Nationalities of Test Cricketers

There have been test cricketers from 26 different nationalities. A further 18 countries have seen test cricketers born in them (or 19 if we count Nevis).

In order to establish the nationality of a cricketer, I use the "nephew" rule. I imagine the player has a brother, one year younger than him, who has done nothing special in his life. This brother has a son and (great-)grandson, who is alive today. That person's nationality determines his uncle's. By this rule, Tom Horan, who was born in Ireland but emigrated to Australia as a small boy, is an Australian, because if he had had a brother he would have also emigrated with him, but Tim Ambrose, the latest England wicketkeeper, is an Australian, as he moved to England aged 17, without his parents. Darren Pattinson was born in England but his 11-year younger brother in Australia, so he's also counted as an Australian.

These countries have had test cricketers:

1. Australia (since 1877)
   Australia played their first test in 1877. There have since been 412 Australian players on the Australian test team
   10 Australians have played their test cricket for England. Four of them played for both countries
   1 Australian plays test cricket for the West Indies
   So the number of Australian Test Cricketers is 412+11-4=419.
2. England (1877)
   There have been 597 English players on the England test team
   In addition, two Englishman played test cricket for Australia, five for South Africa, three for New Zealand, one for the West Indies, but three of those (an Australian and 2 South Africans) played for both countries.
   The total number of Englishmen who have played test cricket is 597+8=605.
3. Ireland (1879)
   Leland Hone played one test for England in 1879
   5 Irishmen have played for England, and Clement Johnson played one test for South Africa in 1896 (against Tim O'Brien)
   There have been 6 Irish test cricketers.
4. New Zealand (1880)
   Tom Groube played for Australia in 1880.
   There have been 244 Test Cricketers for New Zealand
   Add to that Tom Groube and Clarrie Grimmett (for Australia) and Andy Caddick (for England) to bring the total to 247.
5. South Africa (1889)
   There have been 292 Test Crickters for South Africa.
   9 South Africans played test cricket for England, one (Neil Johnson) for Zimbabwe, and one (Grant Elliott) for New Zealand. Kepler Wessels played for Australia and South Africa.
   This brings the total of South African test cricketers to 292+11=303.
6. Scotland (1890)
   Gregor MacGregor played 8 tests for England between 1890 and 1893
   A total of 8 Scotsmen have played for England
7. India (1896)
   Ranjitsinhji played 15 tests for England between 1896 and 1902.
   3 Indians have played their test cricket for England, one of them (Nawab of Pataudi Snr.) played for both countries.
   There have been 256 Indian test cricketers for India. . That makes 256+2=258 Indian test cricketers
8. Barbados (1928)
   George Francis bowled the first ball of a West Indian test in 1928
   There have been 76 test cricketers from Barbados in West Indian teams
9. Trinidad & Tobago (1928)
   Learie Constantine bowled the second over for the West Indies
   There have been 64 test cricketers from Trinidad in West Indian teams
   In addition Robin Singh played test cricket for India, and Sammy Guillen for New Zealand (and WI).
   There are 64+1=65 test cricketers from Trinidad
10. Jamaica (1928)
    Freddie Martin also bowled in the West Indies' first innings
    There have been 68 test cricketers from Jamaica in West Indian teams
11. Guyana (1928)
    Maurice Fernandes was the only Guyanan in the first test for the West Indies
    There have been 44 test cricketers from Guyana in West Indian teams
12. Wales (1930)
    Maurice Turnbull became the first Welshman to play for England in 1930
    A total of 14 Welshmen have played for England
13. Pakistan (1932)
    Mohammad Nissar became the first Pakistani test cricketer when he bowled the very first ball in India's very first test match in 1932
    There have been 10 Pakistani cricketers in the Indian team before partition. 3 of those also played for Pakistan later
    There have been 204 test cricketers for Pakistan. That brings the total of Pakistani cricketers to 204+7=211.
14. Zimbabwe (1935)
    Bob Crisp and Dennis Tomlinson were the first cricketers from Rhodesia to play for South Africa, in 1935
    A total of 11 Rhodesians played for South Africa before 1970, but John Traicos returned as a 45-year old in 1992 for Zimbabwe
    There have been 73 test cricketers for Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean Graeme Hick played test cricket for England.
    That makes 84 Zimbabwean test cricketers.
15. Saint Vincent (1956)
    Alphonso Roberts became the first "small islander" to play test cricket for the West Indies in 1956
    There have been 6 test cricketers from St. Vincent in West Indian teams
16. Bangladesh (1967)
    Niaz Ahmed, born in Benares but playing cricket for Dacca, played 2 tests for Pakistan in 1967 and 1969
    There have been 59 test cricketers for Bangladesh
    There are 59+1=60 Bangladeshi test cricketers
17. Dominica (1969)
    Grayson Shillingford was the first Dominican to play test cricket for the West Indies in 1969
    There have been 5 test cricketers from Dominica in West Indian teams
18. St Kitts & Nevis (1973)
    Elquemedo Willett (from Nevis) was the first test cricketer from St. Kitts & Nevis in 1973
    There have been 5 test cricketers from St. Kitts & Nevis in West Indian teams, all from Nevis
    Joey Benjamin, who played for England is the only test cricketer from St Kitts itself.
19. Antigua & Barbuda (1974)
    Andy Roberts was the first test cricketer from Antigua in 1974
    There have been 11 test cricketers from Antigua in West Indian teams
20. Sri Lanka (1982)
    There have been 114 test cricketers for Sri Lanka
21. Hong Kong (1992)
    Dermot Reeve, who was born and went to school in Hong Kong, played 3 tests for England in 1992
22. Grenada (1993)
    Junior Murray was the first test cricketer from Grenada in 1993
    There have been 4 test cricketers from Grenada in West Indian teams
23. Anguilla (2003)
    Omari Banks became the first and still the only test cricketer from Anguilla in 2003
24. St. Lucia (2007)
    Darren Sammy became the first and still the only test cricketer from St. Lucia in 2007
25. Montserrat (2008)
    Lionel Baker became the first and still the only test cricketer from Montserrat in 2008
26. Denmark (2009)
    Amjad Khan was naturalized as a Britton in order to first play for England in 2009

