As a kid I was on a flight from Mel to Perth or something and the Aus cricket team was on - all trying to sleep. AB made sure they all woke up and signed autographs for us and was just so accommodating, when he easily could have told us to not bother them. Will never forget it, absolute professional and gentleman. He understood how important it was to us.
People forget how bad Australia had become when Border took over. He and Bob Simpson deserve a massive amount of credit for that golden generation that dominated world Cricket though the '90s and and early 2000s.
@@TheRandwickboy He got rid of the players that were just happy to be getting picked and ramped up the fielding and fitness. On top of that i don't buy the Patrick Cummins bit about being peace and love and political. Maybe in his personal life, but on field he has never given any indication apart from always wanting to win, which he is doing a bit of.
Nobody who was around back then ever forgets - I don't know why a claim like this would be made. Border certainly had his attributes for pulling the team out of the mire, along with coach Simpson, but he (Border) was never going to be the one to topple the West Indies or win in Pakistan, or even beat the recently re-admitted, extremely strong, South Africa.
For me it’s hands down Steve Waugh. He captained arguably the greatest Team in history, never lost composure, was always a few overs ahead of everyone else tactically, was a rock solid number 5 batsmen, under rated bowler, great fieldsman, mastered breaking down an oppositions psyche. His 200 in the West Indies to win the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1995 against one of the best bowling attacks in the history of the game, was one of the best individual innings I’ve ever seen.
What about his suicidal decision to bat on against the pommies to finish a test early and we lost. He was a reckless crown saved by the quality of his team.
What was his best decision? I'll open with McGrath & Gillespie. Hmm good. When one of them gets a bit tired or loses their line, I might bring on Warne. Hmm, solid. From the other end, I'll bring on the other seamer (Kaspowittz/Bichel/Reiffel - all opening bowlers for any other team in the world at the time) until McGrath is ready to go again. Hmm, I'm pretty good at this stuff. Hey hey, move a bit straighter at cover - yep, solid captaincy that. I kid a bit but FFS, I could have captained that side in the field. Admittedly, if I was batting at five for Australia I might have let the team down every single time, averaging about 45 less than Steve Waugh but I would have instructed Gilly to never walk and might have gained a few runs that way.
@@MrGroganmeister yeh your right, he made a mistake that day and resulted in losing the test, which happens to be the only test he ever lost to England as captain. He also averaged 77 as a batsman in Ashes tests played in England. He also has the highest win percentage as captain in the history of the game.
When his teammates were letting him down you could just see AB thinking, 'Alright, I'll just win it by myself' and he'd go to work. The Border era transformed Australian cricket into the juggernaut it's been for the last 30 years.
Kim Hughes last 9 tests were against the WI away in '84 and at home in 84/85. His test average fell from low 40s to 37. He was targetted by both the WI bowlers onfield and one IM Chappell in the media off the field.
@@PaulBKal Kim Hughes could play against the Windies attacks, he showed this in 1981, however the politics and being thrust into captaincy ruined him. Sad. He was a very good player.
I’m not qualified to comment prior to Greg Chappell’s captaincy so for me it’s Allan Border by any margin. The reasons are obvious. Along with Bob Simpson as coach they turned out to be a fantastic combination for Australian cricket at a time when it was arguably needed more than at any other time in Australia’s cricket history. There simply is nobody else who can claim to have “achieved” under any such circumstances. When things get rough out on the field, you often need someone or something outside of yourself to find a way through, and from the outside looking in , I believe Border would’ve been that someone. Cheers AB and hope you’re going well mate. PS: When we were teenagers, one of my mates bugged him for an autograph and after the 4th or 5th time of asking, AB turned around and told him to F… off. Absolutely classic!
Agreed. When Australian cricket was at its lowest, AB was the guy for the job. With bat, or ball, in the field, or captaincy in general. The others were good, but because the Australian teams were full of match winning superstars, they were more managers than anything else.
Yes, no other answer is possible. The others might look more successful on paper but they had better teams. And that was largely thanks to AB, who toughened them up. Similar to the way Nasser doesn't get quite enough credit as captain, but he laid the foundations for Vaughan.
Border was the beginning of Australia becoming the best team in the world and dominating. You could see the change coming during the Border era, Taylor's team beat the Windies and took them to #1, then it peaked during the Waugh/Ponting era then started to drop off after Warne & McGrath retired.
Wise man. Ian Chappell’s 1972 Ashes team was described as the worst to tour England. They drew the series 2:2. Taylor was tactically way ahead of Waugh
Ponting hugely underrated as skipper. To hear David Lloyd describe Steve Smith as an excellent captain was heartbreaking. As cricket tragics we were always 6 overs ahead of him. He bowled Mitch Starc as a stock bowler and no tactical ideas. All he had to do in South Africa was intervene and say shut up Warner we are not doing that but instead he just walked away. Unbelievable. Ps for a few years afterwards everytime mark Taylor was interviewed about ANYTHING, he would drop in that ss should be captain again. Huge NSW bias in Australian media. As Ponting used to say the NSW media never missed him.
Captain Grumpy. It's one thing leading a team of star players. It's quite another to lead a team decimated by defections and in the most dire circumstances turned around not just the team, but the psyche of Australian cricket.
What a wonderful insight to Australian Cricket. As a 62 yo Aussie Cricket lover I found that video simply riveting. I dont know who the Aussie guy is but what a wonderful cricket mind he has and can back up his thoughts with facts
Allan Border is the one I admire the most. Great respect for Ian Chappell. Both faced the most terrifying bowling attacks and held their ground. But technically the best captain Australia has had in the modern era is Steve Waugh. He made Australia ruthless. He was equally hard on his own team as he was with the opposition. What he did to Shane Warne !! He had the tail of the Aussie team partnered up with a batter in training. The attitude was we bat till 11. He partnered Glen Mcgrath and Mcgrath scored runs. Had success in all parts of the world except India . Carried on the great work of Mark Taylor and handed Ponting an even better side.
