The history of England is virtually the same as that of Great Britain before the arrival of the Saxons. It begins in the prehistoric during which time Stonehenge was erected. At the height of the Roman Empire, Britannia (England and Wales) was under the rule of the Romans. Their rule lasted until about 410, at which time the Romano-British formed various independent kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxons gradually gained control of England and became the chief rulers of the land. Raids by the Vikings were frequent after about AD 800. In 1066, the Normans invaded and conquered England. There was much civil war and battles with other nations throughout the Middle Ages. During the Rennaisance, England was ruled by the Tudors. England had conquered Wales in the 12th century and was united with Scotland in the early 18th century and they became "Great Britain". In the mid 17th century England then went into its Civil War. After the Commonwealth period the monarchy was restored. After the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain ruled a worldwide empire but this has largely gone The England cricket team is the national cricket team which represents England and Wales. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and was previously governed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) since 1903.[1][2]
England along with Australia were the first team to be granted Test status on 15 March 1877 and gained full membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 15 June 1909. They also took part in the first ever One Day International (ODI) against Australia on 5 January 1971. While their first Twenty20 match occurred on 13 June 2005 with their opponents being Australia.
As of October 2007 the England team have won 301 of its 864 Test matches and are ranked second in the ICC Test Championship holding this position since February 2006. They have finished runners-up in three Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992) and are currently ranked seventh in the ICC ODI rankings
Peter Moores was given the job of Head Coach on 1 May 2007 following the resignation of Duncan Fletcher after a poor 2007 Cricket World Cup campaign. He subsequently employed Andy Flower as assistant coach.
