Best Australian test captain of the professional era

[Daniel B]

Please judge on captaincy strength alone, not allowing for the raw talent of the playing group or the strength of the opposition, etc (you can only work with what you're given).

I've posted four choices, because let's face it, anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong.

 

[Cleavy]

I've posted four choices, because let's face it, anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong.

at least Gilchrist won a series in India... just saying.

 

[Daniel B]

at least Gilchrist won a series in India... just saying.

Yeah, I figured not to include anyone who only captained a handful of times. But I take your point.

 

[11kgm]

Border surely

 

[Power Raid]

border's steely resolve gets the nod

 

[The 747]

Taylor the best all around captain IMO. Border was great but in a drag the side along because he was great kinda way.

Waugh and Ponting not much chop, but then they didn't need to do anything different with the sides they had.

 

[The hands of stone]

1- Taylor
2- Border
3- Waugh
4- Ponting

 

[Cmarsh]

Clarke not one of the options? Did a reasonable job with pretty average cattle.

 

[The 747]

Clarke not one of the options? Did a reasonable job with pretty average cattle.

Good tactical captain, led from the front with the bat. Horrible leader. Infighting, backstabbing, and when he retired - left us with no good captaincy options.

 

[BStaff17]

Clarke not one of the options? Did a reasonable job with pretty average cattle.

Tactically great but how he managed his team mates was pathetic.

Look at watto's record under ponting compared to Clarke.

Watto felt loved from ponting and he performed strongly and his best from mid 2009 to 2011.

While under clarke he was called a cancer.

No wonder he struggled after Clarke took over as captain. How can you perform when your captain thinks your a cancer and your his deputy.

We know who the cancer was in the team and it wasn't Watto.

 

[BStaff17]

at least Gilchrist won a series in India... just saying.

Gilly's role as VC in that dominant era shouldn't be underestimated.

He made sure everyone was looked after behind the scenes and looked out for everyone when they were down and out.

Look at how popular he was with guys who were always on the peripheral when in the side Gillespie, Symonds, Martyn are a few that come to mind.

The only cricketer he had a falling out with was Michael Slater which was more Slater anyway disliking the way he got dropped in 2001.

And I think that what we know with Slater and what an a-hole he is Gilly is 300x the man Slater is.

 

[DaRick]

Mark Taylor was the most talented captain; Allan Border was the most iconic one.

Border didn't have the tactical tricks that Taylor had, and he wasn't nearly as personable, but no other modern Australian captain could galvanise a side like he could - not even Steve Waugh. Plus he lacked Taylor's complacent streak.

Clarke might actually have been the most talented tactician. He was bolder RE declarations than Taylor (West Indies 2012), got more from worse part-timers than Taylor had (the Waugh twins + Blewett > Hussey/Clarke/Warner) and didn't overbowl his star bowler the way that Taylor sometimes did with Warne, but his managerial skills left much to be desired. I don't blame him for the captaincy vacuum that emerged after his retirement though - Watson was finished and IMO wasn't much of a captain anyway, Warner would have been a PR nightmare, and none of the bowlers were suitable, so Smith was the only option.

It is hard for me to rate Clarke. It depends on how much you think his tactical ability compensates for his man-management skills, and how much you account for the relative weakness of his side compared to most of his compatriots except Paine/Smith. I'd say that he's in the same league as Waugh/Ponting. Some real highs (5-0 vs ENG 2013/14, 4-0 vs IND 2011/12, 2-1 vs SA 2013/14) and some real lows (0-4 vs IND 2012/13).

Waugh was slightly above average (impressive results, but lacked a Plan B), Ponting about average (roughly performed to his side's ability + captained Tests like he did ODI's), and Paine/Smith were below average to poor. Paine was the worst tactician; Smith was the worst man-manager.

Cummins looks a bit better than Ponting/Waugh, but he does overbowl his spinners at times.

 

[The hands of stone]

Tactically great but how he managed his team mates was pathetic.

Look at watto's record under ponting compared to Clarke.

Watto felt loved from ponting and he performed strongly and his best from mid 2009 to 2011.

While under clarke he was called a cancer.

No wonder he struggled after Clarke took over as captain. How can you perform when your captain thinks your a cancer and your his deputy.

We know who the cancer was in the team and it wasn't Watto.

Anyone who has met both of them 100% knows where/who the issue was ....

 

[Gough]

AB was a cautious skipper but I suspect a lot of that came from the early days of his captaincy where he so rarely got into a position to attack and his mindset was built around that.

 

[Millky95]

Voted AB in the poll but I would love to merge AB's people ability with Clarke's tactics. Clarke was easily the best tactically I have seen from an Australian captain.