Apart from the 26 nationalities listed above, there have been test cricketers who were born in the following countries:

27. Bermuda (1896) - Charles Hime (1869 Bermuda) (RSA)
28. Indonesia (1896) - Frederick Cook (1870 Java, Dutch East Indies) (RSA)
29. Panama (1930) - George Headley (1909 Colon, Panama) (JAM)
30. Peru (1931) - Freddy Brown (1910 Lima, Peru) (ENG)
31. Malaysia (1932) - Lall Singh (1909, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, played for Hindus, returned to Malaysia) (IND)
32. USA (1939)
    • (1939) Bam Bam Weekes (born in Boston, USA, brought up in Jamaica with his mother, his father being Barbadian) (JAM)
    • (2002) Jehan Mubarak (1981, Washington USA) (SRI)
33. Swaziland (1949) - Fish Markham (1924 Mbabane, Swaziland) (RSA)
34. Germany (1951)
    • (1951) Donald Carr (1926 Wiesbaden, Germany) (ENG)
    • (1984) Paul Terry (1959 Osnabrück, Germany) (ENG)
35. Mozambique (1953) - David Ironside (1925 Lourenco Marques, Mozambique) (RSA)
36. Portugal (1954) - Dick Westcott (1927 Lisbon, Portugal) (RSA)
37. Italy (1958) - Ted Dexter (1935 Milan, Italy) (ENG)
38. Afghanistan (1960) - Salim Durani (1934 Kabul, Afghanistan) (IND)
39. Brazil (1969) - Ashok Gandotra (1948 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (IND)
40. Egypt (1970) - John Traicos (1947 Zagazig, Egypt, living in Rhodesia) (ZIM) (played for South Africa and Zimbabwe)
41. Zambia (1975)
    • (1975) Phil Edmonds (1951 Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia) (ENG)
    • (1986) Neal Radford (1957 Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia, educated in South Africa) (RSA - played for ENG)
    • (1995) Henry Olonga (1976 Lusaka, Zambia) (ZIM)
42. Kenya (1982)
    • (1982) Derek Pringle (1958 Nairobi, Kenya) (ENG)
    • (1983) Qasim Umar (1957 Nairobi, Kenya) (PAK)
    • (1987) Dipak Patel (1958 Nairobi, Kenya, moved to England aged 10, moved to New Zealand to qualify for test cricket) (ENG)
43. St. Kitts (1994) - Joey Benjamin (ENG) is the first test cricketer from St Kitts, if Nevis is considered a separate country.
44. Kuwait (1998)
    • (1998) Shakeel Ahmed snr (1966 Kuwait City, Kuwait) (PAK)
    • (2010) Tanvir Ahmed (1978 Kuwait City, Kuwait) (PAK)
45. Papua New Guinea (2004) Geraint Jones (1976 Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea, of Welsh parents, but lived and learned his cricket in Australia) (AUS)

One other Dane, Frederick Klokker, a young cricketer at the MCC, was a substitute fielder during the Lord's test match in May 2004.

