Who was the best captain?

[Prad100w]

Stephen Fleming and Mark Taylor. Who do you guys think was the better captain? Mark Taylor had slightly better team than Stephen and hence more success. Although hard to make a comparison i think Stephen Fleming was the better captain.

[Richard]

Wouldn't want to say either was conclusively better. The two were required to perform vastly different roles - Taylor took over a side which was in a very strong state indeed and led it to become one of the best ever, doing so with tactical excellence and calm authority. Fleming led a side for a long time, during which he had one or two very strong combinations and a fair few quite weak ones, and a side which was constantly disrupted by injuries. He too led with tactical excellence which could help reduce the impact on the side of the shortcomings of some of the lesser players to appear under him, and despite having to endure some nonsense in his time, like Taylor he always kept his cool superbly.

All-in-all, I'd say fairly confidently that they're the two best cricket captains I've encountered, and without doubt two of the best there's ever been. One small demerit on Taylor's record is the propensity of his side to lose the odd dead-rubber Test which for all intents and purposes they should have dominated, something it's generally held in belief that he was to some extent responsible for.

[honestbharani]

Shahid Afridi... Him biting the ball is as close as any captain will ever get to really biting the bullet...