ICC World Cup 2019: Dissecting the captaincy code
Virat Kohli’s passion stands out, Eoin Morgan has shaped England’s vision well while Kane Williamson is calm
There has long been debate as to whether the captains of the best teams are indeed the best captains. The classic example was Clive Lloyd, who oversaw the development of the finest Test team of the 80s, maybe the finest Test team ever, but who was accused of merely changing the bowling on the hour, every hour—being able to rotate the four genuinely fast bowlers normally at his disposal, interspersed with the odd over of spin.
Having the best players in the world around you does make the job easier, for sure. Being able to turn to Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner or Colin Croft (and we’ve not even got to Malcolm Marshall yet, possibly the best of the lot) when you need a breakthrough does give something of a head start.
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Yet, of course, Clive was so much more than that. As a batsman he was in the top echelon and therefore able to lead from the front. When England played the West Indies in the early 80s, on those rare days when we thought that we might even have their batsmen in some trouble, Clive would come in at 5 or 6 and make the hundred that nipped that crisis in the bud.
Behind the scenes, hidden away from public view, he was the consummate politician, bringing together his men from the separate nations of the Caribbean and forming them into the most united West Indies team ever. I recall Jeff Dujon saying how when he was first selected for the team, Clive took him out for dinner and instantly made him feel a proper part of the team, not just a junior member, who might or might not make the grade. That was just instinctive and effective man management.
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I was supremely fortunate to have Ray Illingworth as my first county captain and Mike Brearley as my first England captain; very different as characters, but both with huge natural skills for managing the men in their care and both possessors of fine cricket brains. I’m only sorry that not enough of that rubbed off when I rose to captain both Leicestershire and England.
To be self-critical , whatever instinct I had for the tactical side of the game—and there is always debate about the decisions captains are seen to make out on the field for the simple reason that most situations normally have more than one or two possible solutions—where I failed to put in the time was off the field, missing opportunities for those one on one conversations with individuals that show you are aware of their form, good or bad, and are looking out for them. It is all very well giving great, maybe inspiring team talks, but the great captains are like gods, omnipresent.
In this World Cup there are some outstanding captains and, without being rude at all, some whose names will not be writ large in history, not because they are poor leaders as such but mainly because they are leading weaker teams. For instance, Gulbadin Naib, in leading a side whose major achievement—an outstanding one—is qualifying for the tournament in the first place, is unlikely to be spoken of in the same breath as Eoin Morgan or Virat Kohli. Yet he has led from the front, celebrated each of his wickets famously and come close to beating better teams, without quite getting across the line.
Unenviable job
Sarfaraz Ahmed is unlikely to be listed as one of the world’s great captains but has a job few would envy with the inconsistency of his charges and has somehow helped his team raise its game after a thrashing by England in the bilateral series that preceded the World Cup.
Dimuth Karunaratne inherited a dispirited side and has done his duty with quiet honour, for the most part having to explain away defeat, while his counterpart for Bangladesh, Mashrafe Mortaza, has at least had victories to celebrate, while doing his utmost to lead from the front as a walking medical miracle on the back of knee surgeries that would have seen a lesser man out of the frame.
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Others with good CVs, Faf du Plessis and Jason Holder, who are both impressive men with clear leadership qualities, have been let down by underperforming teams. South Africa never got going but the batting never really fired and the bowling attack was diminished by injury. Is that entirely a captain’s fault? Holder’s Windies team promised much at the start but fell away rapidly, yet we know from his leading from the front activities against England in the Caribbean earlier in the year that he can be a dynamic and successful leader.
So we come down, or up, to the captains of the 4 teams in the semi-finals. All of them are star players so have the advantage that they can set an example on the field. They all have different styles with Kane Williamson and Aaron Finch cooler and more understated in the field, yet giving the firm impression of having a strong grip on proceedings. Williamson has had to singlehandedly nudge his team to victory a couple of times and Finch has earned a lot of respect for his forthright batting at the top of Australia’s innings but more for his down to earth, firm but fair attitude to captaincy, culminating in some open and honest comments at the post match interviews.
Morgan and Kohli are more animated, the latter exceptionally so. There are times that that ultra-competitive edge that makes Kohli the man that he is can take him into a place where passion overrules judgement. His energy is very much part of what makes this Indian side the power that it is. His example has helped raise both fitness levels and fielding skills unheard of across India ten years ago. It is such a contrasting style to that of MS Dhoni, who took understatement to new levels but of course was hugely successful and remains a very influential player still.
As for Morgan, the last couple of games have given him the chance to fulfil the dream and the mission to be England’s first ever World Cup winning captain. He is, and I hope I am not being merely Anglo-centric, the best tactician of the captains and understands the one day game particularly well. He has been at the forefront of England’s revival since the debacle of the last World Cup, when he was asked to lead at the last possible moment and inherited a side he would not have chosen for himself.
He is considered a gambler, a positive in this job. For instance, he has been the man to give Adil Rashid absolute backing to bowl in a way that brings wickets while risking conceding runs and that has both won him matches and made Rashid a much better bowler.
The World Cup has tested England as a different beast compared to the bilateral series played so dominantly for the last 4 years and that has been a learning curve for him and his side but I know how respected he is in that dressing room and how determined he will be to keep the wins coming now that he has led his team so convincingly through those last two games.
The former England captain is writing a weekly column for HT for the duration of the World Cup