Ramesh Satheesan
Rwanda	Clinton Rubagumya
Samoa	Dom Michael
Saudi Arabia	Shoaib Ali
Scotland	Richie Berrington	Matthew Cross
Serbia	Aleksa Djorovic
Seychelles	Kaushalkumar Patel
Sierra Leone	Lansana Lamin
Singapore	Amjad Mahboob	Aritra Dutta
South Korea	Kyungsik Kim
Spain	Christian Munoz-Mills
Suriname	Shazam Ramjohn
Sweden	Abhijit Venkatesh
Tanzania	Hamisi Abdallah
Thailand	Ryan Raina
Turkey	Recep Ulutuna
Uganda	Frank Nsubuga
United Arab Emirates	Muhammad Waseem
United States	Monank Patel	Steven Taylor
Vanuatu	Andrew Mansale

Current women's international captains

ICC Full Members

Nation	Format	Captain	Vice-captain
Australia	Test	Alyssa Healy	Tahlia McGrath
	ODI
	T20I
Bangladesh	Test	Nigar Sultana	Nahida Akter
	ODI
	T20I
England	Test	Heather Knight	Nat Sciver-Brunt
	ODI
	T20I
India	Test	Harmanpreet Kaur	Smriti Mandhana
	ODI
	T20I
Ireland	Test	Laura Delany	Gaby Lewis
	ODI
	T20I
New Zealand	Test	Sophie Devine	Vacant
	ODI
	T20I
Pakistan	Test	Nida Dar	Fatima Sana
	ODI
	T20I
South Africa	Test	Suné Luus	Vacant
	ODI
	T20I
Sri Lanka	Test	Chamari Athapaththu	Oshadi Ranasinghe
	ODI
	T20I
West Indies	Test	Hayley Matthews	Shemaine Campbelle
	ODI
	T20I
Zimbabwe	Test	Mary-Anne Musonda	Josephine Nkomo
	ODI
	T20I

Associate Members

Nation	Captain	Vice-captain
Botswana	Laura Mophakedi
Brazil	Roberta Moretti Avery
Chile	Jeannette Gonzalez
China	Huang Zhuo
France	Marie Violleau
Germany	Anuradha Doddaballapur	Christina Gough
Hong Kong	Kary Chan
Iran	Nasimeh Rahshetaei
Jersey	Rosa Hill
Kenya	Queentor Abel	Sharon Juma
Lesotho	Boitumelo Phelenyane
Malawi	Mary Mabvuka
Mexico	Caroline Owen
Mozambique	Fatima Guirrugo
Namibia	Irene van Zyl	Yasmeen Khan
Nepal	Rubina Chhetri	Indu Barma
Nigeria	Samantha Agazuma
Papua New Guinea	Kaia Arua
Rwanda	Sarah Uwera
Western Samoa	Regina Lili'i
Sierra Leone	Linda Bull
Singapore	Shafina Mahesh
South Korea	Inyeong Oh
Spain	Elspeth Fowler
Tanzania	Fatuma Kibasu
Thailand	Naruemol Chaiwai	Nannapat Koncharoenkai
Uganda	Rita Musamali
United Arab Emirates	Chaya Mughal
United States	Sindhu Sriharsha
Vanuatu	Selina Solman

See also

• The Art of Captaincy , a 1985 book by former England captain Mike Brearley

References

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2. "Records / Test matches / Individual records (captains, players, umpires) / Most matches as captain". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
3. ""skipper" Definitions". Wordnik. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
4. "The Role of the Captain". DangerMouse. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
5. "Numbers Suggest the Toss Has Never Been More Important in Test Cricket". Bleacher Report. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
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7. "Runners abolished, ODI and run-out laws tweaked". ESPN Cricinfo. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
8. Gollapudi, Nagraj (26 June 2015). "Bowlers benefit from ODI rule changes". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
9. Brettig, Daniel (8 August 2015). "Clarke announces retirement after Ashes". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
10. "Enfield Cricket Club – Captains & Player Responsibilities". Enfield Cricket Club. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
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27. "It 'was unimaginable but dreams do come true', Shadab Khan says after being named Pakistan vice-captain". Batting with Bimal. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
28. "Shaheen Afridi returns to Test side for Sri Lanka tour". www.pcb.com.pk. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
29. "South Africa name Dean Elgar Test captain and Temba Bavuma ODI and T20I captain". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
30. "Bavuma replaces Elgar as Test captain, relinquishes T20 captaincy". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
31. "Aiden Markram Appointed New Captain Of South Africa Men's T20I Team For West Indies Series". ABP News. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
32. "Why South Africa named uncapped Neil Brand as captain for New Zealand tour?". Business Standard. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
33. "ODI World Cup 2023: Having IPL experience within the camp helps us as a team, says Markram". Sportstar. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
34. "Dhananjaya de Silva named vice-captain in Sri Lanka Test squad". Daily FT. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
35. "Hasaranga named Sri Lanka's T20I skipper, Mendis to lead ODI side". Sportstar. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
36. "Kraigg Brathwaite replaces Jason Holder as West Indies Test captain". ESPNcricinfo. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
37. "Shai Hope and Rovman Powell take charge as West Indies white-ball captains". ESPNcricinfo. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
38. "Alzarri Joseph named vice-captain as West Indies announces 15-man squad for Australia Tests". Cricket Times. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
39. "Alzarri Joseph named vice-captain as West Indies name squad for England ODIs, Pooran and Holder missing". myKhel. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
40. "Zimbabwe name Craig Ervine as limited overs captain; Sean Williams to continue leading in Tests". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 7 March 2022.