Ashes Most Matches Played

The Ashes dates back to 1882 when it was first played in Australia. It is generally played biennially and has varied in length, ranging from one to seven Test matches. Since 1998 there have been consistently five Test matches in the series. Cricketing greats from both the countries have made some of the highest appearances in Ashes.

Most Appearances by a Player in Ashes :

Span	Player	Matches	Runs	Wickets	Team
1890-1912	Syd Gregory	52	2193	0	Australia
1986-2003	Steve Waugh	45	3173	19	Australia
1954-1975	Colin Cowdrey	43	2433	0	England
1902-1921	Warwick Armstrong	42	2172	74	Australia
1978-1993	Allan Border	42	3222	4	Australia
1896-1912	Clem Hill	41	2660	-	Australia
1908-1930	Sir Jack Hobbs	41	3636	0	England
1899-1926	Wilfred Rhodes	41	1706	109	England
1899-1912	Victor Trumper	40	2263	2	Australia
1975-1995	Graham Gooch	39	2436	6	England

Syd Gregory of Australia holds the record of most matches played in Ashes by a player. In the span of 1890 to 1912 he played a total of 52 matches. Other than him, highest ashes matches played by a player list has famous names like Steve Waugh, Allan Border and GA Gooch.

Most Matches Played as Captain in Ashes :

Captain	Team	Matches	Won	Lost	Draw
Allan Border	Australia	28	13	6	9
Archie MacLaren	England	22	4	11	7
Don Bradman	Australia	19	11	3	5
Ricky Ponting	Australia	19	8	6	5
Joe Darling	Australia	18	5	4	9
Ian Chappell	Australia	16	7	4	5
Michael Clarke	Australia	16	7	7	2
Mark Taylor	Australia	16	9	4	3
Michael Atherton	England	15	4	9	2
Mike Brearley	England	15	11	1	3

The record of highest matches played as captain in Ashes belongs to Allan Border. He played 28 times in the span of 1985-1993, which is the most matches played as captain in Ashes. He won 13 of these matches and lost six. Eight of them ended in a draw. He is also fifth on the Ashes most matches played by a player with 42 matches.

The Ashes most matches as captain list also includes players like AC MacLaren who is second on the list with 22 matches. Sir Don Bradman and Ricky Ponting, both captained their side 19 times in the Ashes.