Number of cricketers per team and per nationality: (until test 1942 = december 2009)

2618 = 417 AU + 650 EN + 309 SA +288 WI + 249 NZ + 267 IN + 205 PA + 114 SL + 74 ZI + 59 BD - 14 doubles)

team->											doubles	tot
nation	417	650	309	288	249	267	205	114	74	59	-14	2618
	412	10		1							-4	419
	2	597	5	1	3						-3	605
		5	1									6
	2	1			244							247
	1	9	292		1				1		-1	303
		8										8
		3				256					-1	258
				76								76
				64	1	1					-1	65
				68								68
				44								44
		14										14
						10	204				-3	211
		1	11						73		-1	84
				6								6
							1			59		60
				5								5
				5								5
				11								11
								114				114
		1										1
				4								4
				1								1
				1								1
				1								1
		1										1

Cricketers that played their first test match in or before 1995/96 and their last one in 2005:

1. 1944 Graham Thorpe 1993
2. 1959 Heath Streak 1993/94
3. 1998 Stuart Carlisle 1994/95
4. 2005 Courtney Browne 1994/95
5. 2017 Craig Wishart 1995/96

Cricketers that played in or before 1996/97 and their last one in 2006

1. 1845 Brian Lara 1990/91
2. 1916 Damien Martyn 1992/93
3. 2029 Nathan Astle 1995/96
4. 2061 Michael Kasprowicz 1996/97
5. 2065 Jason Gillespie 1996/97

Cricketers that played in or before 1997/98 and their last one in 2007

1. 1842 Marvan Atapattu 1990/91
2. 1851 Sanath Jayasuriya 1990/91
3. 1863 Shane Warne 1991/92
4. 1885 Inzamam-ul-Haq 1992
5. 1922 Justin Langer 1992/93
6. 1952 Glenn McGrath 1993/94
7. 2052 Shahid Nazir 1996/97
8. 2105 Shoaib Akhtar 1997/98

Cricketers that played before 1999 and their last match in 2008

1. 1836 Anil Kumble v England Manchester 1990
2. 1972 Stephen Fleming v India Hamilton 1993/94
3. 2021 Shaun Pollock v England Centurion 1995/96
4. 2042 Sourav Ganguly v England Lord's 1996
5. 2049 Brad Hogg v India Delhi 1996/97
6. 2062 Herschelle Gibbs v India Kolkata 1996/97
7. 2102 Rawl Lewis v Pakistan Peshawar 1997/98 (GRN)
8. 2109 Stuart MacGill v South Africa Adelaide 1997/98
9. 2142 Matthew Bell v India Wellington 1998/99
10. 2145 Daren Ganga v South Africa Durban 1998/99 (TRI)

cricketers that played in or before 1999/00 and their last match in 2009

1. 1970 Matthew Hayden v South Africa Johannesburg 1993/94
2. 1984 Chaminda Vaas v Pakistan Kandy 1994
3. 2082 Floyd Reifer v Sri Lanka St John's 1997 (BAR)
4. 2119 Makhaya Ntini v Sri Lanka Cape Town 1997/98
5. 2130 Andrew Flintoff v South Africa Nottingham 1998
6. 2203 Ramnaresh Sarwan v Pakistan Bridgetown 1999/00 (GUY)

Players that played in 2000 or before (last man Colin Stuart - 2239) and in 2010

1. 1811 Sachin Tendulkar v Pakistan Karachi 1989/90
2. 1892 Muttiah Muralitharan v Australia Colombo (RPS) 1992
3. 1971 Shiv Chanderpaul v England Georgetown 1993/94 (GUY)
4. 2024 Ricky Ponting v Sri Lanka Perth 1995/96
5. 2025 Jacques Kallis v England Durban 1995/96
6. 2041 Rahul Dravid v England Lord's 1996
7. 2057 VVS Laxman v South Africa Ahmedabad 1996/97
8. 2072 Daniel Vettori v England Wellington 1996/97
9. 2085 Mahela Jayawardene v India Colombo (RPS) 1997
10. 2099 Mark Boucher v Pakistan Sheikhupura 1997/98
11. 2112 Mohammad Yousuf (Yousuf Youhana) v South Africa Durban 1997/98 (named Mohammad Yousuf since 2005)
12. 2121 Harbhajan Singh v Australia Bangalore 1997/98
13. 2136 Shahid Afridi v Australia Karachi 1998/99
14. 2167 Rangana Herath v Australia Galle 1999
15. 2178 Tillakaratne Dilshan v Zimbabwe Bulawayo 1999/00
16. 2186 Mathew Sinclair v West Indies Wellington 1999/00 (1975 Katherine, Australia) (NZL)
17. 2193 Younis Khan v Sri Lanka Rawalpindi 1999/00
18. 2198 Chris Gayle v Zimbabwe Port of Spain 1999/00 (JAM)
19. 2201 Daryl Tuffey v Australia Hamilton 1999/00
20. 2205 Dilhara Fernando v Pakistan Colombo (SSC) 2000
21. 2206 Prasanna Jayawardene v Pakistan Kandy 2000
22. 2209 Kumar Sangakkara v South Africa Galle 2000
23. 2222 Zaheer Khan v Bangladesh Dhaka 2000/01
24. 2229 Chris Martin v South Africa Bloemfontein 2000/01