Jarrod talking about benaud and tactically taylor,but id argue that Chappell had the man management skills of benaud with the tactical nounce of taylor, perhaps not as good as either of them at that but a jack of all trades,but its extremely hard to judge the entire contribution of a captain,its mostly subjective
The Armstrong two over story is slightly different. He objected to England's declaration, they argued for 30 minutes. Armstrong won the argument and they forgot he bowled the previous over so he carried on bowling
It's Allan Border, for what he did off the field as much as on it. Picked Australia out of the doldrums into which they'd slumped and put them on the path to greatness we see today. I don't think Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor are far behind, but I'm uncertain they'd have happened had it not been for Border.
Ponting reads the game, even now, very well. I think Michael Clarke, put aside his divisive persona, handled having a side on the rebuild and was still competitive, as well, understood how to use spin bowling better than any australian captain I saw (Which isn't many and most had shane warne in their side). Not the best we've had but still, worth consideration
Clarke was a talented player but a disgraceful captain who always put his ego ahead of the team and even took out his personal vendetta on making sure deserving players he didn't like wouldn't play (such as Katich)
@@edmccricket9358 what he did to katich was disgraceful. I don't think he did that to anyone else. I still stand by my comments unless there are other instances of him mistreating players
Ponting was probably the worst ever captain of Australia. He was a pompous arrogant git, who lost the ashes, the 437 game and the respect of followers. He did nothing to endear himself to the supporters.
@@AMB955Bosbok big call considering he has one of the best records as a captain. Amount of world cups under his leadership. You can dislike him as a player/person. But don't let that bias the facts he was at least a competent captain
Stone Cold Steve Waugh has to be the best. Maybe Taylor was tactically better but Waugh concretised that ruthless aggression which Australia is famous for. Taylor almost made you like Aus team, Waugh removed any such thought even crossing your mind as a fan.
I agree!! I hate the way they say Waugh was not as good as Ian Chappell because Waugh had Warne and McGrath while everyone conveniently forgets that Ian had the best ever pace bowler in Lillee backed up Thompson and Greg averaging 50 when that was not common.
@@MrCarrera28 yes but Warne was also a brilliant tactician. Every time things started going slow in the field you could bet Warnie would come up with a plan.
@@philhogan5623 Dennis Lillee was the literal definition of a thinking bowler who completely changed his style and method when he hurt his back and could no longer blast batsmen out with pace he was at least as deep a thinker. Plus Greg Chappell was the next Australian Captain and subsequently chief of selectors so Ian Chappell had two of the deepest thinkers in cricket in his team. So my point remains you cannot discount Waugh's captaincy because he had stars when Ian Chappell had superstars as well.
@@MrCarrera28 I'm certainly not downplaying Lillee's tactical brilliance with the ball, but I still think Warne had a slight edge because he always had ideas even when he wasn't bowling. As for Greg Chappell, I never considered him a great captain.
For me it’s Border. It’s easy to be misled by results when you have a great team (eg. under Waugh & Ponting) but neither could hold a candle to the drive and toughness of Border.
I agree about Border being the greatest but can you seriously question the toughness of either Waugh or Ponting? In that area all three are on a par. Border edges ahead because of his limited resources. He also averaged 55 away from home and 45 at home, which shows he led from the front.
Agree.AB had to pick up the dregs and eventually got on top when he got some fire-power with Craig McDermott and Big Merv.The Waugh twins turned it with that big stand against the West Indies with a win over Curtly Ambrose ( Steve with that red handkerchief - legendary). The best era of cricket for me ( born 1944) was when Richie Benaud and Frank Worrell were at their respective helms ( the tied Aus - Windies test ).Ritchie was a fantastic captain, sporting,and always trying to get a result.Sadly missed. Tub Taylor was a classy,tactically strong skipper and the best first slipper I have seen.Bobby Simpson was the best.Mark Waugh has to be the best all round fieldsman for catches.A replay reel of his best catches would be magic.
I do think my appreciation for Ponting has gone up since he retired. At the time I didn't think he could read the game that well, but having heard his commentary, I've realized he just didn't have the tools that captains before him had in that transitional side, particularly with the bowlers (revolving door of garbage spinners combined with workmanlike pace attacks, the selectors did him no favours).
He wasn't the greatest reader of the game early in his captaincy, but to his credit he learnt well from one of the best tacticians in the game at the time in Lehmann and also from Clarke and Hussey.
Ritchie was prob the best, he's in a club with Sobers, Brearley and Ganguly as skippers who could possibly have got a tune out of the 90s England side, and praise don't get much higher for a cricket captain than that! And for setting the stage for what would come in the 90s and 00s, AB needs recognition as maybe the most important.
Border, for reinvigorating the Australian team after the retirement of so many greats of the 70s and early 80s. Waugh, Taylor and Ponting were the ultimate beneficiaries, but he did all the hard yards.
He averaged 50 plus across his career and frequently got runs when no-one else in his team did; he faced the Windies attack regularly and never took a backward step. Was able to recognise that bringing in Bobby Simpson as a coach was a smart move and was confident enough in his status to be unconcerned by any erosion in his authority. Ian Chappell would never have been able to accept Bobby Simpson into his set up as he would have hated any erosion in his power.
Border inherited one of the poorest Australian teams in history when he became captain. His team only became world beaters around four or five years into his captaincy. Before that he had to rescue and carry the team numerous times.
Just as a fun thought experiment, I made up a team of Australian captains (in any format). In batting order: Mark Taylor Bill Ponsford Don Bradman Steve Smith Ricky Ponting Steve Waugh Adam Gilchrist Richie Benaud Pat Cummins Shane Warne (he captained in ODIs, so he counts) Ray Lindwall (numbers 4 and 5 were really tough choices, it was painful to leave Border and Greg Chappell out. Not much choice for the bowlers, although IIRC Hazlewood captained Australia in one T20 match so he qualifies)
Ponsford is in the wrong spot against any decent post world war two attack. He was dominant against medium pacers and spinners but couldn't handle anything approaching express pace. He would be a walking wicket against any experienced test quick.
