Who is the best England captain since 1930?

[archie mac]

tbh my vote for Hutton is because I am aware of his results but not familiar enough to be able to weigh up his tenure in any great detail. Was the time-wasting in 1953 when Aus were trying to chase down a smallish total? I know he was also guilty of kicking the ball over the boundary to keep a non-batsman on strike at the Oval in 1938. Bloody professionals, eh? I still reckon his achievement in taking the side to victory in 1953 and especially in 1954/55 after 20 years of Aus rule was pretty special, even if he was a hard-nosed bugger. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the side in 1954/55 was pretty young, even if it was full of famous names.

Brearley in 1981 is a tricky one to evaluate, as we all know it owed more than a smidge to Botham's borderline supernatural heroics. Playing devil's advocate, how on earth did Aus score over 400 on that Leeds wicket when Brearley had Willis, Botham, Old and Dilley at his disposal? And we all know that the 1981 Aus side wasn't special: not in the batting side of things, anyway.

Hutton decided to employ a slow over rate during the 1954-55 tour. His theory was Aust could not score enough runs if they did not have enough balls to face.

The 1953 Test where Bailey bowled down the leg side would not have happened without the captain's approval.

The 400 was scored on a flat pitch and if Aust had not enforced the follow on who knows what would have happened. I think the only real start (batsman) Aust did not take was G. Chappell.

 

[Outswinger@Pace]

Wow...Three people voted for Strauss! I am very eager to listen to their line of reasoning.

 

[GIMH]

Took us from 6th to 1st in the world and I love him

 

[Jacknife]

Took us from 6th to 1st in the world and I love him

Simple innit.