In his 152-Test career, James Anderson has played under eight captains, the latest of whom was Ben Stokes, who made his captaincy debut last week in Southampton against West Indies. However, Anderson has never been captain himself in his long career. In this week's Did You Know, we dig up the numbers on players who have played under the most or fewest captains, and those who have never led despite long careers. All numbers are from men's Tests only.
14 Number of captains Frank Woolley played under in his 64-Test career, the most for a player. Shivnarine Chanderpaul played under 13 (this includes his own stint as captain) and Mushtaq Ahmed, Jack Hobbs and Inzamam-ul-Haq under 12.
2 Number of captains in Mark Taylor's career of 104 Tests. He played his first 54 Tests under Allan Border and was in charge for his last 50. He is the only player to have played 100-plus Tests under only two captains. But Joe Root could join him soon: he has played 92 Tests - 53 under Alastair Cook and 39 as captain himself. Steve Waugh's 168 Tests involved only three captains - 65 under Border, 46 under Mark Taylor, and 57 Tests as captain himself. Six other players have played 100-plus Tests under only three captains: Viv Richards, Ian Healy, Graeme Smith, Michael Clarke, Clive Lloyd and David Boon.
53 Number of Tests in Merv Hughes' career, all of which were played under Border's captaincy, making it the longest career under only one captain. Another Australia player of that period, Geoff Marsh, played all his 50 Tests under Border.
2.44 George Headley played under nine captains in his 22-match career. His average of 2.44 matches per captain is the lowest among all players who have played 20-plus Tests. Among players in the last 50 years, Shahid Afridi has played 27 Tests under nine captains, which is three matches per captain - the lowest in this period among those with 20-plus Tests.
*All numbers updated till July 15, 2010
152 Tests played by James Anderson without ever captaining - the longest career for a player who has never captained in Tests. His bowling partner Stuart Broad, with 138 Tests, is third on the list. Shane Warne, who never led in 145 Tests, is second. Among non-bowlers, the most Tests played without captaining is 134, by VVS Laxman. Broad has played under five captains compared to Anderson's eight, and while Broad has captained England in 30 limited-overs games, Anderson has never led in any format in his 365-match international career.
13 Percy Sherwell played all of his 13 Tests as captain, the longest career for a player with all matches as captain. Abdul Kardar was the captain in all his 23 Tests for Pakistan after playing three Tests for India. Kepler Wessels was the captain in all his 16 Tests for South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia.
56 Number of different players Brian Lara and Graeme Smith led as captain (excluding themselves) - the highest in Test history. Border led 55 players, David Gower 53 and Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton 52 each. Wasim Akram captained eight different Pakistan captains (including those who were made captains later) - the most for a player. Gower and Angelo Mathews led seven such captains. Among players who captained in 50-plus Tests, Steve Waugh led the fewest players (27).
6 Number of players who made their debuts under Waugh's captaincy, which is the lowest among all captains who have led in 50-plus Tests. The six players to debut under Waugh were Adam Gilchrist, Scott Muller, Brett Lee, Martin Love, Brad Williams, and Nathan Bracken. Before Waugh's tenure, 26 players were handed debuts during Mark Taylor's 50 Tests as captain. After Waugh retired in 2004, 29 players made their debuts in Ricky Ponting's 77 Tests as captain. Given that Australia won 41 and lost only nine Tests under Waugh (1999 to 2004), it is hardly surprising they stuck to the same bunch of players.
33 Number of players who debuted under Border and South Africa's Herbie Taylor, the most under a captain. Herbie Taylor's captaincy stint last only 18 Tests, which means under him, on average, nearly two players made their debut per Test. During Arjuna Ranatunga's 56 Tests as Sri Lanka's captain, 31 players made their debuts, which is 0.55 debutants per match, the highest among captains who have led in 50-plus Tests.
0 Number of players who made their debuts during Anil Kumble's 14-Test captaincy career. He is the only player to lead in ten-plus Tests without introducing any new team-mates in those matches. There were only two debutants in Bishan Bedi's 22 Tests as captain.