Captains play a big part in a team’s victory, especially in Test cricket. It also suits the Ashes, the longest-held tournament in Cricket between Australia and England.
The Ashes have seen many successful captains on either side who have taken their respective sides to heights.
The former Australia captain, Alan Border, has captained the most matches in The Ashes history – 28 matches, followed by England’s Archie MacLaren (22 matches).
Below is the table that lists the successful captains with the most Ashes wins, followed by some exciting insights on the Ashes captaincy records.
Most Ashes Wins as Captain
| CAPTAINS | MATCHES | WINS | LOST | DRAW | WIN% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Border (AUS) | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 46.42% |
| Don Bradman (AUS) | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 57.89% |
| Mike Brearley (ENG) | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 73.33% |
| Mark Taylor (AUS) | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 56.25% |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 42.1% |
| Monty Noble (AUS) | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 53.33% |
| W.G. Grace (ENG) | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 61.53% |
| Warwick Armstrong (AUS) | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 80% |
| Steve Waugh (AUS) | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 88.8% |
| Ian Chappell (AUS) | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 43.75% |
| Michael Clarke (AUS) | 16 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 43.75% |
Stats Highlights
Steve Waugh’s winning percentage 88.88 is the best for any captain who has captained five or more Ashes games. He has a whopping eight wins out of 9 games he led. His only loss as captain came in the Sydney Test in the 2003 edition. This insane record also proves Australia’s dominance in Waugh’s reign.
On the contrary, Ricky Ponting’s eight wins out of 19 games account for the lowest winning percentage in the above list. England’s historical away victory in the 2010/11 series was a significant setback for the Aussies under Ricky Ponting. Look what Kevin Pietersen has to say about this historical English win.
However, Ted Dexter of England has the lowest winning percentage of just 10 (1 win in 10 games as captain) for anyone who has captained more than ten games. And, there is a special mention too: Graham Gooch has captained England in 8 Ashes games without a single win. Here is an interesting article assessing Gooch’s captaincy.
The topper of this group, Allan Border, is also among the fastest members to score 4000 Test runs as captain.
Among the current generation captains, Joe Root has the lowest win%. He has won only two matches in the ten games he led until the 2020 Ashes.
The lowest loss percentage (a good thing) belongs to Warwick Armstrong, who captained Australia for 10 Ashes games between 1920 and 1921 without a loss. During 1964-66, Bob Simpson also proudly led the Aussies without a loss in 8 games. However, Bob has won only two and drawn six games, whereas Armstrong has eight wins and two draws under him.
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