<P> From the mid-1980s until the late 1990s, English cricket was in decline, with the England team suffering many heavy defeats . The desperation was most clear in the "summer of four captains" in 1988, during the West Indies tour of England, when the captaincy started with Mike Gatting, who was sacked after the first Test as a result of a dalliance with a barmaid . He was initially replaced by John Emburey, who lasted just two Tests before being sacked after two consecutive defeats . Chris Cowdrey was appointed amidst accusations of nepotism on the part of chief of selectors Peter May, but sustained an injury in his only Test as captain . Finally, Graham Gooch became England's fourth captain of the summer . Unsurprisingly, England lost the five - Test series 4--0 . The following year, England faced Australia in the 1989 Ashes series . Gooch didn't remain in his post, with David Gower being brought back as captain . Gower had been an Ashes winning captain back in 1985, although some people favoured bringing back Mike Gatting who had also won the Ashes as England captain in 1986 - 1987 . In the event, Gower's captaincy return was wholly unsuccessful, the 1989 Ashes being lost 4 - 0 . Graham Gooch was reappointed captain for the subsequent tour to the West Indies and remained in the post until 1993 after the fourth Test against Australia, having failed to win a Test match that year . </P> <P> England's mixed fortunes continued under Gooch's successor Mike Atherton . Earmarked early as a future captain, England enjoyed victories over South Africa, India and New Zealand under his premiership although they continued to fare badly against the West Indies and Australia, and the lack of consistent progress led to his resignation at the end of the 1997 / 98 tour of the West Indies, which England lost 3 - 1 . Replacement Alec Stewart was sacked after less than a year in the job after another defeat in Australia and a disastrous 1999 Cricket World Cup campaign . The beginning of Nasser Hussain's captaincy saw England jeered by their own supporters after losing to New Zealand at home in 1999, but England soon started to enjoy a revival, which continued under Michael Vaughan . England were the only team undefeated in 2004, and were, as at June 2005, ranked as the second - best Test nation in the world . Later that summer they regained The Ashes from Australia, having not held them since 1989 . </P> <P> Following Vaughan's retirement, England were briefly captained by Kevin Pietersen before Andrew Strauss took on the role permanently following Pietersen's resignation . Strauss became the first captain to lead England to victory in a Test series in Australia since 1987, as well as taking them to the number one ranking in the summer of 2011 . Strauss announced his resignation and retirement following the relinquishing of the top ranking to South Africa in 2012, with One Day International captain and Strauss's deputy Alastair Cook named as the replacement . Cook became England's longest - serving captain in terms of matches, winning two home Ashes series but also overseeing heavy losses in Australia and India . He stepped down in early 2017 to be replaced by Joe Root . </P> <P> This is a list of cricketers who have captained the England cricket team for at least one Test match . It has been updated to the end of the third Test against West Indies in September 2017 . Where a player has a dagger (†) next to a Test match series in which he captained at least one Test, that denotes that player deputised for the appointed captain or was appointed by the home authority for a minor proportion in a series . The dagger classification follows that adopted by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack . </P>

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