5 England ODI captains who weren’t born in the country

England has always been a nation that has accepted professionals, especially sportspersons from all over the world. It has also provided them with a platform to showcase their talent. In cricket, there have been several instances when players from other countries settling in England for better opportunities. Even today, players from all around the globe take Kolpak routes in order to shift their base to Britain.

There have been multiple stars with the national team who weren’t born in England but did exceedingly well for them. The likes of Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes and most recently, Jofra Archer are among the many who are non-Britain born but have done really well for the team.

Moreover, there have been such captains as well who’ve been successful. Thus, here we take a look back at five England ODI captains who weren’t born in the country.

1. Eoin Morgan

It took 12 editions and 44 years for England to finally conquer and lift the World Cup title. It was under the leadership of Eoin Morgan that they etched their name on that coveted trophy. The Ireland-born left-handed batsman has been in and around international cricket for almost 13 years now. However, it was only in 2009 that Morgan made his England debut.

It was during the 2009 World T20 that he first featured for England. There have been a few hiccups on the way but he has been excellent throughout. The 32-year-old was handed over the reins of the limited-overs sides a couple of months before the 2015 World Cup. That tournament turned out to be one of the lowest points in the history of England cricket.

However, Morgan led a massive transformation in white-ball cricket and made his team a powerhouse, especially in ODI cricket. Their approach changed and they started winning games and series and the tide started to turn. All the hard work paid off when they lifted the World Cup trophy a few days back.

Thus, it was Morgan who was at the forefront of this massive change. He was there through the ups and downs and survived every storm that passed by. Thus, he will go down as one of the greatest England white-ball captains. Statistically, he has the second-highest win percentage (65.71) among all England ODI captains who have led in at least 10 games. In fact, Morgan is the only captain to have been at the helm in over 100 ODIs.

2. Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen is one of the most flamboyant England batsmen to have ever played the game. His ability to dominate and take the game to the opposition was second to none. He could, in fact, change the course of the game in the space of a few overs and that across formats.

KP was born in a city named Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. It was in his teenage years that the cricketer moved to England. He made his international debut in 2004 in an ODI game against Zimbabwe. He soon went on to make his debut in the other two formats as well. In fact, he got into the limelight very soon as he played a vital role in England’s 2005 Ashes triumph.

Within three years, he was handed over the captaincy. However, Pietersen captained just 15 games before he called it quits. He captained England in 12 ODIs and three Tests, winning five games in all. However, he continued as a player and had immense success before he was controversially axed from the team in early 2014.

3. Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain is a very popular voice behind the microphone these days, but he was also a pretty popular captain back when he was an active cricketer. His international career spanned close to 15 years and he achieved a lot of success on the field. The numbers tell a different story but Hussain was a gritty player and always found ways of scoring runs.

It was in 1999 that the Chennai-born cricketer who moved to England at a very young age was appointed as captain of the England team. He took over the reins from Alex Stewart. While his captaincy stint in Test cricket was a little up and down, he was better in ODI cricket.

His team won 28 out of the 56 ODI games where he was the captain and had four decent years before he decided to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the 2003 World Cup. Thus, he had a pretty good stint as captain and is the only Indian-born to lead England till date.

4. Andrew Strauss

Not a lot of people know that former England captain and director of cricket Andrew Strauss was not born in the country. Like Pietersen, he was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, he has played all his cricket in England making his first-class and List ‘A’ debut in the 1997-98 season.

However, he had to wait for almost six years before getting a break into the England side. He made his international debut after the 2003 World Cup against Sri Lanka in an ODI. Strauss soon made his Test debut as well and became an integral part of the English side.

In 2009, when Pietersen resigned as captain, it was Andrew Strauss who took over and did a wonderful job in keeping the team together. He led England to multiple Test series wins in that three-year period. However, his run as ODI captain, in comparison, wasn’t comparable. He has a win percentage of a tad over 45%. Strauss was also the captain of England in the 2011 World Cup.

5. Adam Hollioake

Adam Hollioake was one of the few Australian-born cricketers who represented England in international cricket. The right-handed all-rounder who was born in Melbourne played for a couple of County clubs – Essex and Surrey. He started off his career with the former but Hollioake had to wait about 3-4 years to break into the international side.

He made his ODI debut in 1996. A year later, he was in the England Test side that played the Ashes at home in 1997. However, his career lasted a mere four Test matches and 35 ODIs. But in such a short career, he managed to lead England in a few games. Between 1997 and 1999, Hollioake led England in 14 ODI games and ended up winning six of them.

The call didn’t backfire though as he certainly put up a display of some excellent leadership skills.