Best captain in test history?

[Red]

Border in my time watching Aus cricket.

Turned us from a rabble of 1980s clown boys into the ruthless combos that Taylor, Waugh and Ponting led in the 90s and 00s, who were arguably the greatest XIs of all time. Copped no **** and was ruthless in his pursuit.

Imran was great too in terms of unifying a disparate team.

M.Clarke was an outstanding tactician if not so much a leader of men.

 

[honestbharani]

I have never agreed that being defensive captain automatically means you are a bad captain. But the best captains are ones who can move between defensive and attacking based on the situation and do both well. From that perspective, I think Stephen Fleming and Graeme Smith are two names that stand out in my time of watching cricket.

 

[smash84]

Ian Chappell worth a mention here. Mark Taylor, Imran, Graeme Smith, Stephen Fleming too.

 

[ImpatientLime]

nasser hussain

just because nobody has mentioned him yet. took england from bottom of the test rankings to second or third I think?

beat the west indies for the first time in 30 years. won series in pakistan and sri lanka. most of that 2005 team were blooded in his side. we could even stretch things here and talk about how he was the one who told KP to pursue a career in england after he flogged nasser's side in a tour match in 99.

the most important figure in english cricket of the past 35 years imo.

 

[Spark]

Being defensive is fine, it's the captains who are slow to react to changes in the match situation or react in really cookie-cutter, thoughtless ways that show they don't have control of the situation that stand out as bad.

 

[Spikey]

it's pretty clearly Jardine

 

[The Sean]

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"

Did Bradman ever do that? I'd never heard or read of the "scatter" story being attached to anyone other than Keith Miller.

 

[Gob]

Richie was a good shout actually. Marvelous tactician as well as a leader of men.

 

[wpdavid]

nasser hussain

just because nobody has mentioned him yet. took england from bottom of the test rankings to second or third I think?

beat the west indies for the first time in 30 years. won series in pakistan and sri lanka. most of that 2005 team were blooded in his side. we could even stretch things here and talk about how he was the one who told KP to pursue a career in england after he flogged nasser's side in a tour match in 99.

the most important figure in english cricket of the past 35 years imo.

I'm never sure how to evaluate Hussain's time in charge. The big plusses were the wins in Pakistan and SL. Against that, they were outplayed at home to NZ in 1999, and this was an England side that had beaten SA 12 months previously, with Stewart as captain. And the win against WI owed much to Stewart, who was captain for the Miracle At Lord's after we'd lost the first test by an innings under Hussain. And we were as hopeless as ever against Aus, including the decision to bowl at Brisbane in 2002. And yet I'm prepared to believe that he did oversee a change in the culture of the side.

 

[Jayro]

Arjun Ranatunga also lead a previously medicore side to become a considerable power in world cricket, made enough of tactical changes that groomed few average players to metamorphosed into excellent/great ones.
Of early I read alot about Douglas Jardine,
Recent ones that i have watched- Border, Imran, Mark Taylor, Hansie, Fleming, in Odis Dhoni stood out.

 

[subshakerz]

Many of the things that make captains great are intangibles that do with man management skills and other factors. I think Imran's greatness as a captain becomes more apparent the more one reads of the transformation he did in the Pakistan dressing room. This article by Sanjay Menjrekar illustrates that well.

Immy's crowd

Sanjay Manjrekar looks back at his encounters with Imran Khan and the side he led, and the Sharjah matches of the '90s

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[honestbharani]

This article by Sanjay Menjrekar illustrates that well.

Not helping your case there.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Richie was a good shout actually. Marvelous tactician as well as a leader of men.

Marvellous

 

[Daemon]

Jadeja

 

[Line and Length]

Did Bradman ever do that? I'd never heard or read of the "scatter" story being attached to anyone other than Keith Miller.

You're quite correct. I read that was Miller's call when leading the NSW side he captained.