The best captain I played under was John Rogers at UNSW Cricket Club in the 1970s.
John was such a good captain, and it was because he had these attributes.
1. Good captains need to be good man managers. If they have this skill, they can be very successful, Mike Brearley for example. Talented players who weren’t good man managers have often not been successful captains.
2. Good captains have total control of the team and they “run the show”. The coach and teammates might offer a view off the field, but the captain has total charge on the field. They may occasionally ask for some advice from his vice-captain on the field. Nothing looks worse than the captain talking to two or three other players and his bowler as they talk about field placements at the start of a new over. I’ll never forget seeing Bill Lawry in conference with Froggy Thomson, Geoff Dymock and Tony Dell in 1971. My head was spinning.
3. Good captains respect and communicate with all players in a positive manner.
4. Good captains realise every player has their own idiosyncrasies and supports all of them. Now I am old and cynical, but I still marvel at the outstanding job Mark Taylor did with so many high maintenance players in his team.
5. Good captains… just like good players… do everything they need to do to win. Sometimes they need to be very attacking, sometimes very defensive. You should always play according to the teams needs for success.
John Rogers had all these attributes and was incredibly inspiring and caring at the same time. He turned 80 this year and at his birthday party were two other outstanding captains John Benaud and Mick Pawley. Listening to these three in conversation was like listening to Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin in discussion in 1945.
