Stats: Captains who have kept as well as opened the batting in ODIs

Alec Stewart

Adam Gilchrist, despite having all the qualities that the best of the Australian captains have ever had, was never made the permanent captain of his national team, because of the school of thinking that – being a wicket-keeper and an opening batsman – it would have been too much for him to handle. There have been very few instances of a captain keeping wickets as well as opening the batting for his national team.

Former England batsman Alec Stewart, who has done so a record number of 28 times, stands at the top of the list. The only others who have made it to the double figures are Andy Flower and Gilchrist, who has, at times, filled in for the role in Ricky Ponting’s absence.

Player	Country	No. of Matches
Alec Stewart	England	28
Andy Flower	Zimbabwe	12
Adam Gilchrist	Australia	16
Morris Ouma	Kenya	6
Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	1
Tillakaratne Dilshan	Sri Lanka	1

Note: Stats updated till 30 June 2014.