Ponting may be a captain of a strong side, but even that takes a lot of skill. Ask any Indian captain! Besides, in India, he had an attack rubbished by many, including a few Australians on this board. Yet he won the series. He has won many a series cleanly.
For England, Vaughan was a good captain when he started, since he is more liberal. He talks to players and does what's best for them as a captain. Harmison has improved as a bowler ever since Vaughan took over, bar the SA series. It's a lot more relaxed. No doubt Hussain did a lot of good with his repressive captaincy, but they were likely to self-destruct each time, and they did, every time, in the Ashes and after.
Ganguly's great captaincy is just an image. He may look a great statesman and astute leader of men in press conferences, but he's the worst captain of a fielding side. After a good hammering from opposition batsmen, he sets bad ball fields. His bowling changes are also silly. He himself can't field for toffees! Even if you call the Indians a strong team, the lack of great players has always been exposed when needed most. Dravid is more innovative and a good captain in the Fleming mould.
Fleming is a decent captain, and very good given that the team has just a few star players, such as Astle, Cairns and Bond. He is very intelligent and can adapt quickly to different situations in different matches, but now the lack of great players is being exposed in every match against the Australians.
Pakistani captains are under-rated, since they don't last long and they are under a lot of pressure.
Shaun Pollock was the best captan for SA, and he knew what was best for his bowlers, and what they could do best. He did a rather good job given the chances, but the Australians were always a bugbear. He was unlucky to lose captaincy after the World Cup. Graeme Smith is an aggressive and temperamental captain, like Ganguly and Hussain, and is prone to making rash decisions, like bowling Pollock in the middle overs in Dhaka and opening with a left-arm seamer who is not of international class.
Lankan captains of the recent past, except Hashan, have been good, but were let down by underperforming players and were under pressure from seven jokers known as selectors.
Lara is a captain who chooses unconventional means, which may work occasionally. Another captain let down by the players, especially in fielding and bowlign extras.
Zimbabwean captains didn't stay for long, so we can't talk of them.
Khaled Mashd was a decent captain let down by his players, Khaled Mahmud didn't deserve to be in the side and the current captain isn't bad, for the Bangla side.
