5 great England captains who never won an Ashes in Australia

#3 Michael Atherton

Michael Atherton

Mike Atherton was a very gutsy opener. Steve Waugh nicknamed him the ‘cockroach’ because it was very hard to dismiss him.

Atherton, who was named captain after Gooch stepped down mid-way through the 1993 Ashes, played 54 Test matches as captain – the second highest by any England captain.

But 20 of those Tests were drawn - the most drawn games under any England captain. In the 1994-95 Ashes Down Under that he led, England lost the series 3-1.

In 1997 at home, England lost narrowly 3-2, failing to regain the Ashes for the fifth consecutive time.

Under Atherton, England won only 13 out of 54 Tests, putting him on the list of one of the lowest win percentages by an England captain.