2618 = 417 AU + 650 EN + 309 SA +288 WI + 249 NZ + 267 IN + 205 PA + 114 SL + 74 ZI + 59 BD - 14 doubles)

Debutants in 2011

1. (1989) 418 (2619) Michael Beer (AUS)
2. (1989) 419 (2620) Usman Khawaja (AUS, born in Islamabad, Pakistan, moved to Australia as a young boy)
3. (1990) 250 (2621) Reece Young (NZL)
4. (1991) 289 (2622) Devendra Bishoo (GUY-win)
5. (1991) 206 (2623) Mohammad Salman (PAK)
6. (1992) 290 (2624) Kraigg Braithwaite (BAR-win)
7. (1993) 115 (2625) Thisara Perera (SRI)
8. (1996) 116 (2626) Lahiru Thirimanne (SRI)
9. (1997) 268 (2627) Virat Kohli (IND)
10. (1997) 269 (2628) Praveen Kumar (IND)
11. (1997) 270 (2629) Abhimav Mukund (IND)
12. (1999) 291 (2630) Kirk Edwards (BAR-win)
13. (1999) 292 (2631) Kieran Powell (NEV-win)
14. (2002) 75 (2632) Craig Ervine (ZIM)
15. (2002) 76 (2633) Kyle Jarvis (ZIM)
16. (2002) 77 (2634) Tino Mawoyo (ZIM)
17. (2002) 78 (2635) Brian Vitori (ZIM)
18. (2005) 420 (2636) Trent Copeland (AUS)
19. (2005) 421 (2637) Nathan Lyon (AUS)
20. (2006) 207 (2638) Aizaz Cheema (PAK)
21. (2006) 208 (2639) Junaid Khan (PAK)
22. (2006) 79 (2640) Greg Lamb (ZIM)
23. (2007) 422 (2641) Shaun Marsh (AUS)
24. (2007) 117 (2642) Seekkuge Prasanna (SRI)
25. (2008) 118 (2643) Shaminda Erange (SRI)
26. (2009) 119 (2644) Nuwan Pradeep (Fernando) (SRI)
27. (2010) 60 (2645) Elias Sunny (BAN)
28. (2010) 61 (2646) Nasir Hossain (BAN)
29. (2011) 120 (2647) Kaushal Silva (SRI)
30. (2012) 62 (2648) Suhrawadi Shuvo (BAN)
31. (2013) 251 (2649) Doug Bracewell (NZL)
32. (2013) 252 (2650) Dean Brownlie (AUS, born Perth played for Western Australia U-19, moved to and played test for New Zealand)
33. (2013) 80 (2651) Regis Chakabwa (ZIM)
34. (2013) 81 (2652) Njabulo Ncube (ZIM)
35. (2013) 82 (2653) Malcolm Waller (ZIM)
36. (2014) 121 (2654) Kosala Kulasekara (SRI)
37. (2015) 271 (2655) Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
38. (2015) 272 (2656) Umesh Yadav (IND)
39. (2016) 310 (2657) Imran Tahir (born in Lahore, played in PAK, moved to South Africa and played test cricket for them)
40. (2016) 311 (2658) Vernon Philander (RSA)
41. (2018) 423 (2659) Pat Cummins (AUS)
42. (2019) 273 (2660) Varun Aaron (IND)
43. (2020) 424 (2661) James Pattinson (AUS)
44. (2020) 425 (2662) Mitchell Starc (AUS)
45. (2020) 426 (2663) David Warner (AUS)
46. (2021) 253 (2664) Trent Boult (NZL)
47. (2022) 63 (2665) Nazimuddin (BAN)
48. (2025) 427 (2666) Ed Cowan (AUS)
49. (2026) 122 (2667) Dinesh Chandimal (SRI)
50. (2026) 312 (2668) Marchant de Lange (RSA)