In addition to being a good player, a captain should have a wide knowledge of tactics, states the late Trevor Bailey, in his book “Trevor Bailey’s Cricket Book.” It is surprising the number of fine cricketers who have little or no appreciation of the game outside the narrow setting in their own sphere.
Bailey further adds that ideally a captain should have that almost indefinable quality which is sometimes called “leadership.” This is a vital asset if one is commanding a young and comparatively inexperienced side. But it is a very different matter attempting to inspire a mature side other than by personal example. According to him one should obtain the best results of this type of a team if they respect you as a player and like you as a person. Any attempt to treat them in the same way as an enthusiastic schoolboy eleven is fraught with danger. Indeed, Bailey says that, he feels today every captain should take an advanced psychology course. Otherwise he will be lost in trying to deal with the temperamental outbursts which have become an accepted part of modern sport. Great patience and infinite tact is needed for this delicate operation.
Bowlers react variously to treatment, except that they all lap up praise avidly. One has to be cursed to produce his best; another pleaded with on bended knee, with perhaps a business introduction as added bait; while yet another will be moved by a patriotic roll on the drums.
Bailey states that on tour captaincy is quite another matter. The captain can produce a team in the fullest. As a result England those days were a better combination abroad; and while leadership is infinitely more exacting, it is considerably more satisfying.
Bailey has had the pleasure of serving under three different captains during his five MCC tours- late Freddy Brown, late Sir Leonard Hutton and late Peter May. All three have been good captains, he adds, but entirely different in manner, approach and technique.
Len Hutton was a complex character, Bailey adds. He became captain of England because he was the finest batsman in the country and was strongly supported by the popular press, but he was only grudgingly received by many of cricket’s hierarchy. With a blaze of publicity and no experience of captaincy, he was handed the highly controversial trip to the West Indies.
Len has always been a quiet and solitary man. He is seldom to be found in a crowd, preferring to brood alone. The cares of captaincy made him retreat still further into himself, so that he became even more difficult to understand.
Typically he was determined at whatever cost to be a success as the first professional skipper. He never spared himself in this aim and it took a great deal out of his far from robust frame, both mentally and physically. It certainly hastened his retirement from the game, states Bailey. Len served a tough apprenticeship with the pre-war Yorkshire when his county was the biggest factor in English cricket. He was brought up to play hard, to give ‘nowt’ and to accept ‘Nowt.” He carried this hard uncompromising approach to the game to the task of captaincy, and, aided by an exceptionally powerful attack, and Hutton became the most successful Test skipper of all time. By nature he was a cautious leader who would gamble only on certainties. His ability to sum up and asses the weaknesses of opposition batsmen were masterly, and he regarded any looseness from his bowlers as nothing short of criminal offence. His tactics were a blend of defense and attack. He would order batsmen to be attacked until it looked as though it might cost runs----then straight back to a defensive field. Len Hutton could not stand giving anything away to the enemy concludes Bailey.
Although this book was written more than fifty years ago, modern day captains could take valuable lessons, from this articles. As I always thought psychology plays a major role in captaincy, as he states an advanced level course in that subject could do a world of good for budding captains in Sri Lanka. The uncompromising attitude of Len Hutton is another point worth taking note of. How he has to coax the bowlers to get wickets is another interesting point to keep in mind and finally win at any cost unfortunately is the “Name of the Game” these days where the “rat race’ is rampant.
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