Captaincy - does it or doesn't it?

[bagapath]

some already very good, bordering on great, players manage to step into the legendary league when given the added responsibility of captaincy.

imran khan is the prime example of this breed. allan border too comes into mind. some other good players like lloyd and steve waugh touched individual greatness when they were also asked to lead the team. even ranatunga played one level above his league as a skipper.

for some players captaincy somehow doesnt make much of a difference. viv richards and ricky ponting continued to bludgeon bowlers despite leading their teams through good and bad times for long periods. (i think ponting's recent slump in standards is age related. his coming back to form or fading away may have nothing to do with whether he continues as skipper or not). i would put gavaskar and greg chappell in this category as well.

for some players it is an obvious burden that it brings down their personal standards considerably. sachin tendulkar and ian botham were lesser players when they led their teams.

so..... yes. it does affect the individual's performance considerably. in team sports, captaining a cricket team must be the most challenging job.

the net worth of a player's career will be skewed by how long the captaincy stint lasted. ian botham's bad seasons as skipper dont sully his image as much as his fading years. but steve waugh's reputation is enhanced by his success as skipper. ponting, unfortunately, is going to be remembered less fondly than he deserves to be because of his teams losing in ashes and in india. that is because waugh and ponting led their teams for many years and are remembered as australian skippers while tendulkar and botham are merely great players who played under others most of the time, especially in the last few years of their careers.

[smalishah84]

Originally Posted by salman85

It probably shouldn't be taken into account.Very naive example,but when you go through history and look at the greatest players of all time,how many of these players were great captains too?Not that many.

Doing well as a captain makes a great player look even better.But doing poorly as a captain won't make a great player look significantly poorer IMO.However,an average/good player being a great captain will probably make him look a lot better as a cricketer than he actually is.

awta

[smalishah84]

Originally Posted by bagapath

some already very good, bordering on great, players manage to step into the legendary league when given the added responsibility of captaincy.

imran khan is the prime example of this breed. allan border too comes into mind. some other good players like lloyd and steve waugh touched individual greatness when they were also asked to lead the team. even ranatunga played one level above his league as a skipper.

for some players captaincy somehow doesnt make much of a difference. viv richards and ricky ponting continued to bludgeon bowlers despite leading their teams through good and bad times for long periods. (i think ponting's recent slump in standards is age related. his coming back to form or fading away may have nothing to do with whether he continues as skipper or not). i would put gavaskar and greg chappell in this category as well.

for some players it is an obvious burden that it brings down their personal standards considerably. sachin tendulkar and ian botham were lesser players when they led their teams.

so..... yes. it does affect the individual's performance considerably. in team sports, captaining a cricket team must be the most challenging job.

the net worth of a player's career will be skewed by how long the captaincy stint lasted. ian botham's bad seasons as skipper dont sully his image as much as his fading years. but steve waugh's reputation is enhanced by his success as skipper. ponting, unfortunately, is going to be remembered less fondly than he deserves to be because of his teams losing in ashes and in india. that is because waugh and ponting led their teams for many years and are remembered as australian skippers while tendulkar and botham are merely great players who played under others most of the time, especially in the last few years of their careers.

quality post

[Daemon]

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Vaughan was a good captain yet his batting average as captain was well below his career average and miles below his average purely as a batsman.

Strauss has thrived and for a long time Ponting scored heavily before age caught up with him.

Every player is different though and people could come up with as many Botham's as they could Border's.

I wasn't referring to the captains own performances, was referring to the teams performance under that captain.

[silentstriker]

I think it can. But it's too individual. My guess is that it probably affects bowlers more since they have to be out there thinking not only about their bowling plans but field settings and other bowlers, etc (plus they're more physically spent out on the field). Whereas a batting captain has time to 'think' more while fielding. Just a guess though, no idea if it works out that way in most cases.

[Spark]

It's somewhat ironic that it's better, from a player's standpoint, to be irredeemably **** as captain than merely mediocre or poor.

[Bun]

Ponting is a terrific example. First half of his captaincy he was unstoppable as a batsman and captain. Second half things have been exactly opposite.

[Spark]

He was pretty average as a captain at the start of his captaincy (which is, of course, understandable)

[Bun]

To be fair to Sachin, he was 26 the last time he captained India, and averaged a shade over as captain which I think is not terrible considering he had captaincy stints at 22 something. I personally believe he would definitely have done a better job.

[Daemon]

Originally Posted by Bun

To be fair to Sachin, he was 26 the last time he captained India, and averaged a shade over as captain which I think is not terrible considering he had captaincy stints at 22 something. I personally believe he would definitely have done a better job.

He was pretty poor in the IPL, although T20s are completely different from tests..

[bagapath]

sachin is not a good captain by any stretch of imagination. i am not a fan of the "leading by example" school. it doesnt work in the longer run. thats why i am not a big fan of imran's captaincy as much as his exploits as a cricketer. greater captains - greater - have managed to pull rabbits out of hats despite poor personal contribution, like mark taylor and mike brearely.

[Maximus0723]

Originally Posted by Daemon

He was pretty poor in the IPL, although T20s are completely different from tests..

Hmm, I disagree (except for the last final)

[Maximus0723]

Originally Posted by bagapath

sachin is not a good captain by any stretch of imagination. i am not a fan of the "leading by example" school. it doesnt work in the longer run. thats why i am not a big fan of imran's captaincy as much as his exploits as a cricketer. greater captains - greater - have managed to pull rabbits out of hats despite poor personal contribution, like mark taylor and mike brearely.

but it DID work for Imran.