First Time In 148 Years: Johnathan & Alistair Campbell Become 1st Father-Son Duo To Captain Zimbabwe In Cricket History

Jonathan Campbell and Alistair Campbell became the first father-son duo to captain the Zimbabwe cricket team.

Hyderabad: In one of the rarest occurrences in Test cricket, a debutant has been given the responsibility to lead the country in a Test match.

Johnathan Campbell made his debut for Zimbabwe in a one-off Test against Ireland in Bulawayo on Thursday, 6 February and was asked to captain the side after regular skipper Craig Ervine withdrew from the one-off Test due to a family emergency. With this, Johnathan Campbell and legendary former Zimbabwe cricketer and his father Alistair Campbell became the first father-son duo to lead Zimbabwe in a Test match. They are the fourth overall father-son pair to captain the national team in Test cricket.

"Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine has withdrawn from the one-off Test against Ireland due to a family emergency. Johnathan Campbell, making his Test debut, will lead the side. A proven leader at the domestic level, Campbell brings exciting energy and has been in brilliant form," Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement on social media.

Alistair Campbell has played as many as 60 Test matches for Zimbabwe and amassed 2858 runs at an average of 27.21 with two centuries. Apart from this, Alistair also represented his country in 188 ODIs, amassing over 8,000 runs in international cricket between 1992 and 2003. Alistair led Zimbabwe in 21 Tests but managed to win only two out of them while losing 12, with 7 resulting in a draw. Those two wins have come against India and Pakistan in 1998.

Campbell also became only the second Zimbabwean cricketer to captain the Test side on debut, following Dave Houghton, who led the team in their inaugural Test against India in Harare in 1992. He also became only the third player in the last 50 years to captain on Test debut, excluding those who led their country's first-ever Test match.

The recent addition to this list before Johnathan Campbell was South Africa's Neil Brand who led the Proteas in two Test matches against New Zealand in 2024.

Johnathan Campbell had played 34 first-class matches before his Test debut, scoring 1,913 runs, including four centuries. A handy leg-spinner, he had taken 42 wickets, including a four-wicket haul.

Campbell made his T20I debut in Chattogram against Bangladesh in May 2024, scoring 45 off 24 balls. He has accumulated 123 runs in nine T20Is. He also boasts a solid List A record, with 1,372 runs in 45 matches at an average of nearly 40.

List of father-son duo to captain their countrya

• Frank Mann & George Mann
• Colin Cowdrey & Chris Cowdrey
• Lala Amarnath & Mohinder Amarnath
• A Campbell & Johnathan Campbell