Captaincy Contrast

Though Pat Cummins has led Australia in one Test, his appointment is an inspired one while Joe Root continues to be short of inspiring for England

Despite the chaos caused by the Australian skipper’s Covid close contact dilemma, good captaincy will eventually be defined as “the job Pat Cummins does.”

In Imran Khan’s excellent book—a fine Pakistan leader before he became Prime Minister—he says, “A good cricket captain must understand bowling.”

Who better than Cummins—a top-class pace man—to understand bowling? Cummins is by far the most inspirational player in the Australian side and even when he was replaced as captain because of covid regulations, the team still played hard with thoughts of his reputation in mind.

Cummins acquired the appropriate nickname Post Man Pat before he was appointed captain. He is accorded this handle because he regularly delivers, often providing Australia with a wicket when it’s needed. There is a lot to like about Cummins’s appointment and he certainly delivered in his first captaincy Test with a five-wicket innings haul at the Gabba.

Will Cummins have days where it doesn’t all go exactly to plan? Too right, that is the life of a captain; any leader anywhere in the world.

Pat’s well-respected

However, Cummins will improve as a captain because that is what good leaders do; they learn from their mistakes and try to avoid making them in the future. Cummins will become a really strong leader and elicit excellent assistance because he’s well-respected.

The one question Cummins can’t answer is how many Tests he’ll miss through injury or Covid regulations. His second Test hiccup is one Cummins would prefer to have avoided but history suggests it will become almost the normal and one which you have to deal with.

Eventually, Cummins will be ranked as a good leader for all occasions and a lot will be based on his calmness and common sense thinking.

What is the opposite definition of excellent leadership? There’s a good chance a glance at a website will point to Joe Root’s captaincy.

Root is an excellent batsman but a poor captain. His entry should read, “Root is an ordinary and unlucky captain.” Rarely do you find a long term captain who is lacking in imagination but is also lucky. A fortunate skipper is usually lucky because the players believe he is some kind of miracle worker and things tend to work out because of the team’s belief.

It showed again at the Adelaide Oval that misfortune follows Root’s team around. The England bowlers beat the bat regularly but had little to show for their honest toil. However, England’s selection tolerance with mediocrity was also on view when Jos Buttler, who is far from the best ’keeper, was again chosen and made yet more inexcusable blunders.

No amount of blustering bluff at press conferences can cover up for the selection mistakes that are made by England. It’s not that Root’s team dislike him—on the contrary—it’s just that he’s taken so many poor decisions they must be thinking “oh no, not again.” Root is not an inspirational captain and this is indicated by the number of times his team works its way into a decent position but can’t finish the job.

Big scores bury England

This situation occurred again, where after conceding 425 in Brisbane, England repeated their mistakes in Adelaide to leak a further 473 for the loss of nine. Another sign of Root’s inadequacy was the number of times he put an English fieldsman in a catching position following an uppish shot going to that area.

A good captain—as Richie Benaud regularly said—is two overs ahead of the game, otherwise he’s behind in the match. A responsible leader has a team of competitors who want to play for their skipper.

Root had to find a way to be ahead of the Adelaide day-night Test if England was to surge back into the series. Unfortunately, they again let the opportunity slip with some questionable bowling and even more negative tactics. The dreaded conclusion; “Oh no, not again,” is likely to be a regular comment while Root remains in charge.

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