Cap (sport)

In sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football. In the early days of football, the concept of each team wearing a set of matching shirts had not been universally adopted, so each side would distinguish itself from the other by wearing a specific sort of cap.

Sports cap awarded to a Perth Academy schoolboy in Scotland during the season of 1930–1931

An early illustration of the first international football match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. The practice was first approved on 10 May 1886 for association football after a proposal made by N. Lane Jackson, founder of the Corinthians:

That all players taking part for England in future international matches be presented with a white silk cap with red rose embroidered on the front. These to be termed International Caps.[1]

The act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Although in some sports physical caps may not now always be given (whether at all or for each appearance) the term "cap" for an international or other appearance has been retained as an indicator of the number of occasions on which a sportsperson has represented a team in a particular sport. Thus, a "cap" is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, for the team, is said to have been capped x times or have won x caps.

The practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded prior to a player's debut or, particularly for national teams, a commemorative cap may be awarded after a player reaches the 100th cap.[2][3]

Association football

As an example, the men's association football teams still awards physical caps. Players are awarded one cap for every match they play—unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given a single cap for the competition—with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. For example, when David Beckham made his one hundredth appearance for England, because a number of his appearances had been at World Cup and European Championship final tournaments for which he only one cap, he received only his 85th physical cap.[4] In Scotland, for many years the practice was to only present caps for appearances in the British Home Championship, meaning that several players never received one (including those in their 1958 FIFA World Cup squad); this anomaly was rectified retrospectively in the 2000s after pressure from players' families.[5][6][7]

The world record holder for the highest number of international caps as of 5 November 2010 is retired American player Kristine Lilly, who has 354 caps (between 1987 and 2010). In men's association football, the record belongs to former player Ahmed Hassan of Egypt; he surpassed Claudio Suárez with his 178th cap on 27 March 2012. The first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of England's Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England, 90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain.

FIFA rules state that any club that refuses to release a player for national team duty is barred from using the player for two matches, a rule which is intended to discourage clubs from pretending that the player is injured. However, it is a player's choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team.

Records

Some current leading holders of association football caps (as of 8 September 2019) are:

Men

Bold denotes players currently active in international football.

Women

Bold denotes players currently active in international football.

Cricket

As in association football, cricket still awards a physical cap. Caps are awarded both at international and domestic level, however the criteria for winning a cap differs between international and domestic cricket.

In international cricket, a player is awarded a cap for every appearance made. It is common for a player to be presented with their cap in a ceremony on the first morning of their maiden Test match, although a physical cap may not be presented for every occasion on which a player represents his country. International caps are numbered according to the number of players who have represented the country before. For example, cap number 50 is awarded to the fiftieth player to represent the country.

In some domestic cricket competitions, caps are also awarded. However, they are often not awarded automatically for every appearance made, rather at the discretion of the administrators of the club for whom the recipient plays. The most prevalent example of the latter system is in English county cricket, in which many First Class counties award a "county cap" to players.

Notes

^ For South Africa, current cap numbers start from their readmission to Test cricket.

Records

As of October 2019, 65 players have won 100 or more caps in Test cricket. The most capped players are:

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

Rugby union

In rugby union, 40 players have reached 100 international caps as of 27 Oct 2019. Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded. The Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps (Fijian Nicky Little is closest with 71 caps).

