5 England cricketers who scored a century on their captaincy debut

Joe Root became the sixth England cricketer to score a century on Test captaincy debut

Day 1 of the first Test between England and South Africa belonged to Joe Root, who scaled new highs on his first assignment as the captain of Three Lions. The young skipper arrived at the crease when his side was stuttering on 17-2. However, when he walked back to the pavilion at stumps, amidst standing ovation from the spectators, the hosts were at 357-5.

Root scored a magnificent 190, on a day as important as his captaincy debut, at a venue as prestigious as Lord’s. The 26-year-old, who was made the successor of Alastair Cook five months ago, became the sixth England captain to score a ton on captaincy debut. Here we take a look at the other five.

#1 Alastair Cook

CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH - MARCH 12:  England captain Alastair Cook celebrates after reaching his century during day one of the 1st Test match between Bangladesh and England at Jahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on March 12, 2010 in Chittagong, Bangladesh.  (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Cook was England’s 79th captain

Alastair Cook, England’s 79th Test captain, was handed over the captaincy for England’s tour of Bangladesh in 2010 when Andrew Strauss was rested due to ‘work overload’. The then 25-year-old captain rose to fame in his very first assignment as the captain, as he smashed a 173 against a then ragtag Bangladesh side, and became the fifth England skipper to do so.

Bangladesh lost the Test by 181 runs, in which Graeme Swann shared equal limelight by taking 10 wickets. For Cook and his bat, there was no stopping as he smashed yet another century in the second Test which England won by 9 wickets to seal the two-Test series.

#2 Andrew Strauss

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - MAY 26:  Andrew Strauss of England celebrates his century during the Second Investec Test match between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge on May 26, 2012 in Nottingham, England.  (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Strauss was always one to lead from the front

Andrew Strauss became the captain in 2009 after the rift between Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen and he was one of the most successful England captains of all time. He ended his career with exactly 100 Tests and captained in 50 of those.

Under his captaincy, England won 24 and lost 11. His first assignment was run-fest Test at Lord’s. Although he mustered only 30 runs in the first innings, he struck 128 in the second to draw the Test against Pakistan. Under Strauss, England also registered two Ashes series wins.

#3 Kevin Pietersen

LONDON - AUGUST 08:  Kevin Pietersen of England celebrates his century during day two of the 4th npower Test Match between England and South Africa at The Brit Oval on August 8, 2008 in London, England.  (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
Pietersen led England to only a solitary win

After Michael Vaughan resigned as the captain in the August of 2008, Kevin Pietersen was the only English cricketer deemed suitable as his successor. The 37-year-old, who scored 8,181 Test runs at 47.28 in 104 Tests, won the man-of-the-match on his first project as the England Test skipper.

His 137-ball 100 guided England to a win by six wickets against South Africa playing at The Oval. Although the hosts lost the series, Pietersen finished as the top runs-scorer with 421 runs in the four-Test series.

However, that was England’s solitary win under Pietersen’s captaincy because he led them in only two more games after the one at The Oval. His relationship with the coach, Peter Moores, was untenable and the rift forced Pietersen to resign as the skipper while Moores was also sacked on the same day. Andrew Strauss took on as a permanent captain in 2009.

#4 Allan Lamb

Lamb captained England in only three Tests

The South Africa-born England batsman played 79 Tests and 122 One-Day Internationals but captained the side for only three Tests in 1990 when Graham Gooch was injured. Although England lost all of those three Tests under Lamb’s captaincy, the right-handed batsman recorded a personal feat for himself.

He scored 119 in his first innings as the captain of England against the West Indies but failed to replicate that in the second innings. England were bowled out for only 191, courtesy Curtly Ambrose’s eight for 45. West Indies won by 164 runs but Lamb’s feat has lived on till today.

#5 Archie MacLaren

A rare pic of MacLaren with the England team (second from front)

When Archie MacLaren passed away in 1944, The Times wrote in his obituary that he was “one of the outstanding opening batsmen of all time.” He played 35 Test matches and captained England in 22 of those between 1897 and 1909. Out of those 22, England won only 4 Tests under his captaincy.

His very first assignment as the skipper was the first Ashes Test of 1897-98 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. MacLaren scored a century in the first innings and an unbeaten half-century in the second as England won by nine wickets. In his career which spanned across 1894-1909, the batsman scored 1,931 Test runs which included five centuries.

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Edited by Staff Editor