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Cap (sport)

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The first football international, Scotland versus England with the players wearing caps

A cap is an appearance for a select team, such as a school, county or international team in sports. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap (meaning an item of headgear) 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, with the result that a team's players would often take the field in a variety of different coloured shirts, and each side would distinguish itself from the other by wearing a specific sort of cap or other headgear. An early illustration of the first international football match between England and Scotland 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.

The act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports.

Actual caps are not usually given any more (caps for friendly matches still exist, and each player gets one cap per international competition), but the term "cap" for an international or other appearance has been retained. 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.

Association football (soccer)

The world record holder for the highest number of international caps on 24 January 2006 is American Kristine Lilly, who has over 300 caps in women's association football. In men's association football, the record is held by Mohamed Al-Deayea from Saudi Arabia who has 181 caps. The first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of Wolves and England. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England, 90 of them as captain.

Records

Some current leading holders of association football caps (Women as of 26 March 2008 except for USA and Germany international players, Men as of 17 August 2007) are:

Men

See also: List of football (soccer) players with 100 or more caps § Men

Women

See also: List of football (soccer) players with 100 or more caps § Women

Totals for USA and Germany players are up to date as of 17 December 2008.

Cricket

See also: Cricket cap

In cricket, there are two types of caps. Firstly, there is the international type, as described above. Some countries also award a domestic type generally known as a "county cap". The latter system is most commonly applied in English county cricket. Most counties do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance; instead, they have to be "earned" through good performances. Indeed, one can play at the highest domestic level for several years, and have a quite significant career in first-class cricket, without ever winning a cap.

Records

The world record for the number of caps in Test cricket is held by the former Australian captain Steve Waugh who has 168. In One Day International cricket the current record holder is Sachin Tendulkar of India with 417.

See List of Test cricket records and List of ODI cricket records for further details.

Rugby league

In rugby league, this record is held by former New Zealand captain, Ruben Wiki, who has 55.

Rugby union

See also: List of rugby union Test caps leaders

In rugby union, nine players have reached 100 or more international caps (as of 1 January 2009):

None of these players is currently active at Test level. The last player in the group who played in a Test was Montgomery, who announced his international retirement immediately after his final Test appearance on 30 August 2008. Thomas is still available for national selection, but has not played in a Test since 2007.

Among players active at Test level, the lead is currently held by Brian O'Driscoll, with 93 caps for Ireland and 4 for the Lions, with George Smith of Australia just behind on 96 caps.

Notes and references

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