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

  • Richie McCaw,  New Zealand: 148 [2001 to 2015]
  • Alun Wyn Jones,  Wales: 141 [2005 to ]
  • Brian O'Driscoll,  Ireland: 141 [133 for Ireland (1999 to 2014), 8 for the British and Irish Lions (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013)]
  • George Gregan,  Australia: 139 [1994 to 2007]
  • Sergio Parisse,  Italy: 138 [2002 to 2019]
  • Gethin Jenkins,  Wales, 131: [2002-2016, 5 for the British and Irish Lions (2005, 2009, 2013)]
  • Ronan O'Gara,  Ireland: 130 [128 for Ireland (2000 to 2013), 2 for the British and Irish Lions (2001, 2005, 2009)]
  • Keven Mealamu,  New Zealand: 125 [2002 to 2015]
  • Victor Matfield,  South Africa: 122 [2001 to 2011, 2014 to 2015]
  • Jason Leonard,  England: 119 [114 for England (1990 to 2004), 5 for the British and Irish Lions (1993, 1997, 2001)]
  • Fabien Pelous,  France: 118 [1995 to 2007]
  • Stephen Moore,  Australia: 117 [2005 to ]
  • Nathan Sharpe,  Australia: 116 [2002 to 2012]
  • Paul O'Connell,  Ireland 115: [108 for Ireland (2002 to 2015), 7 for the British and Irish Lions (2005, 2009, 2013)]
  • Tony Woodcock,  New Zealand: 114 [2002 to 2015]
  • Marco Bortolami,  Italy: 111 [2001 to 2015]
  • George Smith,  Australia: 111 [2000 to 2009, 2013]
  • Philippe Sella,  France: 111 [1982 to 1995]
  • John Smit,  South Africa: 111 [2000 to 2011]
  • Stephen Jones,  Wales: 110 [104 for Wales (1998 to 2011), 6 for the British and Irish Lions (2005, 2009)]
  • Ross Ford,  Scotland: 110 [2004 to 2017]
  • Bryan Habana,  South Africa, 109: [2002 to 2015]
  • Chris Paterson,  Scotland: 109 [1999 to 2011]
  • Adam Ashley-Cooper,  Australia: 107 [2005 to 2015]
  • Jean de Villiers,  South Africa: 107 [2002 to 2015]
  • John Hayes,  Ireland: 107 [105 for Ireland (2000 to 2011), 2 for the British and Irish Lions (2005, 2009)]
  • Daniel Carter,  New Zealand: 105 [2003 to 2015]
  • Martyn Williams,  Wales: 104 [100 for Wales (1996 to 2012), 4 for the British and Irish Lions (2001, 2005)]
  • Andrea Lo Cicero,  Italy: 103 [2000 to 2013]
  • Gareth Thomas,  Wales: 103 [100 for Wales (1995 to 2007), 3 for the British and Irish Lions (2005)]
  • Mauro Bergamasco,  Italy: 102 [1998 to 2015]
  • Stephen Larkham,  Australia: 102 [1996 to 2007]
  • Percy Montgomery,  South Africa: 102 [1997 to 2008]
  • David Campese,  Australia: 101 [1982 to 1996]
  • Alessandro Troncon,  Italy: 101 [1994 to 2007]
  • Adam Jones,  Wales: 100 [95 for Wales (2002 to 2014), 5 for the British and Irish Lions (2009,2013)]
  • Mils Muliaina,  New Zealand: 100 [2003 to 2011]
  • Vasco Uva,  Portugal: 100 [2003 to 2015]
  • Ma'a Nonu,  New Zealand: 103 [2003 to 2015]
  • Sean Lamont,  Scotland: 100 [2004 to 2015]

Rugby league

In rugby league, only three players have achieved 50 Test match caps. The record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player & captain Darren Lockyer with 59 games. Former New Zealand Kiwis player & captain Ruben Wiki has 55 caps, and the current Australian Kangaroos player & captain Cameron Smith has 50 caps.

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

  • Darren Lockyer, Australia: 59 [1998 to 2011]
  • Ruben Wiki, New Zealand: 55 [1994 to 2006]
  • Cameron Smith, Australia: 50 [2006 to 2017]
  • Stacey Jones, New Zealand: 46 [1995 to 2006]
  • Gary Freeman, New Zealand: 46 [1986 to 1996]
  • Mal Meninga, Australia: 46 [1982 to 1994]
  • Stephen Kearney, New Zealand: 45 [1993 to 2004]
  • Petero Civoniceva, Australia: 44 [2001 to 2011]; Fiji: 6 [2013 to 2014]
  • Graeme Langlands, Australia: 45 [1963 to 1975]
  • Simon Mannering, New Zealand: 41 [2006 to 2016]
  • Isaac Luke, New Zealand: 40 [2008 to 2017]
  • Brad Fittler, Australia: 40 [1990 to 2001]
  • Greg Inglis, Australia: 39 [2006 to 2016]
  • Adam Blair, New Zealand: 39 [2006 to 2017]
  • Reg Gasnier, Australia: 39 [1959 to 1967]
  • Johnny Raper, Australia: 39 [1959 to 1968]
  • Johnathan Thurston, Australia: 38 [2006 to 2016]
  • Thomas Leuluai, New Zealand: 38 [2003 to 2017]
  • Nathan Cayless, New Zealand: 38 [1998 to 2008]
  • Nigel Vagana, New Zealand: 38 [1998 to 2006]; Samoa: 3 [1995, 2008]

The most capped Briton is Warrington Wolves forward Adrian Morley, who has 52 caps (30 for Great Britain, 22 for England).

References
  1. "What does the term 'Cap' mean in sport?". albionsports.wordpress.com. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. "All Blacks century-makers: What it takes to crack 100". The New Zealand Herald. 9 October 2015.
  3. "Steven Gerrard memorabilia to be exhibited at Anfield". Sky Sports. 15 May 2015.
  4. "Don't tell anyone, but this is only Beckham's 85th cap". Reuters. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  5. Paul Weaver (21 November 2005). "Tale of injustice that prompted a son to shine". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  6. Eddie Turnbull: Having a Ball, Eddie Turnbull, Martin Hannan; Random House, 2012, ISBN 9781780574684
  7. Shades: The Short Life and Tragic Death of Erich Schaedler,Colin Leslie; Black & White Publishing, 2013, ISBN 9781845027308
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