Hard to gauge with different players and teams. Performance whilst captain vs not can be an indicator. Also win percentage, wins compared to draws and losses and other things specific to on field captaincy. In an all time side it’s difficult to displace Bradman as captain. I suppose the question being would you pick anyone to be the captain first and foremost before Bradman? Assuming the captain has to be picked first.
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Best captain in test history?
- Thread starter Jack1
- Start date
Line and Length
Cricketer Of The Year
Bradman had The Invincibles and was a ruthless captain after WWII. He hadn't seen active service and demanded higher standards than some regarded as reasonable.
There have been some wonderfully effective captains in Test history.
To name a few:
Douglas Jardine matched Bradman for ruthlessness.
Clive Lloyd effectively unified a team of individuals into an impressive unit.
Alan Border dragged his team up by the bootstraps.
Mike Brearley proved that tactics often proved better than talent.
There have been some wonderfully effective captains in Test history.
To name a few:
Douglas Jardine matched Bradman for ruthlessness.
Clive Lloyd effectively unified a team of individuals into an impressive unit.
Alan Border dragged his team up by the bootstraps.
Mike Brearley proved that tactics often proved better than talent.
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wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
As L&L has suggested, there is far more to this than simplistically looking at who has the highest percentage of wins. I'm prepared to believe that Bradman was a perfectly competent captain, but, given the talent at his disposal and state of other countries post-WW2, they probably could have included one of us as a non-batting and non-bowling captain and still have been invincible.
Ultimately it's about who added the most value to the players at his disposal, also considering the quality of sides that they were up against. Which is why I tend not to include Lloyd or Waugh in these discussions. I don't go along with the idea that WI were a rabble before Lloyd took over, and Waugh's side were so strong that anyone could have done the job. Ditto Lloyd, imo.
Ultimately it's about who added the most value to the players at his disposal, also considering the quality of sides that they were up against. Which is why I tend not to include Lloyd or Waugh in these discussions. I don't go along with the idea that WI were a rabble before Lloyd took over, and Waugh's side were so strong that anyone could have done the job. Ditto Lloyd, imo.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
NOt a general answer, but having recently rewatched highlights of the 1985 WCC, I feel it is one of the greatest exhibitions of captaincy in ODI cricket. That side had no business defeating the others in that competition and it was very shrewd tactical captaincy by Gavaskar that led us to that title.
ImpatientLime
International Regular
worst captain is more fun and you'd go well to find someone less suited or interested in the job than shiv chanderpaul
Line and Length
Cricketer Of The Year
I base my comment on the suggestion that the WI comprised players from various islands and that Lloyd molded them into a team. They weren't a rabble pre-Lloyd but they weren't as unified.
Line and Length
Cricketer Of The Year
... and Ian Botham was proof that great players don't necessarily make great captains.
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, I was exaggerating slightly. But I have long felt that Lloyd himself has not been slow to overstate the impact of his captaincy. From a purely English pov, Kanhai's side beat us just as comprehensively in 1973 as Lloyd's side did in 1976. And they had twice beaten us comfortably in the 1960s under Worrall and Sobers too. If anything, I'd argue that Worrall was the one who unified them. And Lloyd having his tenure coincide with the arrival of Richards, Greenidge, Roberts, Holding and the subsequent batch of quicks owed nothing to his captaincy skills. Did they become more unified under Lloyd? Maybe, but I don't really know what that means in a cricketing context.
Brearley's another one who's slightly over-rated imo. Obviously a very good captain from his time with Middlesex, but lucky to take over when he did; Willis stepping up several gears, Boycott returning, peak Botham, playing several sides who were weakened by WSC. And he never led England against WI of course. Similar to Illingworth actually. He also inherited some really good players, several key opponents could euphemistically be described as 'transitional' and never led his side against the best side in the world because they were banned. I actually rate Vaughan and Strauss ahead of Brearley and Illingworth as England captains.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Benaud yet. 20 years later, Howarth and Mushtaq did brilliant jobs with NZ and Pakistan respectively. More recently, obviously Border and Taylor ahead of Waugh and Ponting. As I said previously, it's about trying to identify value added rather than win percentages when your side in full of ATG players and/or the opponents aren't all that strong.
If pushed for an answer to the thread title, I'd go for Benaud.
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wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
Great shout. I had to look him up, as he was only a name to me and I knew next to nothing about him. But his captaincy record in the late 1890s and early 1900s is hugely impressive. Moving on a few years, what's your view on Warwick Armstrong as a captain? I tend to be a bit dismissive about his role in the wins immediately after WW1 as Australia's players were so obviously superior to most of the England sides. But maybe I'm doing him a disservice.
