Ian Chappell: the sort of captain players would give their all for © Getty Images
Ian Chappell was one of the great Ashes captains, regaining the urn in
1974-75 by four Tests to one. Here, he sets out the theory behind his
captaincy
===== Dogs need not apply=======
Australia's great old legspinner Bill "Tiger' O'Reilly used to write that a well-trained collie dog could captain a cricket team.Bear in mind that Tiger's normally sound judgment was impaired by the fact that most captains are batsmen. Bill was never kindly disposed to willow-wielders, even if they were on his side. He reasoned that at some point they would be an opponent, and that entitled them to be classed as the enemy. While I shared Tiger's implied admiration for man's best friend, I didn't entirely agree with his pet theory on captaincy.
Certainly a collie dog could arrange a batting order, manipulate the bowling changes and direct fieldsmen. However, they are only a minor part of the tasks confronting a captain. Before night cricket became such a spectacularly successful part of the game, I said that �captaincy is not an 11 to six job'. A skipper must be prepared to plant some seeds (by spending time with his players after hours) if he wants to reap rewards on the field and become a respected leader. Once he acquires that status he'll well on the way to becoming a good captain.
Respect is vital to a captain. He must earn it in three categories: as a player, as a human being and finally as a leader. If a captain achieves those aims and complements them with a good knowledge of the game which he applies with common sense and a dash of daring, and he's endowed with a reasonable share of luck, he's on the way to a rating of excellent. If he also has very good players around him, then there's no stopping the guy.
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Extracts from The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket
