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Noted Australian journalist Malcolm Knox has selected a topical subject for his new cricket book, ‘The Captains’. It was interesting reading the 440-page, well-researched book while watching the Tests on television, as current captain Ricky Ponting struggled with the bat and the calls to sack him grew louder.
To me it was a case of déjà-vu, having witnessed Bill Lawry’s sacking in 1971 and Kim Hughes’ teary farewell in Brisbane after Australia’s disastrous series against the mighty Windies in 1984.
‘The Captains’ is sub-titled: “The story behind Australia’s second most important job.” With both Julia Gillard and Ponting struggling with selection policies and run-making, their jobs appear shaky. Both have problems. Just as Julia has Tony Abbott as her nemesis, Ricky has Andrew Strauss and the media after his blood.
The book faithfully profiles Australia’s 42 Test captains; from bearded Dave Gregory in 1877 to the gum-chewing Ponting, recounting their highs and lows. The author acknowledges Ray Robinson’s ‘On Top Down Under’, published in 1975, drawing candid pen pictures of Oz captains up to Ian Chappell, with Gideon Haigh updating it in 1996.
But Knox’s approach is different. Robinson and Haigh had coloured the captains’ stories with facts and anecdotes, giving each captain a chapter. Knox puts the story of Australian cricket first and tells it through the prism of captaincy: the office and the men who have occupied it. To quote the author, “This approach tries to enjoin Sir Donald Bradman’s words that the captains, like all players, have been stewards of a greater history.”
There are witty sentences. Here is the description of the first captain Dave Gregory: “Handsome and headstrong; financial genius but no diplomat; a lion-heart and a spoilt brat; a colonial establishment figure but a rebel.”
From larrikins to inspirational leaders the book traces high achievements – dramatic as well as statistical. But it does not hide intrigue, controversies and scandals under the carpet.
Did you know that the young Don Bradman made an effort to avoid captaincy? Knox writes: “Until 1935, Bradman wanted to be left alone to score runs…. As the Depression deepened Bradman batted like the hungriest man on earth. There was something about Bradman that some players in the 1930s did not like… They respected him but did not love him… This changed after World War II when he got his ideal team of youngsters who would follow him blindly.”
Also, did you know that the Australian Cricket Board applied a gag to Richie Benaud who protested directly to Bradman? The Board felt that Benaud was too friendly with journalists and invited them into the changing room. After a long and successful reign Benaud gave up the captaincy to Bob Simpson. This makes interesting reading.
The “assassination” of Lawry is described in detail. The success story of Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh is something we all share, having lived in that era.
But it is the sacking of Lawry and forced retirement of Kim Hughes that makes riveting reading. On the roller-skating captaincy ride of Ponting, Knox writes that he “lost the Ashes in 2005, regained them in 2006-07, but lost them in 2009, when he joined [Billy] Murdoch as the only captains to lose the Ashes in England twice.”
On the stability of Australian captains, the author makes a point that Australia had 42 captains in 133 years whereas England had almost twice as many (79). According to him the best Australian captains were Murdoch, Joe Darling, Bill Woodfull, Bradman, Lindsay Hassett, Benaud, Simpson, Ian Chappell, Border, Taylor and Steve Waugh. So, Ricky misses out!
The book is enriched with eight pages of statistics of the captains. Significantly, Ponting has won most Tests for Australia (47). This contradiction could start a debate.
Of the three books on Australian captains, the late Ray Robinson’s ‘On Top Down Under’ wins hands down with no second in sight.
Finally, Knox is hesitant on the assessment of Ponting as captain. He explains: “By dodging the debate over Ponting, I am happy to accuse myself of copping out. For a writer in this predicament [the book was published before the current Ashes], it’s better to be a coward than a fool.
“But it’s fair to say, in 2010, that Ponting’s captaincy has suffered the fate of all those who followed giants. He seems to lack the instinctiveness of a Taylor and the indomitability of a Waugh, and will never attain the popular affection of a Border.”
And so say all of us!