Captaincy 101

[Tigers_eye]

A simple interview. I am going to put parts of it here. Our captains have no clue. Starting from Bashar all the way to now. Our captains get a free ride and a paycheck. That is what it looks like from the outside.

You will know who Ali Bacher is.

What aspects of modern captaincy do you question?

First of all, by and large, fast bowlers bowl without a third man now. I remember watching a Test match in South Africa in the 1990s. It was the second day and the opposition got almost 400 runs. Peter Pollock, then a selector, was watching the game and he went to the scorer and found out that had there been a third man to the quicks all day, that fielder might have saved 80 runs.

In 1998, when South Africa toured England, we tried to get some former South African players who had played county cricket to talk to the team. Clive Rice, who captained Richard Hadlee at Nottinghamshire, said that when Hadlee came on to bowl, he would tell Rice: "I'll have a third man, a straight mid-off, you can do the rest."

When the quicks are bowling, there are many overs where captains don't apply pressure, particularly when a new batsman comes in. The field hardly changes. Mid-off not brought to silly mid-off; third man, if there is one, stays down on the fence rather than being brought in to slip.

When I changed the field, it was always to put pressure on the batsman. Everybody is nervous, although with some it might not show, but they are. After they've scored 20 or 30 runs, they start getting back to normal.

Secondly, why is it that left-arm fast bowlers bowl without leg-side catchers? Even with the new ball, even when they're swinging it in mostly, they still have a predominantly off-side field. Former great Australian left-arm pace bowler Alan Davidson bowled with a leg slip, leg gully and a bat pad. He would bowl an off-and-middle line and swing the ball in late.

Thirdly, the way captains set the field to tailenders. I remember Mark Waugh batting against South Africa, and again, when England played South Africa in 1998. Both times a recognized batsman and a tailender just hung in there. When the rabbit faced, the field was pretty much the same. That was two games South Africa should have won, but at no time did the captain put those batsmen under pressure.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/....-born-captain

There is so much more. Great read. Old people do know a thing or two.

[aklemalp]

Oh yeah, I think I know who Ali Bacher is. South African. At one time President of the ICC? Or CSA?