English captains - Poor performers?

England played the first recorded international test match. England brought cricket to many other countries but really have not had as many outstanding performers as they could have. Sure there have been some very good players to have played for England (Willis, Snow, Botham, etc.,) but take a look at their captains.

Mike Denness – One of England’s good captains, Denness played just 38 tests, which by modern day standards is hardly anything. He was said to have an array of strokes and was said to be one of the most stylish batsmen in England. Unfortunately, in the end, his average was but 38 with 4 hundreds and 7 fifties in his 45 innings which is not as satisfactory as it is made out to be.

Mike Brearley – Brearley is said to be one of England’s greatest captains, Brearley was innovative and creative and he found a place in the side probably on account of his phenomenal captaincy. His batting record is simply disappointing. He scored only 1442 runs in 66 innings at a n average of 22.88! Had he not been a good captain, his place in the side was highly questionable. What’s more, he didn’t score a single hundred at test level.

Nasser Hussain – This Chennai born English captain was a very competent skipper. He was also a very articulate one. He once walked into a press conference and said “You might remember me. I was captain of England when they were ****.” That probably was the problem. He really did not have a good side to support him. A highly and uniquely listenable commentator today, his record was also disappointing. He 5762 runs at an average of 37.18 (ODI – 30.28), wit only 14 hundreds in 171 innings.

Michael Vaughan – He has the most satisfactory record for captains in this analysis. With a test average of 42.94, he has thus far scored 4595 runs in 115 innings with 15 hundreds. But his ODI record is poor. At an average of 26.56, he 1886 runs in 84 matches with no hundreds. He is also a very good captain.

England need performing captains. In the modern day, phenomenal captaincy is not enough for a place in the side.-BS