The burden of captaincy

Is there a more intense or mentally draining appointment in Australian sport than the position of Australian cricket captain?

After the past few months, Steve Smith might agree. It has been a forgettable couple of months for the fortunes of the Australian cricket team, and Smith has shouldered the burden of failure alone. The 3-0 Test defeat in Sri Lanka, followed by the 5-0 drubbing in the One-Day series in South Africa has the Australian team reeling ahead of the summer of cricket.

If he has not already, perhaps, Smith should look at history and the various challenges some of his predecessors faced at stages during their captaincy and how they fought their way out of it.

Allan Border inherited the captaincy of a team when perhaps it was at its lowest ebb in the history of Australian cricket. His predecessor Kim Hughes had just retired in an emotional press conference after an all too familiar thrashing by the ruthless West Indies team. There would be no respite for Border over the next couple of seasons as drubbings became the norm for the Australian side.

A humiliating home Ashes defeat to England in the summer of 1986-1987 was perhaps Borders lowest moment. However, Border was a fighter, evident by the fact his batting never really declined and that he maintained a healthy average against perhaps some of the best bowling attacks the game has ever seen.

Slowly but surely with the assistance of coach Bob Simpson, Border began constructing and mentoring a side that would experience first the achievement of a maiden World Cup win and then a comprehensive thrashing of the old enemy on their home turf in consecutive Ashes series.

Mark Taylor then ascended to the job and inherited a team on the rise. His first few years at the helm were a dream. He steered the side to a historic defeat of the Wests Indies in a Test series, and Ashes dominance became the norm as the team developed a winning mentality.

However, along with the way Taylor suffered perhaps the most dramatic personal form slump in regards to his batting in the history of Australia Captains. To put it in context, Taylor went 21 consecutive innings without even passing 50.

That form slump resulted in what would have been deafening and brutal calls for his sacking from all stakeholders in Australian cricket, except the selectors.

Taylor never let the form slump get the better of him, well not publicly anyway. He remained positive and upbeat, and at times his captaincy was creative and innovative. Throwing the ball to Ricky Ponting in a Test match in the hope of buying a wicket and Ponting responding is a personal highlight. History says Taylor eventually fought his way out of the form slump and eventually finished his career with the then equal high Test match score for an Australian.

Steve Waugh acquired a successful team from Taylor and turned them into a ruthless squad that rivalled the mighty Wests Indies team of the previous generation.

A record 16 consecutive Test victories followed, and the Australian side swept all before them with a World Cup triumph and crushing Ashes beltings. However, there were some trying times for Waugh during his tenure.

In the early stages of the 1999 World Cup, Australia suffered some uncharacteristic and worrying defeats. Selectors made it known to Waugh that anything less than World Cup glory could result in the One-Day leadership taking a different direction. Waugh responded with a match-winning century in the vital final pool game against South Africa where an Australian defeat would have resulted in an early plane ride home. On the back of that inspired Captains knock, Australia turned around their tournament and went on to claim the ultimate prize.

Ricky Ponting inherited a once great team in steady decline as a host of champion players began to retire.

In one instance Justin Langer, Glen McGrath and Shane Warne left all at once. This meant that unlike his predecessors, Ponting did not have the luxury of throwing the ball to once in a generation bowlers when things got tough.

There was the humiliation of consecutive Ashes defeats on England soil and the unthinkable, a comprehensive Ashes defeat on home soil.

Ponting like Border though was a fighter, he maintained a strong batting average during the periods of carnage, even though the cracks in the Australian batting line-up and capitulations that would go on to haunt both Michael Clarke and Smith were starting to appear.

Ponting never wavered in this difficult period, and perhaps one of his legacies to Australian cricket was his nurturing of the next generation of cricketers. Mitchell Johnson’s inspired Ashes series in 2013-2014 is perhaps as much owed to Ponting as anyone else. Ponting recognised early Johnson was a special but fragile talent. Ponting responded by always believing in and publicly supporting Johnson and developing and harnessing his potential.

It’s perhaps too early to assess Michael Clarke’s captaincy and the difficulties he faced and may be better left to a time when the dust has settled. Although it must be said like Smith is experiencing now, Clarke certainly knew what it was like to Captain one of the most fragile batting line-ups in the history of Australian cricket.

It will be a difficult summer for Smith, the visiting teams of Pakistan and South Africa are not the cannon fodder presented in previous seasons.

However, if Smith takes the glass half full approach, there are positives to be found moving forward.

Mitchell Starc is set to be fit for the start of the international fixtures and in partnership with Josh Hazlewood, Smith has a world class bowling attack that is capable of applying consistent pressure.

The Australian batting line-up usually performs on home soil, and after a disappointing couple of tours, there will be batsmen with points to prove, aided by friendlier pitches.

The last few months have suggested a long summer for Australian cricket, and if the results don’t go Smith’s way and the burden of captaincy begins to weigh heavily, it could be time for Smith to seek the council of his predecessors.