Great list. Given the dearth of bowlers in the side I would personally include Greg Chappell over Ricky Ponting. 47 Test wickets and 72 ODI wickets are not to be sneezed at. Chappell had a higher average than Ponting in test cricket, both Chappell and Ponting averaged around 45 against England but Chappell averaged well above 50 against every other nation while Ponting was below 50 for South Africa and Sri Lanka. Plus Chappell had an average of 59 when batting at 4 where as Ponting's average dropped when batting in lower order, so Chappell is better suited to batting lower given his preferred first drop position is rightly occupied by the Don. When you add his WSC statistics Chappell compares favourably as a batsmen against every Australian batter other the Don and Smith. I would also consider Bob Simpson instead of Bill Ponsford. While Ponsford had a higher average (48.2 versus 46.8) Simpson was a very handy bowler as well. The other change I would make is I would elevate Warne above Cummins. While their Test averages are similar I would elevate Warne because he was a lot more egotistical and batting higher would make him feel better and stroking his ego helped him take wickets. Where as Cummins is much more sanguine and does not need his ego stroked like Warne did. The real trouble with this side would be the fight over has seniority to field in the slips next to Bradman? There are a lot of very good slips fielders in your list 🤣😆
I think picking batsmen as captain has something to do with where they field. Bowlers tend to be outfielders because of their athleticism and strong throwing arms, while batsmen tend to be infielders because of their quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination. It's often considered not ideal to be captaining the team from way out in the deep somewhere.
Good discussion. Warwick Armstrong was a good shout. Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell are good shouts. Surprisingly Bradman didn't get a mention. Similar to Steve Waugh, where the team dominated and both had a stiff neck, ruthless attitude.
I enjoyed the discussion but, as usual no-one is clear about their criteria. Is it winning, how they handled the resources available, their public image, man-management, leadership or tactics, or a combination? Captaincy at cricket remains a unique position. I get the senses , as in Bumble's Yorkshire anecdote, that coaches play a bigger role but short of putting radio in their caps (as in the NFL) the captain has to juggle tactics and man-management on the field. Turning to Bradman, Oz played 15 tests post war under his captaincy, lost none and won 11. Prewar he captained 9 tests, won 4 and lost 2. This included the amazing 36-37 Ashes, in which Oz lost the first two and won the last three. Bazball promoters should look this up. The 46-47 touring team in England did not lose a game (in those days they played a full schedule vs the Counties). Those who dislike Bradman say anyone could have won with the post war talent. He was an aloof, highly disciplined person and didnt fit the self-image many Ozzies like to project. Not only was Benaud highly successful, he was an important figure in promoting test cricket. He and Frank Worrell turned the 1961 tour of Oz by WI into an unmatched success with the public.
Ricky Ponting captained Australia in 77 Tests (48 wins, 16 loses). His winning percentage is 75% - better than Mark Taylor (66.66%), Greg Chappell (61.78%), Michael Clarke (60%), and incumbent Pat Cummins (73.91). Only Steve Waugh (82%). In 77 Tests, Ponting scored 6,542 runs with 19 centuries and 35 fifties at an average of 51.51.
Clarke was the best tactical captain in my lifetime, I'm only 37 so only caught the back end of Border so probably not qualified to comment on his tactics. Clarke lacked in many other areas of captaincy but tactically he was so good!
Warwick Armstrong - 50 Tests - 2,863 runs at 38.68 and 87 wickets at 33.59, Warwick Armstrong was one of the finest all-rounders of all time. W.G Grace - 22 Tests 1098 runs at 32.29 and 9 wickets at 26.22, most of his career took place before Test Cricket began but their First Class careers can be considered great, Grace had better bowling stats, Warwick better batting.
WG Grace played in the 19th century where averaging 30 was like averaging 50. He was definitely a batting all-rounder. The Big Ship was a great of Australian cricket though. They undermined his abilities for sure.
Credit where credit is due! Bob Simpson needs to acknowledged alongside AB for turning Australian cricket around. People seem to forget about Simpson when mentioning this period of time in Australian cricket.
Allan Robert Border.............dude withstood rebels, retirements and successive beat downs by arguably the greatest cricket team of all time and still molded a team that would dominate cricket for 12-13 years. AB was so well respected that Curtly Ambrose, who did not speak to the opposition during games always called Border Skipper. I remember Kim Hughes talking about the effect getting beat up by the WI in those days had on team morale. He said that they played the WI very regularly, and every time they had built up team morale, they get beaten and they're back at square one. 1988 when the west indies went to Australia, the series was decided before New years day. Yet Australia, trailing 3-0 and facing demoralization, beat the WI in the 4th test of that series and made a serious contest of the 5th, which was a draw and for any onlooker, showed that the gap between the two sides was a lot closer than that 3-1 score line suggested. Then they went to England in 1989 and won the Ashes 4-0 and would have won all six if not for rain. The Australian renaissance of the mid 90s started with AB. Best Aussie captain followed closely by Ian Chappell.
@@dluap569161 That's a false assumption. Warne would have tried to win winless games. He would have rubbed teammates the wrong way with his eccentric personality. Test captains need to be calm and think long term. Conversely he could have been a great T20 captain for Australia as less of those issues matter in the shortest format.
@@cameronpetie8318 "Warne would have tried to win winless games". That could be a false assumption as well using your logic. Insisting the team wear their baggy green caps to go and watch tennis at Wimbledon could also be considered eccentric (although that is a completely subjective concept) and definitely rubbed players up the wrong way.
I haven't seen them all obviously, but of the ones I've seen it's a toss up between Alan Border and Steve Waugh. Border drove his team relentlessly and made them better, and Waugh picked at opposition sides relentlessly and made them worse. Both absolutely awesome. Seeing Border's Aussies perform in the 89 Ashes when they were written off before they even arrived never gets old.
Steve Waugh. He had huge egos in that team. He had such immense talent and time in the game. I mean time because he always seemed in control. The lift in fielding, professionalism and hunger for win, came under Waugh. He had legacy
Never understood how anyone doubted Ponting as a captain. I think it was just because Steve Waugh had an unbeatable team and Ponting inherited the tail end of that era when it was on the decline.
