LONDON – English cricket team reached a milestone on 1 August becoming the first team to play their 1,000th Test match in the 142-year history of Test cricket.
England along with Australia are the pioneers of Test cricket as both countries began playing in this format of the game from 1877.
The first ever Test match was played between the two countries on March 15-19, 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the Australian city of Melbourne.
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The first ever English captain was James Lillywhite, who led the team in the first two Test matches against Australia in 1877.
Now England are playing their 1000th Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham under the captaincy of Joe Root against India.
In all, eleven teams have so far played 2,314 Test matches, including the present Test. After England, Australia have played the most Test matches (812), followed by West Indies (535), India (523), South Africa (427), New Zealand (426), Pakistan (415), Sri Lanka (274), Bangladesh (108), Zimbabwe (105).
England who earlier played 999 Tests have won 357 and lost 297 while 345 Test matches ended in draw. Their winning percentage is 35.70 percent.
