littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yes, but even Brearley had to go in the end because he wasn't making runs. The captain needs to be sure of his place in the team.
The Ashes 2010/11
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Khawaja seems like the next fella in line. Clarke or Hussey up to three? It can't make that top order any worse anyway.
With regard to alleged 'bad grace', yeah, I criticise the Australian side a lot. This is because an awful lot of them are barely fit for Test cricket. Hughes, Smith, and Siddle for a start are utter crap, I'm still finding gabi's assertion that Siddle had given Prior a working over in the first innings bizarre.
By the same token I've willingly criticised the shot selection of English batsmen who should know better and the bowling of some of the greener members of the side, Finn in particular. I still maintain England are in better form than Australia (Hussey and - in this Test anyway - Johnson excepted) and on a dead drop-in pitch at the MCG and a pitch suited to Swann in Sydney, we'll win the series 2 or 3-1
With regard to alleged 'bad grace', yeah, I criticise the Australian side a lot. This is because an awful lot of them are barely fit for Test cricket. Hughes, Smith, and Siddle for a start are utter crap, I'm still finding gabi's assertion that Siddle had given Prior a working over in the first innings bizarre.
By the same token I've willingly criticised the shot selection of English batsmen who should know better and the bowling of some of the greener members of the side, Finn in particular. I still maintain England are in better form than Australia (Hussey and - in this Test anyway - Johnson excepted) and on a dead drop-in pitch at the MCG and a pitch suited to Swann in Sydney, we'll win the series 2 or 3-1
was it Mike Denness who actually dropped himself on an Ashes tour in 1975?
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
Is that ponting then?
A combination of both is ideal but rare. I really think that Australia have gone for the 'best player' route too easily over the last decade or so and got away with it because conservative and unimaginative captains like Waugh and Ponting have had McGrath and Warne who didn't take much captaining.
Then there's the Pakistan method of choosing the most senior player with the associated culture of resentment when someone thinks they're more deserving because they've been around longer/used to captain/come from a higher social strata.
best player? Not any more but weight of runs in the past buys him time. Best tactician? Not when he was appointed, ask Shane Warne
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Warne should have been captain. I'm not sure why he was never made captain, but it wasn't a cricketing decision.
Spinners in general are good at reading the game, I think. They have to think about their own games more than the quicks or batsmen, and that gives them a wider appreciation of tactics.
*Perhaps not Monty, though.
Idaho
blah blah blah
Definitely not.
But all national teams fall into this best player = captain trap. England did it last Ashes tour with Flintoff, and did it previously with Botham. Both were disasterous captains, as was Pietersen.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
If Ponting loses the captaincy, that will be his test career over, won't it? I can't remember an Aussie playing on after losing the captaincy. It's a different culture from England in that regard.
As far back as Kim Hughes at least, losing captaincy has equalled end of career.
As far back as Kim Hughes at least, losing captaincy has equalled end of career.
TrippyLondoner
Well-Known Member
Idaho
blah blah blah
But why make Hussey captain? Because he seems to be playing well? I don't see the logic.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Who else is there? It would have to be Hussey, I would have thought.
Because he's a batsman in form. I'm not saying he's the ideal person for the job, but he's an experienced player who's secure in the side.
TrippyLondoner
Well-Known Member
And the rest of the team will have full respect for everything he does atm.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I'm less than impressed by Strauss as a captain, tbh. He's the right choice, but he not an inspired choice.
For all they like to pretend otherwise, the Australian cricket establishment is just as po faced and hung up on appointing the right sort of chap as the English one is. Ponting renounced his laddishness and buckled down, Warne never did
Gilchrist captained the side at Headingley in 2001. Arguably lost them the Test with a generous declaration that Steve Waugh would never have given
Anyway, it'd be Clarke, he's vice captain as Gilchrist was at the time. Doesn't mean he's next in line for the permanent job and I've already said he's not necessarily 100% popular
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Much more so, I'd have thought, given that England have appointed Botham, Flintoff and Pietersen in the past. If Warne had been English, he'd have been made captain.
He's not always ideal but he has his plus points. Man management of various egos in the side seems to have gone well
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yep. That bit he's good at. He's not tactically astute, though. I can't remember ever seeing him do something and wondering 'what's he up to' only for it to prove an inspired plan. It's all pretty obvious.
But as I said before, he is the right choice at the moment.
Indeed and I was climbing the walls this morning as Finn kept dropping short to Hussey, Hussey pulled and there was nobody in front of square on the leg side. Easy runs for him and he hardly needed the donations. Similarly unimpressed with the lack of a third man but as this seems to have been almost abolished in Test cricket by everyone it's not just a Strauss thing. Having said that, I believe Steyn had Sehwag caught at third man over in Centurion yesterday.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I was disappointed by Finn at Perth. I had high hopes for him there, but he didn't get it right.
I haven't seen the highlights of yesterday yet, but a criticism I've read was giving Anderson a 7/2 offside field against Watson, meaning he daren't go too straight. Given what an lbw candidate Watson is, that was a big mistake, I think. Now I'm no cricketing genius, but it seems obvious to me that you bowl at least two or three an over at the stumps with Watson, and you set the field accordingly.
I haven't seen the highlights of yesterday yet, but a criticism I've read was giving Anderson a 7/2 offside field against Watson, meaning he daren't go too straight. Given what an lbw candidate Watson is, that was a big mistake, I think. Now I'm no cricketing genius, but it seems obvious to me that you bowl at least two or three an over at the stumps with Watson, and you set the field accordingly.
I think a captain's tactical nous can be overrated in the grand scheme of things. Much more important to have someone who maintains a good team spirit and lets the players flourish. Clever plans are nothing without bowlers keeping their line, batsmen not playing rash shots and fieldsmen holding onto catches.
For example, Vaughan will be remembered, rightly or wrongly, as the captain who out-thought Ponting in 2005, but his behaviour while injured - hanging around the changing room and insisting that the team was still his - was unfair to Strauss and Flintoff. After his return from injury his field placings became increasingly eccentric, which I interpreted as him trying to be clever for clever's sake - trying to live up to his own hype rather than responding to the situation in hand.
liquidlunch
fargonebeauty
just one little point,if Steve Waugh was so unimaginitive how come he dropped S Warne(brave move) in the West Indies for a test which they won and how come he captained our side to a world record 16 consecutive test wins in 99-00.To me S Waugh was one of the best captains Australia has ever had
One thing Ponting did in the last innings was put in a leg slip when Siddle was bowling. This seemed to be more a response to Siddle's creative approach to line for the left hander (ie he was constantly firing it down leg side) than any tactical revelation though 
While we're talking about Twatto, his referral when he was out can be seen three ways: a) he had genuinely lost his leg stump and thought it was missing; b) he really did think he'd hit the ball (mistaking his bat hitting his pad for contact with the ball) or c) he's a selfish idiot who sacrificed a vital team referral for the sake of a century. I'm going with c)
While we're talking about Twatto, his referral when he was out can be seen three ways: a) he had genuinely lost his leg stump and thought it was missing; b) he really did think he'd hit the ball (mistaking his bat hitting his pad for contact with the ball) or c) he's a selfish idiot who sacrificed a vital team referral for the sake of a century. I'm going with c)
the second part is easy - he had the greatest side in Test history playing for him. First part, well maybe it shows some creativity but seeing as Warne never forgave him for it, it maybe wasn't such a smart move from the point of view of team unity.