Ian Chappell rated Ricky Ponting more highly than Steve Waugh. “I’ve seen Steve Waugh run out of ideas as a captain, I never saw Ponting run out of ideas,” said Chappell. He said the times he saw Australia under Waugh really challenged there would be no plan b, c or d and that wasn’t the case under Ponting.
Chappell had Lillee and Thompson. A luxury that his predecessor, Bill Lawry never had. He can be a massive hypocrite. He has a huge chip on his shoulder and is endlessly critical of anyone he doesn't like. Always critiscised Border even though for much of Borders reign he had fairly pedestrian bowling attacks. Never failed to kick Hughes when he was down. Hated Steve Waugh. Hated poor Bevan. Ian Chappell never got over the fact that he retired and was no longer in control. Certainly never held his own captaincy or batting record to the standards by which he judged others. It didn't take a tactical genius to toss the ball to Lillee and give him some slips when he needed a wicket.
Chappell was a mediocre batsman and a worse captain. He was captain when Lillee and Thommo won some tests for him. When Lillee and Thommo couldn't play in 1974 / 75 Australia lost. Chappell would have won his first test as captain if HE could bat.
AB had the hardest job of rebuilding the team. By far the best. Those that followed had a far easier task and far greater support from coaches selectors etc.
Sachin was injured for 2 out of 4 test matches in 2004 series He played only last two tests of that series. But Aus played better overall and made more runs than India and won that series.(2-1)
No mention of Greg Chappell, who scored a century in each innings of his first Test as Captain, and is still the ONLY Test Captain ever to score a century in his first and last Tests as Captain. Also, his winning percentage as Captain was better than that of his brother Ian.
Pretty hard to disagree with you. Allan Border led Australia out of the cricketing wilderness and frequently saved Australia from embarrassment through his efforts with the bat and a couple of times brought himself on as a bowler and got key wickets. He worked with Bob Simpson to improve the team's athletic ability and didn't unnecessarily hog the spotlight himself so players felt appreciated and that they were not just there to make Border look good. He was a brilliant leader and winning the World Cup in 1987 and Ashes in 1989 was just reward for a champion who had shouldered the burden of Australian cricket after the big three retired. Border had limited opportunities to demonstrate tactical acuity as for so long he was digging Australia out of hole. Taylor was able to take the team that was fitter and more focused than any other and he applied tactics and was able to lead in a more consensus based manner as there were more world class players in the team and he was not required to personally grab the team by the scruff of the neck. When the batting line up collapsed he could rely of Steve Waugh to bat with the tail and get a decent final score and Warne and later McGrath could step up with the bowling. This gave Taylor the space to be tactically astute and he delivered a masterclass in captaining and his captaining was so great that he effectively maintained his spot in the team by virtue of what he brought as the captain. Tugger delivered a captaincy model that was half way between the two. He had the aggression of Border and the nous of Taylor and he mixed this with a bit of the Ian Chappell ruthlessness of getting your foot on the throat of an opponent and never releasing pressure until they capitulated. He introduced a trait that Ian Chappell, Border or Taylor never had and that was about getting in the head of the opposition and intimidating them so that more often than not they beat themselves through capitulating in the 3rd or 4th innings when they were mesmerised by Warne and the Australian team. Waugh was focused on winning and had leadership, tactics, man management and the new skill of mentally intimidating the opposition so they beat themselves. For me each of these three captains were the ideal captains for their era who made the necessary changes unbound by tradition or their predecessors, making the most of their own talents while encouraging their team mates to shine and take ownership of their own roles.
@@MrCarrera28 : Thanks. Yours was an excellent write-up to sum up how each of the greats was responsible for not only improving Aussie cricket (Allan Border, Mark Taylor) but also making the Aussie team almost invincible (Steve Waugh) for the years to come. One can definitely enjoy the fruits of the labour (Ricky Ponting - no disrespect to him as he was fantastic too) but one must never forget the humble beginnings. That's the reason why I regard Border, Taylor & Waugh the best.
Gotta give Allan Border the prize, Australia was rubbish when he got the job, he took them from a team that could hardly win anything to winning the World Cup against the odds, then regaining the Ashes in England (that had not been done since 1934 and hasnt been done since), he only narrowly missed beating the West Indies. Perhaps Taylor, Waugh and Ponting had better win records but look at the talent they had to work with, West Indies team was in steady decline by the time they got the job. Special mention for Shane Warne, he lost only 1 of 11 ODIs as captain and that by only 7 runs.
"Jarrod, who in your opinion is the greatest Bangladeshi cricketer of all time, who could bowl left arm spin, bat in the middle order, and be the captain of the team?" "There can't be anyone else but Mohammad Rafique."
The thing about Bradman is he was a very successful captain and if you are doing a best ever Australian he is the player pretty much guaranteed a spot, so the argument is you would make him captain as no-one else takes his spot 😅
Steve Waugh is the greatest ever Australian captain, he started taking risk by declaring second innings at low score and giving confidence to their bowlers, he made Australia invincible by winning 16 back to back tests
In all fairness to ponting, he did happen to captain australia when they were at their worst and going through a transitional period between 2008 and 2011 coinciding with 2 ashes defeats.
4 icc trophies bro just a few mistake does not make you a terrible skipper. Even Dhoni barely won a test series outside the subcontinent and also lost a test series at home against England after a long time
*Steve Waugh* only because he never compromised on talents, neither did he ever got emotionally involved with decisions, neither did he get agitated. He managed to keep a locker room full of legendary players not have their ego stroked & the aussies decimated opponents left, right & center.
Steve Waugh is undoubtedly Australia's best captain. Not only that, he made test cricket far more entertaining and lifted the standards across all cricketing nations.
Shane Warne would have been a great captain. He was tactically brilliant, aggressive, patient, and had an aura “Tyson effect”. ACB should have taken the chance and my is that they would have been very happy. YOU RIPPER SW!!!!
Allan border should be the greatest captain of Australia , rebuilding australia from the defeats of the mid 80s and grooming the next crop of players like waugh, taylor and warne to sometimes singlehandedly grinding out in the middle,his world cup victory of 87 is not talked about much but that is what set the stage for the champion side the Aussies would become, and of course the 89 ashes when the team he captained was considered the weakest aussie team ever.
