Is Clarke Australia's greatest tactical captain ever?

[Daemon]

Well not long ago his side was pummelled in India and lost 3-0 in England and now off the back of one series he is possibly the greatest Aussie captain ever. The SA series coming up is a good one to see how good he is as his captaincy will be tested by a very strong side.

I'm not going to pretend I know how to judge how good a captain is, but surely there's more to it then just scorelines?

 

[Jono]

I'm not going to pretend I know how to judge how good a captain is, but surely there's more to it then just scorelines?

SilentStriker circa 2006-07 to disagree.

 

[Furball]

Well not long ago his side was pummelled in India and lost 3-0 in England and now off the back of one series he is possibly the greatest Aussie captain ever. The SA series coming up is a good one to see how good he is as his captaincy will be tested by a very strong side.

During said series Clarke's captaincy was excellent. Australia lost that series 3-0 because their batsmen are crap, and because Ian Bell had the series of his life.

 

[fredfertang]

Of those I've seen Tubs shades it, though I'd say Clarke pushes Chappelli down to third, but then I always thought Chappelli was a **** anyway

I don't recall Richie but looking at what he achieved with the players he had at his disposal he must have been pretty special

 

[Son Of Coco]

Well not long ago his side was pummelled in India and lost 3-0 in England and now off the back of one series he is possibly the greatest Aussie captain ever. The SA series coming up is a good one to see how good he is as his captaincy will be tested by a very strong side.

Clarke's captaincy was mentioned in the UK, and commented on by Flower and Cook ("There's more to captaincy than funky fields" etc etc). People got a bit narky because Cook's captaincy was being compared unfavourably to Clarke's then, and now the chickens have come home to roost.

 

[hendrix]

During said series Clarke's captaincy was excellent. Australia lost that series 3-0 because their batsmen are crap, and because Ian Bell had the series of his life.

I don't disagree with why Australia lost the series, but I really don't think Clarke's captaincy was much of a string to their feather. When you're a losing captain you generally go searching for something different (unless you're Alistair Cook). Clarke made a few unconventional choices which paid off, but had everything been going swimmingly for him, he wouldn't have needed to.

Clarke now has 2 amazing strike bowlers (Johnson and Harris), the most reliable third seamer the world has seen for a long time (Peter Siddle), a spinner who's taking wickets, and a miserly all rounder who gets movement with the old ball.
Add in a bit of legspin from Smith and he hasn't needed to go searching this series.
Largely conventional fields with the odd short ball trap doesn't seem like pulling a rabbit out of the hat to me. After that all you're doing is deciding how long to leave the slips in (which he hasn't needed to do since there've barely been any partnerships of note).

 

[Furball]

I don't disagree with why Australia lost the series, but I really don't think Clarke's captaincy was much of a string to their feather. When you're a losing captain you generally go searching for something different (unless you're Alistair Cook). Clarke made a few unconventional choices which paid off, but had everything been going swimmingly for him, he wouldn't have needed to.

Clarke now has 2 amazing strike bowlers (Johnson and Harris), the most reliable third seamer the world has seen for a long time (Peter Siddle), a spinner who's taking wickets, and a miserly all rounder who gets movement with the old ball.
Add in a bit of legspin from Smith and he hasn't needed to go searching this series.
Largely conventional fields with the odd short ball trap doesn't seem like pulling a rabbit out of the hat to me. After that all you're doing is deciding how long to leave the slips in (which he hasn't needed to do since there've barely been any partnerships of note).

I completely disagree.

Australia in the field were generally excellent, whether it was Clarke pulling Pattinson off after an over and giving the ball to Watson to get the ball coming back into Cook, or just generally excellent field placement to deny singles and keep the pressure on batsmen (I lost count of the number of times England's batsmen played good, well timed shots straight to a fielder), Clarke in the field was excellent, which showed in England's innings scores.

 

[hendrix]

I completely disagree.

Australia in the field were generally excellent, whether it was Clarke pulling Pattinson off after an over and giving the ball to Watson to get the ball coming back into Cook, or just generally excellent field placement to deny singles and keep the pressure on batsmen (I lost count of the number of times England's batsmen played good, well timed shots straight to a fielder), Clarke in the field was excellent, which showed in England's innings scores.

England hadn't scored any runs in the 5 previous tests against NZ though. Their batting at that stage was just no longer that good.

 

[Jassy]

Hitting a well timed shot to the fielder could also indicate an inability to consistently find the gaps though.

 

[Slifer]

Beating an England team already stuggling for success isn't very impressive imo. Commendable, but I'm with those who rather wait and see how he does particularly in RSA and 'other' away series. As mentioned b4 it was not too long ago that Oz were mauled in India and beaten in Eng (admittedly the series was closer th 3-0)

 

[L Trumper]

For everyone waiting to see the RSA tour, AUS already toured SA under Clarke before and drew 1-1. He was ****ing brilliant then. They bounced back from 47 a.o. too.

 

[social]

Reckon Taylor was overrated myself as there were plenty of times when his "tactics" involved putting Warne on at one end and simply letting him bowl and bowl and bowl.

Fortunately, Warne was arguably the greatest spinner ever so more often than not it eventually paid dividends but there were times when it didn't and the match was crying out for a change

 

[Jono]

For everyone waiting to see the RSA tour, AUS already toured SA under Clarke before and drew 1-1. He was ****ing brilliant then. They bounced back from 47 a.o. too.

Indeed.

Its as if people think Clarke only became captain in 2013 or something

 

[morgieb]

Indeed.

Its as if people think Clarke only became captain in 2013 or something

From memory Punter and Huss did **** all that series too, so it's not like the team was that much better than it is now.

 

[Top_Cat]

Reckon Taylor was overrated myself as there were plenty of times when his "tactics" involved putting Warne on at one end and simply letting him bowl and bowl and bowl.

Fortunately, Warne was arguably the greatest spinner ever so more often than not it eventually paid dividends but there were times when it didn't and the match was crying out for a change

Yeah, agree with this. There was also the Aussie tendency to lose dead rubbers, Tubbs not so good at putting the boot to the throat in those situations.

 

[Slifer]

So let's see, Tubby who wrestled back world cricket supremacy from WI and maintaining it vs superior oppostion is overrated but Clarke who wins one series vs an English team who shouldve lost to NZ isn't? Wow!!!

 

[Top_Cat]

FFS, who said that? Bugger off.

 

[Slifer]

If u could read, you'd see that some1 did say Taylor was overrated, there fore u can go choke yourself !!!

 

[benchmark00]

lol

 

[Burgey]

Tubby Taylor the best Aussie tactician that I have seen. Was immense

Tubby was a fine tactician, but it helped him, and Waugh for that matter, to have all bases covered with his attack.