I'd also like to give a small nod to Paine. Came into the side almost out of nowhere for the 2017/18 Ashes to be captain only 5 months later after one of the biggest scandals in Australian Cricket history. He got the public back onside, retained the Ashes in England which hadn't been done since 2001 (yes the series was a draw) and hopefully the circumstances around him stepping away doesn't tarnish his legacy. He wasn't the best tactically but was given the biggest job in the country in the worst of times and did very well, imo.

 

[The 747]

Voted AB in the poll but I would love to merge AB's people ability with Clarke's tactics. Clarke was easily the best tactically I have seen from an Australian captain.

I'd also like to give a small nod to Paine. Came into the side almost out of nowhere for the 2017/18 Ashes to be captain only 5 months later after one of the biggest scandals in Australian Cricket history. He got the public back onside, retained the Ashes in England which hadn't been done since 2001 (yes the series was a draw) and hopefully the circumstances around him stepping away doesn't tarnish his legacy. He wasn't the best tactically but was given the biggest job in the country in the worst of times and did very well, imo.

Does seem somewhat callous in the way Paine was used by CA and then tossed aside.

 

[DaRick]

My feelings about Paine are rather complicated.

He deserves a lot of credit for stepping up and stabilising the side during a very dark period but in tactical terms he outright held the side back over the long run.

Some of his decisions, both at the toss and regarding his handling of bowlers, were truly head-scratching.

 

[cricketnut14]

I'd also like to give a small nod to Paine. Came into the side almost out of nowhere for the 2017/18 Ashes to be captain only 5 months later after one of the biggest scandals in Australian Cricket history. He got the public back onside, retained the Ashes in England which hadn't been done since 2001 (yes the series was a draw) and hopefully the circumstances around him stepping away doesn't tarnish his legacy. He wasn't the best tactically but was given the biggest job in the country in the worst of times and did very well, imo.

sure paine came in at a tough time, but for the side he had, he didn't really get the results.

should never have lost at headingley and therefore would have won the ashes.

the india series at home , should never have lost in brisbane and should won in sydney instead of a draw.

all of that would've meant a showdown with india in the 2021 WTC and who knows , we could've been champs rather than NZ.

 

[DaRick]

sure paine came in at a tough time, but for the side he had, he didn't really get the results.

should never have lost at headingley and therefore would have won the ashes.

the india series at home , should never have lost in brisbane and should won in sydney instead of a draw.

all of that would've meant a showdown with india in the 2021 WTC and who knows , we could've been champs rather than NZ.

His toss calls at Lords and The Oval also put us on the back foot in those matches.

 

[Millky95]

sure paine came in at a tough time, but for the side he had, he didn't really get the results.

should never have lost at headingley and therefore would have won the ashes.

the india series at home , should never have lost in brisbane and should won in sydney instead of a draw.

all of that would've meant a showdown with india in the 2021 WTC and who knows , we could've been champs rather than NZ.

Don't disagree which is why I wouldn't have him in the poll (unlike Clarke who I would have) but he does deserve praise for the good he did

 

[The 747]

Don't disagree which is why I wouldn't have him in the poll (unlike Clarke who I would have) but he does deserve praise for the good he did

Paine did what he could. He wasn't up to it but I tend to blame our leaders who got themselves suspended for that.

 

[tombomb]

I was a bit young to have an opinion on Border but Taylor and Clarke are the clear best 2 for mine.

Waugh, Ponting, Smith, and Paine all just average or worse. Paine's hopeless captaincy all but cost us that India series a couple of years ago.

Warne never being a permanent captain will always be a shame.

 

[Plugger46]

Clarke was good tactically and took the game on but he too had to deal with some average players early.
His biggest issue was he back stabbed a lot of people and i personally found him to be a "look at me person"

Smith was probably gonna go down as a good captain who led from the front but clearly he couldn't manage his players. I don't really find the sandpapergate to be a big deal

 

[PhatBoy]

My immediate thought was Taylor but the more I think about it the more I lean towards border.

Obviously as good a leader by example as any of them. Goes without saying.
Was able to get stronger performances from players without a huge amount of obvious talent (World Cup 87, ashes 89), infused the ruthlessness that most subsequent captains all had, and I don’t think his tactical nous is fully appreciated: he was insightful enough to see Warne as the match winner he was before anyone else could spot his ability - he tossed Warne the ball to bowl Australia to victory against Sri Lanka in 1992 in a test Australia should have lost. Trusted him to get the job done against the west indies in 92-93 and he did it in Melbourne. He used Warne and May brilliantly in the 93 ashes.

He was an outstanding skipper

 

[Gough]

He was also responsible for breaking Warne Mk1, he'd never had a strike bowler before and he flogged Warnie.