A.B and Bob Simpson rebuild Australian team after W.I and Sir Richard Hadlee destroyed them in mid 80's and it wasn't until the 90's we got over W.I. A.B was most influential captain anyone who played against the W.I Bowling attacks from 70's to 90's merciless and dangerous but border stood toe to toe and lead the way forward
An Australian captain who was chosen only for his ability to make a speech was Ian Johnston. Syd Barnes said he could play him with a toothpick. Barnes actually called for a toy bat when Johnstone was bowling. Not good enough to get a place in the team but picked for captain. Keith Miller should have been captain. Johnston ended up the establishment man as Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Agree.My mother used to go on about Ian Johnson as a dud captain and of course she loved Keith Miller who would have been a Ritchie Benaud style captain.
2 Australian captains never lost a test series lan chappell captain 30 tests and don bradman captain in 16 tests Great captains but it was also the strength of their teams that made that possible Chappells teams in the mid 70s and bradman 1948 side There teams were the strongest in the history of cricket
Agree, Clarke was a fantastic tactician. He perhaps doesn't get as involved in this discussion because of his poor overseas record as captain, lost in England 3-0, 3-2, whitewashed 4-0 in India and homework gate. I asked an Australian I worked with why Clarke was unpopular - he said that Clarke was from a working class family in Liverpool, NSW and let fame get to his head, with the glamorous and flashy lifestyle that gets you in the press for wrong reasons. Shame because I think he is an underrated test captain and batter, phenomenal record.
I have a youthful bias for Tubby Taylor but not one mention of Bradman!? The only captain to go undefeated on a tour of England has to count for something.
Steve Smith has captained Australia in 38 Tests (21 wins, 10 loses). His winning percentage is 67.74% - better than Mark Taylor (66.66%), Greg Chappell (61.78%) and Michael Clarke (60%). Australia won the ICC Test Cricket World Championship under Smith’s captaincy in 2016. In 38 Tests as captain, Smith has scored 3,867 runs with 15 centuries and 14 fifties at an average of 66.67. So, he is one of the all-time great Australian Test Cricket captains.
And was such a wonderful guy he dumped poor old Cameron Bancroft in the toilet for his absolute stupidity ( along with that bum Dave Warner ). Not a captains a...hole.
As if Australia only give the captaincy to the best willing batsmen? There are very strong arguments for each of our captains over the last 40 years above all other players. Warne being the biggest exception yet it was his off field ways that cost him.
The best willing batsman - that certainly wasn't Ian Chappell - at that time we had better batsman ( Stackpole, Redpath, Doug Walters, Greg Chappell ).
Pat “stop hurting the environment, but continues to fly all over the world cause I’m a flog lefty” Cummins The new age Michael Clarke , absolute wanker of a human … the last bloke on earth you would have a beer with , but you cannot argue his captaincy resume.
I think ponting 2 world cups 2 champions trophies Multiple ashes series He lead that great invincible Australia team for quite some time and successfully Barring a few ashes mis steps and shortfalls in the late 2000s early 2010s he had an incredible career I have said it in the India captain video I say it again In the end of the day results matter and ponting was the best in terms of results
Can anyone here explain to me why Michael Clarke was so hated? Was he hated even? He captained a poor Australia side and rejuvenated them, dealt with the Phil Hughes incident with incredible dignity and was tough as they come on the field.
So he had a bit of a image problem away from the game, particularly before he was captain. He was tabloid fodder with his girlfriend, he had a whole "prettyboy" thing going on with the hair and earrings and stuff, choices in adverts and brand deals (like the bonds adverts), which didn't fit the mould of captains past, pissing off a chunk of the "traditional" fans. And then he had a different second group of people hating on him for the run ins with teammates, like the whole Katich thing which got big media attention, among others. And then he pissed off a further mostly separate third group of people with some of the on-field antics (broken arm etc), which incidentally may have actually won him some fans back from the first group. He won over most fans by the end, but he was never universally loved, very little of it having anything to do with his actual performance on the field.
He was a very new generation of player personality wise. -He clashed with what the Australian public and cricket establishment thought an Australian cricketer should be. -His personal life, more specifically his relationships were often in the public eye. -He clashed with certain teammates. His spat with Katich was pretty ugly and people never really forgave him for it. I've always been a defender of him as a captain, and he is BY FAR the best Australian captain tactically since Taylor. But he always rubbed people the wrong way and that has unfortunately stayed with people far more than his brilliant captaincy.
He was different to other captains when he spoke, sounded like a politician with lots of cliches. Was boring to listen too. I think everyone also liked Katich and Symonds much more than him too so when he had blues with them we all saw the kinda dude he was.
his off-field life overtook what he did on it. Was never the typical old school Aus captian mould. he was an upstart, and seen as overly flashy dickhead with the fancy cars, tattoos, model girlfriend. Perceived as not a loyal teammate/ captain and often clashed with team mates Katich, Watson. In his 60 mins interview, he said there was always this perception that he was gunning for Ponting's job, so old heads like Matt Hayden were never too fond of him after he became captain. I liked him and mad respect for what he did for the team during the Phillip Hughes passing.
Personally I felt like he got a red carpet ride into a dominant side as a youngster. He was lauded for his stats early on but he was usually coming in at 4/350+ against disspirited bowling attacks. Main issue was personality, but agree he handled the Hughes tragedy well from a leadership perspective. As a batter I believe it damaged his psyche/approach to facing short pitch bowling.
Popular? Ask Simon Katich and most of the other Australian players at that time. As Jimmy Anderson pointed out to him in Brisbane, all of your team hate you.
Tim Paine.. hands down.... tactically astute & brilliant, great reader of the game & match awareness ...also helps that he was Australia's best keeper ever...he captained beautifully in the bgt series.,..as an india appreciates his contribution to india
As a kid I was on a flight from Mel to Perth or something and the Aus cricket team was on - all trying to sleep. AB made sure they all woke up and signed autographs for us and was just so accommodating, when he easily could have told us to not bother them. Will never forget it, absolute professional and gentleman. He understood how important it was to us.
