Welcome, welcome, welcome. Life rumbles on but I have found a recalcitrant moment to compose my second blog entry, which I hope will not descend into the kind of chaotic rant of its predecessor. Anyway to business: it would be almost arrogant of me not to devote some words to the subject of the England captaincy, in hindsight it seems strange that Vaughan’s decision to resign came as something of a surprise; his form, after all, had been abysmal, the team had hardly been setting the world on fire, all too often they would produce a stellar session, or even innings with either bat or ball, only to throw it all away with what appeared to be uninterested play. This goes to prove that England do have the ability to compete and beat the best, for let’s face it this South African side are world beaters in the making, perhaps the most likely side to finally end Australia’s reign astride the test rankings; what is most worrying from an England point of view is that all to often our players appear to lose interest in the fight before the job is completed – Pietersen, for all his undoubted talent, is by far the worst offender here, 13 and out off 5 balls when England are batting to save the game, not to mention holing out going for 6 to make his hundred when England are batting to stay in the game, any other leading test playing nation would drop him, we make him captain, go figure as our American friends would say!
Vaughan, statistically our most successful captain, should be remembered for his innovation, his positive approach to the game and his annus mirabilis in 2005 when we regained the ashes; by jumping before he was pushed he has probably ensured that he will be. As to his stated aim of regaining his test place as a specialist batsman I am less sure: there are plenty of batsmen who have a far greater claim to a test place, however it is not without precedent for a former, inspirational, captain to be reinstated and if the Pietersen experiment fails, and should Vaughan’s batting form with Yorkshire be markedly improved, who’s to say that he won’t be asked to come back to helm the ship next summer when a certain former penal colony visit to defend the ashes.
Moments such as this give an excellent opportunity for open debate concerning former greats; so, Vaughan aside, who of the former England (and the MCC touring teams of old) captains would be best placed to lead the side to victory in Thursday’s dead rubber at the Oval?
For simplicity I have chosen five former captains who I believe would be up to the task, they are, in no particular order; D.R. Jardine; C.B. Fry; J.M Brearley; Sir L Hutton; and W.G. Grace. Now before we begin I should state that I am not saying that any of the aforementioned are the best captain ever to lead an England side, nor am I hoping to argue that any of these would be better long term alternatives to Pietersen all I am stating is that, given the situation we find ourselves in now, at this moment, Monday 4th August 2008, with 2 ½ days until the final test of the summer begins, any of these five would make excellent stand-in’s to restore a little pride.
D.R. Jardine
Remembered for the so called body-line series of the early 30’s; what is oft forgot is that, despite a dip in form (so bad that he states in his series report that he offered the selectors his resignation, only to have his offer rejected) he engineered the only Australian loss of the Bradman era and in Australia too.
Why put him in charge for the 4th test? Well he was renowned as a disciplinarian, a tough competitor and a ruthless tactician. There are stories aplenty of him refusing treatment while on the field and of refusing to allow injured players off the field until a) they had finished bowling their over; and b) the team had got a certain batsman out. He’d be worth a nomination just to see how our present generation of players would react!
While he was tough, and had a burning desire to win, he was fair: his so called “body-line” or fast-leg theory tactics were 100 percent with in the rules of the day and his assertion that the attack could be tamed by disciplined batting was proved when he made his solitary test match hundred while facing the fast-leg theory attack of the West Indies in the summer after the Ashes victory.
One thing is certain: Jardine would not tolerate his players giving away their wickets, he would demand total commitment from all of his players for the duration something that one fears has been missing of late in some quarters.
C.B. Fry
England never tasted defeat while under his captaincy (admittedly this only spanned 6 test matches). He was, by all accounts, a beautiful batsman, both in style and appearance. His first class record, achieved on uncovered pitches that most modern batsmen wouldn’t consider playing on, speaks for itself – 30,886 runs at 50.22 including 94 centuries as well as taking 166 wickets at 29.34 – he would certainly add substance to the top order. He would also be useful in the England teams favourite warm up – he played Association football at international level – as well as offering entertainment to the team during rain delays with his party piece of being able to leap backwards onto a mantelpiece from a standing start. He would lead from the front and probably be around by the time that Broad, or current best batsman statistically, comes out to bat at eight.
J.M. Brearley
Three ashes series victories to his name speaks volumes, but the main reason for nominating Brearley is his man management. England have some top players available to them, that cannot be doubted, but they are fragile: Pietersen, who has the technical ability to be by far the best batsman of his generation, could benefit greatly from a wise old head; as could Bell, Anderson and Harmison; get those four playing consistent, intelligent cricket and we have ourselves a world beating side boys!
Sir L Hutton
A rock in the batting order is just what is needed, and this is what Hutton would supply; moreover as the first he broke the longstanding tradition of only appointing a ‘gentleman’ or amateur as England captain, something that is bound to endear him to the present generation of IPL millionaires in waiting.
W.G. Grace
Okay so he’s not primarily remembered as a great captain, but boy did he get runs! The first batsman to pass 100 hundreds, the most famous Cricketer in history, a man identifiable to most people throughout the old empire by his initials alone and, moreover, a man with the unique distinction of having God made in his image. I nominate W.G. for the task on the premise that his presence alone in our line-up would leave the South Africans so awe-struck that we would be all but guarantied victory. And as an added bonus his presence would assist in the intra-series mini competition that is the battle of the beards: how could we lose that honour when including a man who once, famously, had a ball pass through his beard while batting?
I do hope you have enjoyed this discourse, and I offer my apologies to all non-cricket fans amongst you - I promise to devote my dubious talents to a more inclusive subject next time.
