Clarke captaincy in view of Wide Wally/Henry comments in Botha thread

[Red]

http://www.cricket365.com/soapbox/story/9185317/Opinion-Clarke-s-captaincy-is-just-OK

An interesting blog piece on Clarke's captaincy.

While captains obviously have some effect on tactics etc., it's interesting how when it's all said and done it probably comes down to the playing personnel. Australia sans Johnson under Clarke's captaincy in recent times has been a very different scenario to Australia bolstered by Mitch.

Agree to some extent with the sentiments in the piece that Clarke as great captain has become somewhat of a saying which is taken as gospel. Think the commentators, especially Channel Nine's really home in on this. It's interesting that when for instance he brings on a bowler from left-field and he gets a wicket they hail Clarke as a genius but when the over gets taken apart it goes without mention.

Not saying that Clarke is not a good captain, more is he that great an influence or is it that players under him and indeed Lehmann who are just as important. Captain have a role in team morale in addition to tactics but it seemed to be Boof's arrival which galvanised the team more than anything.

One could also suggest that despite the notion that Clarke is a very aggressive captain, his declaration the other day was pretty conservative.

[tricycle]

He's a very good captain on the field, imo. He's quite attacking and his declaration wasn't too negative. 140 overs should be more than enough to take 10 wickets in the fourth innings. His fields at St George's were baffling though.

But he's also the most overrated captain around. Media platitudes stick, Dhoni's midas touch lasted forever, till suddenly India lost all touch away from home. So while Pattinson getting Abbott first ball got praised by Nicholas as a good bowling change, if Cook had done that, it might have been criticised for a move that beckoned for an hour but never materialised.

Off the field is an issue though, as was seen in India.

[JGK]

Even the great captains don't get every decision right.

It is pretty clear to me that he is the best in the game at the moment.

[LeFromage]

He doesn't let the game drift. That's his biggest strength (and potentially a weakness at times) - he'll give a plan a go but is constantly refining it along the way, and ready to drop it altogether if another idea takes his fancy or it plainly isn't working.

Such chopping and changing can potentially be a bit disruptive, and I'm sure there have been times where his endless tinkering has been counterproductive, but if you compare him to the world's worst current captain, Alastair Cook, who gets given his bowling plans by the statisticians before the match begins and sticks rigidly to them right through to the end, regardless of how unsuccessful they are, I think most sides would rather a guy who thinks on the spot, improvises and adapts to the various passages of play than some clueless c*nt painting by numbers.

[G.Wood]

By getting the saffies to go out of their way not to succumb to the mind games he got the saffies to succumb to the mind games. So kudos for that.

[PeterCS]

Even the great captains don't get every decision right.

It is pretty clear to me that he is the best in the game at the moment.

Is he better than Bren Gun? (In captaincy that is - not questioning the difference in batting quality.) To me, they seem cut from the same cloth - enterprising, adventurous, inevitably occasional mistakes. The main difference to me is that Clarke has a far greater pool of talent to lead.

[PeterCS]

Also, in terms of leading by batting example, and otherwise lending calm, solidity and a degree of reliability to a notoriously wonky team, the very different Misbah ul-Haq must be worth a shout.

[lardbucket]

Clarke is leading a fair side quite well.

Misbah has glued jelly together.

[lardbucket]

(double post - new Mac)

[horace]

Miserable has my vote....Clarke and Bren are the most enterprising ...Chef is copping all the bad press but agree with Dello that he too frequently captains by numbers...I thought smith was less than enterprising and was done in the field by clarke

[Fred Nerk]

Mango McCullum is working wonders with NZ. Clarke is good but at least a two-man show with Boof (maybe other capts are the same). Smith led like a bloke who knew he was about to pack it in. Misbah ul Humbug is obv doing something right - haven't seen enough Pak cricket to know any more, but the spring will be interesting.

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