People forget how bad Australia had become when Border took over. He and Bob Simpson deserve a massive amount of credit for that golden generation that dominated world Cricket though the '90s and and early 2000s.
Bob Simpson as coach was so underrated for what he did to that team. Border was Credited But Bob Simpson's training standards shaped the team.
@@TheRandwickboy I watched Simpson put NSW shield team through fielding drills . High sp3d
@@TheRandwickboy He got rid of the players that were just happy to be getting picked and ramped up the fielding and fitness. On top of that i don't buy the Patrick Cummins bit about being peace and love and political. Maybe in his personal life, but on field he has never given any indication apart from always wanting to win, which he is doing a bit of.
Nobody who was around back then ever forgets - I don't know why a claim like this would be made. Border certainly had his attributes for pulling the team out of the mire, along with coach Simpson, but he (Border) was never going to be the one to topple the West Indies or win in Pakistan, or even beat the recently re-admitted, extremely strong, South Africa.
For me it’s hands down Steve Waugh. He captained arguably the greatest Team in history, never lost composure, was always a few overs ahead of everyone else tactically, was a rock solid number 5 batsmen, under rated bowler, great fieldsman, mastered breaking down an oppositions psyche. His 200 in the West Indies to win the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1995 against one of the best bowling attacks in the history of the game, was one of the best individual innings I’ve ever seen.
Of course its Waugh
What about his suicidal decision to bat on against the pommies to finish a test early and we lost. He was a reckless crown saved by the quality of his team.
What was his best decision? I'll open with McGrath & Gillespie. Hmm good. When one of them gets a bit tired or loses their line, I might bring on Warne. Hmm, solid. From the other end, I'll bring on the other seamer (Kaspowittz/Bichel/Reiffel - all opening bowlers for any other team in the world at the time) until McGrath is ready to go again. Hmm, I'm pretty good at this stuff. Hey hey, move a bit straighter at cover - yep, solid captaincy that. I kid a bit but FFS, I could have captained that side in the field. Admittedly, if I was batting at five for Australia I might have let the team down every single time, averaging about 45 less than Steve Waugh but I would have instructed Gilly to never walk and might have gained a few runs that way.
@@MrGroganmeister yeh your right, he made a mistake that day and resulted in losing the test, which happens to be the only test he ever lost to England as captain. He also averaged 77 as a batsman in Ashes tests played in England. He also has the highest win percentage as captain in the history of the game.
@@pktate2611 you would bowl Shane Warne 1st change with a new ball ?
When his teammates were letting him down you could just see AB thinking, 'Alright, I'll just win it by myself' and he'd go to work. The Border era transformed Australian cricket into the juggernaut it's been for the last 30 years.
Border didn't ever win games on his own - he only managed to save a few here and there, but under the circumstances this was also important.
@@Bernie8330 What a load of rubbish.
Kim Hughes last 9 tests were against the WI away in '84 and at home in 84/85. His test average fell from low 40s to 37. He was targetted by both the WI bowlers onfield and one IM Chappell in the media off the field.
low 50’s to mid 30’s. No other team in history ever had to face the best team in the world back to back like Hughes’ team had to.
@@PaulBKal Kim Hughes could play against the Windies attacks, he showed this in 1981, however the politics and being thrust into captaincy ruined him. Sad. He was a very good player.
I’m not qualified to comment prior to Greg Chappell’s captaincy so for me it’s Allan Border by any margin. The reasons are obvious. Along with Bob Simpson as coach they turned out to be a fantastic combination for Australian cricket at a time when it was arguably needed more than at any other time in Australia’s cricket history. There simply is nobody else who can claim to have “achieved” under any such circumstances. When things get rough out on the field, you often need someone or something outside of yourself to find a way through, and from the outside looking in , I believe Border would’ve been that someone. Cheers AB and hope you’re going well mate.
PS: When we were teenagers, one of my mates bugged him for an autograph and after the 4th or 5th time of asking, AB turned around and told him to F… off. Absolutely classic!
Agreed. When Australian cricket was at its lowest, AB was the guy for the job. With bat, or ball, in the field, or captaincy in general. The others were good, but because the Australian teams were full of match winning superstars, they were more managers than anything else.
Border brought over the worst Aussie team I've ever seen, led from the front and then four years later, brought over one of the best teams.
Love AB!
Captain grumpy! Would not accept substandard efforts
Yes, no other answer is possible. The others might look more successful on paper but they had better teams. And that was largely thanks to AB, who toughened them up. Similar to the way Nasser doesn't get quite enough credit as captain, but he laid the foundations for Vaughan.
@@dluap569161He had a never say die/tough as nails attitude, you had to admire him for that.
Border was the beginning of Australia becoming the best team in the world and dominating. You could see the change coming during the Border era, Taylor's team beat the Windies and took them to #1, then it peaked during the Waugh/Ponting era then started to drop off after Warne & McGrath retired.
In one of his books Dickie Bird said the two Australian captains he respected the most were Ian Chappell & Mark Taylor.
Wise man. Ian Chappell’s 1972 Ashes team was described as the worst to tour England. They drew the series 2:2. Taylor was tactically way ahead of Waugh
Ponting hugely underrated as skipper. To hear David Lloyd describe Steve Smith as an excellent captain was heartbreaking. As cricket tragics we were always 6 overs ahead of him. He bowled Mitch Starc as a stock bowler and no tactical ideas. All he had to do in South Africa was intervene and say shut up Warner we are not doing that but instead he just walked away. Unbelievable. Ps for a few years afterwards everytime mark Taylor was interviewed about ANYTHING, he would drop in that ss should be captain again. Huge NSW bias in Australian media. As Ponting used to say the NSW media never missed him.
Ponting was over rated. Tactically was utter rubbish.
Don't think Smith had the backbone to tell Warner to shutup and just turned a blind eye to the sand paper shenanigans.
And his on feild body language was horrible
Captain Grumpy. It's one thing leading a team of star players. It's quite another to lead a team decimated by defections and in the most dire circumstances turned around not just the team, but the psyche of Australian cricket.
