In the event that Clarke's back gives out during this series and he has to retire...

[Howe_zat]

I'm sure there are far more wicketkeeping captains than bowling captains. Two more examples would be Read and Foster having had the captaincy of their counties for years.

 

[Red]

Reckon the advantages a keeper/captain has are a really good view of the field/what's happening, and an objective opinion on what's happening.

That's one of the hard things about being a bowler/captain imo, knowing when to bowl yourself, and also when to drag yourself.

Australia's only bowling captains have been- Benaud, Lindwall (1 test), Johnson, Ryder, Trumble, (2 tests), Giffen.

Of those, only Lindwall and Ryder were pace bowlers. Lindwall only filled in for one test, and Ryder captained for 5.

 

[BoyBrumby]

TBF there's been quite a lot of fast bowling allrounders (or at least bowlers with batting pretensions) who've captained for a while with varying degrees of success: Imran, Gubby Allen, Hadlee, Pollock, Grieg, Botham, Flintoff, Wasim, Kapil Dev and Sobers off the top of my head.

Not so many specialist quicks tho. Wallis and Walsh the only two I can think of who've done it regularly but there's doubtless others too.

Is there maybe still a slight hint of the class divide in operation here? Quicks are the yeoman of cricket and batsmen are more likely to be of the officer class.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Isn't Haddin nominated as number 1 candidate due to a lack of other realistic options though more than he would be the best man for the job?

 

[adub]

Reckon the advantages a keeper/captain has are a really good view of the field/what's happening, and an objective opinion on what's happening.

I always liked keeping and captaining for those reasons. You really knew how well your bowlers are going (how good their line was, how much movement they were getting, how quick it was coming through) and could see when they needed a break quicker. I also felt I had a better view of the angles for field placing etc from behind the stumps than if I was at say mid off. Also it's the best place to get in the batsman's ear.

Obvs a lot more going on at Test level but I think the Keepers Can't Captain thing is a bit of a croc. In the current side Hadds is the only real option and his NSW efforts would indicate he'd do a good job.

 

[Red]

Is there maybe still a slight hint of the class divide in operation here? Quicks are the yeoman of cricket and batsmen are more likely to be of the officer class.

Good point there. Probably wouldn't have seen many quick bowling captains in cricket's early days because they were nearly all amateurs.

 

[benchmark00]

Can't captain from fine leg.

Anyway, bowlers shouldn't be captain as they have a conflict of interest, generally leads to them bowling themselves too much or not enough.

Also better to have a batsman captain because they probably know how batsmen think and are better at picking up subtle weaknesses when they're batting, something which is hard to do when the captain is bowling or, again, sitting at fine leg.

Then there's always the fact that fast bowlers are one ball away from an injury...

 

[Jono]

Clarke plays even with no back imo.

 

[Riggins]

Have they actually said what's wrong with his back, other than it gets stiff and sore?

 

[benchmark00]

Shaggers back.

 

[adub]

Shaggers back.

well earned

 

[andyc]

Was definitely looking pretty ginger just walking around the ground on Thursday. Very stiff.

 

[Burgey]

Clarke plays even with no back imo.

You're the expert on functioning without a spine tbf.

 

[Burgey]

 

[benchmark00]

v crisp.

 

[Jono]

You're the expert on functioning without a spine tbf.

Says the bloke with a walking stick.

 

[Burgey]

You'll be pleased to know my young, attractive, female physiotherapist is very impressed with my leg strength.

 

[Riggins]

How old is young?

 

[Burgey]

Mid 20s. I was very happy when she diagnosed the cause of my lower back and hamstring tightness as some small muscles in the hip/ glute area. Her ministrations, however, cause certain other muscles around the pelvic region to swell.

 

[Burgey]

I should say she didn't seem all that impressed with those muscle groups