The Sean
Cricketer Of The Year
Darling was it seems a bigger deal as a captain than a batsman (fine player though he was), and apparently had a clear idea in his own mind of who his key players were. There is a story (perhaps apocryphal, but I like it) that when the team coach was boarding he would call out "is Vic Trumper here?" If the answer was yes, he would instruct the driver to proceed, apparently unconcerned as to whether the rest of the team was there or not.
As for Armstrong, he seems by all accounts to have been a natural leader of men, but despite his unparalleled winning percentage wasn't always thought of as highly as a captain as might be expected, perhaps due to the overwhelming superiority of the teams he led. I've read recollections where a number of Australian captains on either side of him - Darling and Noble before, Woodfull and Bradman after - were considered his superior.
bagapath
International Captain
Allan Border ( for creating a world class team from raw talent through sheer bloodyminded ness and discipline)
Frank Worrell ( for uniting competing island nations by instilling self respect and team spirit)
Misbah ul Haq (for leading mercurial, semi literate, fractious team members to a common goal teaching them fair play along the way)
Frank Worrell ( for uniting competing island nations by instilling self respect and team spirit)
Misbah ul Haq (for leading mercurial, semi literate, fractious team members to a common goal teaching them fair play along the way)
FWIW, the book "The Ten Greatest Test Teams" (about teams between 1948 and 1984, each based on a single series) ranks the teams' captains as follows:
1. Richie Benaud (1960-1 Aus)
2. Mike Brearley (1981 Eng)
3. Ian Chappell (1974-5 Aus)
4. Don Bradman (1948 Aus)
5. Clive Lloyd (1984 WI)
6. Frank Worrell (1963 WI)
7. Len Hutton (1953 Eng)
8. Peter May (1956 Eng)
9. Ali Bacher (1969-70 SA)
10. John Goddard (1950 WI)
1. Richie Benaud (1960-1 Aus)
2. Mike Brearley (1981 Eng)
3. Ian Chappell (1974-5 Aus)
4. Don Bradman (1948 Aus)
5. Clive Lloyd (1984 WI)
6. Frank Worrell (1963 WI)
7. Len Hutton (1953 Eng)
8. Peter May (1956 Eng)
9. Ali Bacher (1969-70 SA)
10. John Goddard (1950 WI)
JBMAC
State Captain
would agree with that list all the way. In fact the best Skipper of all time i feel would be Ritchie Benaud. Bradman skippered a team of "stars" but when they went out on the field his instruction to them was one word "SCATTER"
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
You can shortlist the best but the criteria for judging a only one is too varied. The bottomline for me to determine a captain is good is if the team moves up the totem pole under hi stewardship (from the bottom tier to middle to top to no.1).
I divide captains into Team Builders vs Tacticians.
Team builders take mediocre or underperforming sides and get them to be united outfits by nourishing the right team combo, grooming youngsters and instilling mental toughness. The best examples of this for me are Imran Khan, Allan Border, Ranatunga and maybe Ganguly. (Lesser examples are LLoyd, Misbah and Kohli who are all overrated IMO)
Tacticians are mentally astute captains who employ aggressive and innovative tactics on the field or in their team makeup or batting order that put them ahead of the opposition. The best examples of this for me are Richie Benaud, Jardine, Mark Taylor and Ian Chappell. (Lesser examples would be Stephen Fleming, Michael Vaughn and Mike Brearely)
I divide captains into Team Builders vs Tacticians.
Team builders take mediocre or underperforming sides and get them to be united outfits by nourishing the right team combo, grooming youngsters and instilling mental toughness. The best examples of this for me are Imran Khan, Allan Border, Ranatunga and maybe Ganguly. (Lesser examples are LLoyd, Misbah and Kohli who are all overrated IMO)
Tacticians are mentally astute captains who employ aggressive and innovative tactics on the field or in their team makeup or batting order that put them ahead of the opposition. The best examples of this for me are Richie Benaud, Jardine, Mark Taylor and Ian Chappell. (Lesser examples would be Stephen Fleming, Michael Vaughn and Mike Brearely)
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
Imran Khan, Mark Taylor are missing.
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
As a Pakistani fan, I rate Misbah as a good captain rather than a great captain. He transformed Pakistan into a dour and defensive side which worked well in familiar conditions in UAE but lacked spine overseas, aside from a good series in England in 2016. He did help take the team from a shambles though to something decent which is to his credit. Was a horrible LOI captain too.