What a wonderful insight to Australian Cricket. As a 62 yo Aussie Cricket lover I found that video simply riveting. I dont know who the Aussie guy is but what a wonderful cricket mind he has and can back up his thoughts with facts
Allan Border is the one I admire the most. Great respect for Ian Chappell. Both faced the most terrifying bowling attacks and held their ground. But technically the best captain Australia has had in the modern era is Steve Waugh. He made Australia ruthless. He was equally hard on his own team as he was with the opposition. What he did to Shane Warne !! He had the tail of the Aussie team partnered up with a batter in training. The attitude was we bat till 11. He partnered Glen Mcgrath and Mcgrath scored runs. Had success in all parts of the world except India . Carried on the great work of Mark Taylor and handed Ponting an even better side.
Waugh played to win every match...and got results
Jarrod talking about benaud and tactically taylor,but id argue that Chappell had the man management skills of benaud with the tactical nounce of taylor, perhaps not as good as either of them at that but a jack of all trades,but its extremely hard to judge the entire contribution of a captain,its mostly subjective
its all subjective
The Armstrong two over story is slightly different. He objected to England's declaration, they argued for 30 minutes. Armstrong won the argument and they forgot he bowled the previous over so he carried on bowling
how do you object to a declaration? surely you can declare whenever you like?
David Lloyd is my favourite english cricket identity.
Man keep these eps coming. I find these discussions so unique and thoroughly entertaining. Jarrod is a bloody good knowledgable bloke too.
It's Allan Border, for what he did off the field as much as on it. Picked Australia out of the doldrums into which they'd slumped and put them on the path to greatness we see today. I don't think Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor are far behind, but I'm uncertain they'd have happened had it not been for Border.
Ponting reads the game, even now, very well. I think Michael Clarke, put aside his divisive persona, handled having a side on the rebuild and was still competitive, as well, understood how to use spin bowling better than any australian captain I saw (Which isn't many and most had shane warne in their side). Not the best we've had but still, worth consideration
Clarke was a talented player but a disgraceful captain who always put his ego ahead of the team and even took out his personal vendetta on making sure deserving players he didn't like wouldn't play (such as Katich)
@@edmccricket9358 what he did to katich was disgraceful. I don't think he did that to anyone else. I still stand by my comments unless there are other instances of him mistreating players
Ponting was probably the worst ever captain of Australia. He was a pompous arrogant git, who lost the ashes, the 437 game and the respect of followers. He did nothing to endear himself to the supporters.
@@AMB955Bosbok big call considering he has one of the best records as a captain. Amount of world cups under his leadership. You can dislike him as a player/person. But don't let that bias the facts he was at least a competent captain
Ponting tactically was dreadful.
Which is weird given how he can read the game.
Geez I actually hope they do, do ‘Best NZ Captain’ next week. That’s some eclectic stuff right there.
flemings nz best captain
It has become much harder to captain with time given the media and pressure. Considering it all, you’d have to think Allan Border.
Allen Border, Steve Waugh, Ritchie B .
Stone Cold Steve Waugh has to be the best. Maybe Taylor was tactically better but Waugh concretised that ruthless aggression which Australia is famous for. Taylor almost made you like Aus team, Waugh removed any such thought even crossing your mind as a fan.
I agree!! I hate the way they say Waugh was not as good as Ian Chappell because Waugh had Warne and McGrath while everyone conveniently forgets that Ian had the best ever pace bowler in Lillee backed up Thompson and Greg averaging 50 when that was not common.
@@MrCarrera28 yes but Warne was also a brilliant tactician. Every time things started going slow in the field you could bet Warnie would come up with a plan.
@@philhogan5623 Dennis Lillee was the literal definition of a thinking bowler who completely changed his style and method when he hurt his back and could no longer blast batsmen out with pace he was at least as deep a thinker. Plus Greg Chappell was the next Australian Captain and subsequently chief of selectors so Ian Chappell had two of the deepest thinkers in cricket in his team. So my point remains you cannot discount Waugh's captaincy because he had stars when Ian Chappell had superstars as well.
@@MrCarrera28 I'm certainly not downplaying Lillee's tactical brilliance with the ball, but I still think Warne had a slight edge because he always had ideas even when he wasn't bowling.
As for Greg Chappell, I never considered him a great captain.
Waugh was a bore and respected, as for Taylor he must be amongst the worst and equally as boring as Waugh
Tubby Taylor was mine. . Aggressive Field placing & had such a great cricketing brain. 🏏
any examples of his tactical brilliance?
England fan here but I can't be the only one who'd listen to Jarrod Kimber talk about Cricket all day? Genuinely top class
No I'm with you
For me it’s Border. It’s easy to be misled by results when you have a great team (eg. under Waugh & Ponting) but neither could hold a candle to the drive and toughness of Border.
I agree about Border being the greatest but can you seriously question the toughness of either Waugh or Ponting? In that area all three are on a par. Border edges ahead because of his limited resources. He also averaged 55 away from home and 45 at home, which shows he led from the front.
One Mr A R Border for the way he turned around the fortunes of Oz cricket
Agree.AB had to pick up the dregs and eventually got on top when he got some fire-power with Craig McDermott and Big Merv.The Waugh twins turned it with that big stand against the West Indies with a win over Curtly Ambrose ( Steve with that red handkerchief - legendary). The best era of cricket for me ( born 1944) was when Richie Benaud and Frank Worrell were at their respective helms ( the tied Aus - Windies test ).Ritchie was a fantastic captain, sporting,and always trying to get a result.Sadly missed. Tub Taylor was a classy,tactically strong skipper and the best first slipper I have seen.Bobby Simpson was the best.Mark Waugh has to be the best all round fieldsman for catches.A replay reel of his best catches would be magic.
@@lloydsingline340 Best wishes to you sir. Take care of your health please
I do think my appreciation for Ponting has gone up since he retired. At the time I didn't think he could read the game that well, but having heard his commentary, I've realized he just didn't have the tools that captains before him had in that transitional side, particularly with the bowlers (revolving door of garbage spinners combined with workmanlike pace attacks, the selectors did him no favours).
He wasn't the greatest reader of the game early in his captaincy, but to his credit he learnt well from one of the best tacticians in the game at the time in Lehmann and also from Clarke and Hussey.
