England, the defending ICC World Cup champions in the ODI format and maybe the pioneers of cricket, played the first-ever ODI game in history when they took on Australia in 1971, and the rest, as they say, is history. We have had 12 World Cups since then, and England is the latest team to win the World Cup after the West Indies, India, Australia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

England, though they have now picked up their ODI game several notches higher in the last decade, used to be a pretty ordinary side back in the day, and it is evident from their track record in ODIs.

They have featured in 779 ODIs, which is very less compared to India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and New Zealand. England has won 392 games out of those with a win percentage of 50.32, and the stats have improved a lot in recent years.

They have the highest team total in ODI history, having amassed 498 in one of the ODIs, but their batsmen have yet to score a double century in ODIs. Here in this list, we will look at the top 10 century makers for England in this format.

Most Centuries for England in ODI Cricket

PlayerInnings100sHighest Score
Joe Root16316133*
Eoin Morgan20713148
Jason Roy11012180
Marcus Trescothick12212137
Jonny Bairstow9811141*
Jos Buttler15711162*
Kevin Pietersen1239130
Graham Gooch1228142
David Gower1117158
Alex Hales676171

When we glance at the above stats featuring the top 10 most centuries from England batters when it comes to England cricket, it is visible that they are largely underwhelming compared to India, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, or even the West Indies.

Also Read: Top 10: Most Centuries for India in ODI Cricket

Some key insights from the above stats

6: Only 6 batters have scored 10 or more centuries for England in ODI cricket. They are Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Marcus Trescorthick, Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan, and current England skipper Jos Buttler.

16: Number of ODI centuries struck by the former England Test captain Joe Root in his career thus far. He has played 147 innings for England in ODI cricket and smashed 16 centuries, and he is currently leading the list of the most ODI tons for his country.

Joe Root averages a stunning 50.05, again the best among English batters who have scored over 2000 runs in ODI cricket. Known as a modern-day great, Root also has 36 half-centuries in this format, which is the second-best for any England batsman in ODI history, and the right-hander is the second-leading run-getter for the country in ODI cricket.

13: Number of ODI centuries smashed by the former England skipper Eoin Morgan, and he stands second in the all-time century-makers list for England in this format. The left-hander who led England to their maiden World Cup triumph in 2019 is the leading run-scorer for the team in this format, scoring 6957 runs in 207 innings. Apart from this, Morgan has scored some runs for Ireland as well.

2: Jason Roy and Marcus Trescorthick, both openers from different eras, have made exactly 12 ODI centuries each. While Jason Roy accomplished this in 110 innings for England, Marcus did so in 122 outings in ODIs. Another striking similarity between them is that both have an equal number of half-centuries at present, although Jason Roy is still an active player for England.

Trescorthick, the left-hander, led the century charts for England for quite a long time until Eoin Morgan and then Joe Root caught up.

180: Jason Roy’s highest score in ODI cricket, and this is also the highest-ever individual score by an England player in this format. He is followed by Alex Hales, who made 171, and the latter also finds a place in this list with 6 ODI centuries to his credit.

11: The number of centuries scored by the modern-day dynamic batters from England, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, in ODI cricket.

Buttler, the England skipper, is a great phenomenon in white-ball cricket and is easily among the best ODI wicketkeeper-batsmen currently playing the game. He averages 41.49 at a staggering strike rate of over 117 in this format, and Jonny Bairstow is not that far from being called one either. The opener has made 3634 runs at an average of close to 47 with a strike rate of 104.12. These two play a vital role for England in this format.

Graham Gooch and David Gower, both of whom are terrific red-ball players, couldn’t find the same success in the ODI format of the game as they managed to score only 8 and 7 centuries, respectively, in 100-plus innings for England. It is evident that former England players preferred Tests more than ODIs, as they did not find much success in the ODI format until the last decade and a half.

9: Number of centuries hit by the mercurial England batter Kevin Pietersen in ODI cricket. At the time of his retirement, the prolific batter was England’s leading run-scorer and had the record for most centuries in this format until he was surpassed by the others. He has scored 4440 runs in 125 innings at an average of 40.73, to go with his spectacular returns in Test match cricket.

Read Next: Elite List: 100 Test Matches for England

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