The top-scoring England Test skippers on debut

07 July 2017 02:09

New England Test captain Joe Root made a superb 190 to mark his first innings as skipper against South Africa at Lord's in the first Test of the summer.

By doing so Root wrote his name into the history books by amassing the highest score by an Englishman on Test captaincy debut.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at the other five top-scoring England Test skippers on debut.

173 Alastair Cook - v Bangladesh, Chittagong 2010

Root's predecessor Cook made a fine 173 in his very first innings as England Test captain in Chittagong, as he, with help from Paul Collingwood (145) and Kevin Pietersen (99) ensured his side amassed 599 for six before he declared. Then, Graeme Swann turned the screw with five wickets in each Bangladesh innings to finish with match figures of 10 for 217, and see England to a 181-run win. Cook went on to captain the side to 24 wins in a record 59 Tests.

128 Andrew Strauss - v Pakistan, Lord's 2006

Despite making just 30 in his first innings as skipper, South Africa-born Strauss struck 128 in the second innings to mark his debut as England skipper in a run-fest at Lord's. The game ended in a draw as Pakistan closed on 214 for four chasing a target of 380 which Strauss played a major role in setting. The left-hander captained England to 24 wins in 50 Tests in charge, including two Ashes series wins.

119 Allan Lamb - v West Indies, Bridgetown 1990

Lamb only captained England for three Tests in 1990 in Graham Gooch's absence through injury, but he suffered defeats in all three of them. Lamb, another South Africa-born batsman, fired 119 in his first innings as skipper as England made 358 in response to West Indies' 446 at Bridgetown . However, he was powerless in the second innings as Curtly Ambrose tore through the tourists' batting line-up taking eight for 45 to bowl England out for 191 and hand the hosts a 164-run win.

109 Archie MacLaren - v Australia, Sydney 1897

MacLaren skippered England on 22 occasions between 1897 and 1909, but he only managed to lead the side to victory four times in that period. One of those wins came in his first Test in charge, in the first Ashes Test of the 1897-98 series in Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The opener made a fine 109, before Kumar Ranjitsinhji added 175 as England posted 551 in their first innings. His side then forced the Aussies to follow-on, before MacLaren scored 50 not out as England chased down 96 to secure a nine-wicket win.

100 Kevin Pietersen - v South Africa, Oval 2008

Taking over the captaincy from the outgoing Michael Vaughan, Pietersen put in a man-of-the-match performance on his debut as Test skipper as he scored 100 from 137 balls, to set up a fine six-wicket win. His side lost the series 2-1, having already lost the second and third Tests, but Pietersen finished as the series ' top runs-scorer with 421 runs in four Tests. However, it was to be his only win as Test captain, as he managed just two more games in charge before Strauss was handed the job on a permanent basis in 2009.

Source: PA