Top 5 Australian states to have produced the most number of Test captains

It is almost a given that certain domestic teams dominate their country's cricketing landscape and quite naturally, those teams also produce more captains than others.

This is the case with most cricket playing nations of the world and in this regard, Australia is no exception.

They have had 48 captains so far, including those who had had to stand in for a handful of Tests when the full-time captain was unavailable.

Also, captains who have played for more than 1 state have been assigned to the state which they represented at the time when they were made captain.

So, here is a look at the states which produced the highest number of captains for one of the world's most successful cricketing nations.

#5 Western Australia

Kim Hughes captained Australia at a particularly trying time.

The state of Western Australia has been one of the most important breeding grounds for future Australian cricketers and over the years, has produced plenty of top-class players who have gone on to achieve remarkable success at the highest level of the sport.

That being said, the state has not actually produced too many Test captains for the country and out of the two, one had to stand in as captain when the regular captain was unavailable.

Kim Hughes captained the team at a particularly trying time when many of the stars had retired or were on their way out of the side. He captained Australia from 1978-79 to 1984-85 season and lost 13 out of the 28 Tests, winning only 4.

The other captain from Western Australia was former wicketkeeper and Australian great Adam Gilchrist, who stood in for the both Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting in 6 Tests. He won 4 of them and the most famous were the 2 victories in 2004, which helped Australia finally win a series in India for the first time since 1969.

#4 Queensland

Allan Border is up there among the best captains Australia has ever had.

The state of Queensland has been in existence since 1892 and has proven to be an excellent supplier of cricketers to the national team.

The state has produced 4 Test captains for Australia so far in its history and out of those, one of them could be regarded as particularly influential for helping Australian cricket to get back to its feet during the dark period of the 1980s.

The four captains produced by Queensland are Bill Brown (1 Test), Ray Lindwall (1 Test), Greg Chappell (48 Tests between 1975 and 1983) and probably the best of them all, Allan Border (93 Tests between 1984 and 1994).

While Chappell was one of Australia's greatest batsmen and was responsible for that famous 5-1 demolition of the West Indies in 1975-76, Allan Border was the one who has a greater legacy.

Border built up the team with enterprising young players and built a team around the likes of Steve Waugh, Geoff Marsh, David Boon and Craig McDermott among others. Queensland might not have produced many captains but Border is up there among the best captains Australia has ever had.

#3 South Australia

Ian Chappell is regarded as the finest Test captain for his tactical mastery.

The state of South Australia last won the coveted Sheffield Shield back in 1996 and even prior to that, they had endured long waits in between their Shield triumphs. However, something that cannot be denied is that the state has produced plenty of excellent cricketers and from among those who have played for South Australia, some of them have gone on to become outstanding captains.

The state has produced 7 Australian captains including Ian Chappell, who is often regarded by many as one of the finest Test captains in cricket history for his tactical mastery.

He won 15 out of 30 Tests and lost only 5. Chappell's grandfather Vic Richardson is also one of the South Australia's gifts to the national team and although he captained in only 5 Tests, he won 4 of them and lost none.

The other notable captains who hailed from South Australia were Clem Hill, Joe Darling, Barry Jarman (1 Test) and George Giffen.

#2 Victoria

Victoria dominated the captaincy landscape in Australian cricket in a different era.

Victoria is one of the Australian cricket's most influential state cricket teams and although the state last supplied an Australian captain almost 40 years ago, it remains second in the all-time list with a total of 12 national team Test captains to its credit. However, it must be said Victoria dominated the captaincy landscape in Australian cricket in a different era.

The very first Australian captain from Victoria was Tom Horan back in 1885-86 but his tenure lasted only 2 Tests, both of which he lost. However, the next 4 captains from Victoria, namely Jack Blackam, Tup Scott, Harry Trott and Hugh Trumble, did not get any notable success either. It all changed with the appointment of Warwick Armstrong in 1920 and although he captained in only 10 Tests across two Ashes series, he won 8 Tests and beat England 5-0 in one of the series.

Following Jack Ryder's disappointing spell of 4 defeats in 5 Tests, the school teacher from Victoria Bill Woodfull was made the captain in 1930. Woodfull captain in 25 Tests and won 14 of them, in his stint stretching from 1930 to 1934. He was the Australian captain during the infamous 'Bodyline' series in 1932 in Australia and is credited for not turning the series into a shameful spectacle by not asking his bowlers to resort of retaliatory Bodyline bowling.

The other captains from Victoria were Lindsay Hassett (24 Tests from 1949 to 1953), Ian Johnson (17 Tests from 1954 to 1957), Bill Lawry (25 Tests from 1967 to 1971) and lastly Graham Yallop (7 Tests in 18978-79 season). Among the later generation, Lindsay Hassett had the best win percentage of 58.33 (14 wins out of 24) and Yallop had the worst win percentage, having lost 6 out of the 7 Tests in which he had been captain.

#1 New South Wales

Steve Waugh is the most successful captain in Australian history.

Now New South Wales is what Mumbai is to India and Yorkshire is to England. They are the most successful domestic team in Australian domestic cricket history with 46 Sheffield Shield titles and naturally, they have also supplied the national team with plenty of players.

Among them, as many as 18 have gone on to captain the side. Some of them were stand-in captains, of course.

The first two Australian Test captains, Dave Gregory and his successor Billy Murdoch were both New South Wales players and it might be said that a market was set right from the start.

Some of the most illustrious names in Australian cricket have been from New South Wales and same goes when it comes to captains.

Out of the first 27 Australian captains till 1957-58, 10 were from New South Wales and it is not a surprise that the 278th was one too.

Richie Benaud captained Australia from 1957 to 1964 and is regarded as one the country's finest skippers, having won 2 Ashes and drawn 1.

Opening batsman Bob Simpson captained in 39 Test matches stretching over two stints, one from 1963 to 1968 and another in the 1977-78 season. Although he had a win percentage of only 30.76%, he is lauded for having come out of retirement to take the reins once the stars had deserted the team and gone to play World Series Cricket.

The next great captains from New South Wales were Mark Taylor, who turned the team into the world's best and his successor Steve Waugh turned into a winning machine of incredible proportions. Among captains who have captained in a minimum of 10 Tests, Steve Waugh is the most successful captain in Australian history with a win percentage of almost 72% (41 wins in 57 Tests).

Michael Clarke steadied Australia following the retirement of some of the greats between 2011 and 2015 and is regarded as a superb tactician to this day.

Now, Australia is looking to become the team of old under the leadership of another captain from New South Wales in the form of Steven Smith.