Ritchie was prob the best, he's in a club with Sobers, Brearley and Ganguly as skippers who could possibly have got a tune out of the 90s England side, and praise don't get much higher for a cricket captain than that! And for setting the stage for what would come in the 90s and 00s, AB needs recognition as maybe the most important.
Border, for reinvigorating the Australian team after the retirement of so many greats of the 70s and early 80s. Waugh, Taylor and Ponting were the ultimate beneficiaries, but he did all the hard yards.
Alan Border, reluctant captain, brought Australia from nothing to world champions, first to 10000 runs, best by a country mile.
He averaged 50 plus across his career and frequently got runs when no-one else in his team did; he faced the Windies attack regularly and never took a backward step. Was able to recognise that bringing in Bobby Simpson as a coach was a smart move and was confident enough in his status to be unconcerned by any erosion in his authority. Ian Chappell would never have been able to accept Bobby Simpson into his set up as he would have hated any erosion in his power.
Steve Waugh: The win percentage is 71.93%. No one else comes close.
@@urbanegorilla6005 if my left testicle had that side it would win 80% of the time
The counterargument is any mug could have captained that team to an all time winning percentage.
@@noloveforthehatersexactly. just like saying John Buchanan was their best ever coach.
Prime Hayden, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Lee, Martyn, Langer... 😂😂 Any clown would have 🐐 stats.
Not sure that is the whole answer - Waugh led an astonishing team - no weaknesses at all
Benaud, Chappelli, Border. Tubby, Waugh and Ponting were gifted with amazing teams
Border inherited one of the poorest Australian teams in history when he became captain. His team only became world beaters around four or five years into his captaincy. Before that he had to rescue and carry the team numerous times.
Please don't include Ian Chappell amongst these decent captains. It is such an insult to the others.
Just as a fun thought experiment, I made up a team of Australian captains (in any format). In batting order:
Mark Taylor
Bill Ponsford
Don Bradman
Steve Smith
Ricky Ponting
Steve Waugh
Adam Gilchrist
Richie Benaud
Pat Cummins
Shane Warne (he captained in ODIs, so he counts)
Ray Lindwall
(numbers 4 and 5 were really tough choices, it was painful to leave Border and Greg Chappell out. Not much choice for the bowlers, although IIRC Hazlewood captained Australia in one T20 match so he qualifies)
Ponsford is in the wrong spot against any decent post world war two attack. He was dominant against medium pacers and spinners but couldn't handle anything approaching express pace. He would be a walking wicket against any experienced test quick.
@ Was considering Bob Simpson instead. Think he would be a better choice?
Great list.
Given the dearth of bowlers in the side I would personally include Greg Chappell over Ricky Ponting. 47 Test wickets and 72 ODI wickets are not to be sneezed at.
Chappell had a higher average than Ponting in test cricket, both Chappell and Ponting averaged around 45 against England but Chappell averaged well above 50 against every other nation while Ponting was below 50 for South Africa and Sri Lanka. Plus Chappell had an average of 59 when batting at 4 where as Ponting's average dropped when batting in lower order, so Chappell is better suited to batting lower given his preferred first drop position is rightly occupied by the Don.
When you add his WSC statistics Chappell compares favourably as a batsmen against every Australian batter other the Don and Smith.
I would also consider Bob Simpson instead of Bill Ponsford. While Ponsford had a higher average (48.2 versus 46.8) Simpson was a very handy bowler as well.
The other change I would make is I would elevate Warne above Cummins. While their Test averages are similar I would elevate Warne because he was a lot more egotistical and batting higher would make him feel better and stroking his ego helped him take wickets. Where as Cummins is much more sanguine and does not need his ego stroked like Warne did.
The real trouble with this side would be the fight over has seniority to field in the slips next to Bradman? There are a lot of very good slips fielders in your list 🤣😆
Ponsford never captained Australia
I think picking batsmen as captain has something to do with where they field. Bowlers tend to be outfielders because of their athleticism and strong throwing arms, while batsmen tend to be infielders because of their quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination.
It's often considered not ideal to be captaining the team from way out in the deep somewhere.
Good discussion. Warwick Armstrong was a good shout. Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell are good shouts. Surprisingly Bradman didn't get a mention. Similar to Steve Waugh, where the team dominated and both had a stiff neck, ruthless attitude.
I enjoyed the discussion but, as usual no-one is clear about their criteria. Is it winning, how they handled the resources available, their public image, man-management, leadership or tactics, or a combination? Captaincy at cricket remains a unique position. I get the senses , as in Bumble's Yorkshire anecdote, that coaches play a bigger role but short of putting radio in their caps (as in the NFL) the captain has to juggle tactics and man-management on the field. Turning to Bradman, Oz played 15 tests post war under his captaincy, lost none and won 11. Prewar he captained 9 tests, won 4 and lost 2. This included the amazing 36-37 Ashes, in which Oz lost the first two and won the last three. Bazball promoters should look this up. The 46-47 touring team in England did not lose a game (in those days they played a full schedule vs the Counties). Those who dislike Bradman say anyone could have won with the post war talent. He was an aloof, highly disciplined person and didnt fit the self-image many Ozzies like to project. Not only was Benaud highly successful, he was an important figure in promoting test cricket. He and Frank Worrell turned the 1961 tour of Oz by WI into an unmatched success with the public.
@hectorlp1298 Well said. I agree, they only scratched the surface of the discussion. Joe Darling and Bill Woodfull are worth a shout too.
Bradman was a bad captain. Listen to Chappell talk about it
Ricky Ponting captained Australia in 77 Tests (48 wins, 16 loses). His winning percentage is 75% - better than Mark Taylor (66.66%), Greg Chappell (61.78%), Michael Clarke (60%), and incumbent Pat Cummins (73.91). Only Steve Waugh (82%). In 77 Tests, Ponting scored 6,542 runs with 19 centuries and 35 fifties at an average of 51.51.
Clarke was the best tactical captain in my lifetime, I'm only 37 so only caught the back end of Border so probably not qualified to comment on his tactics. Clarke lacked in many other areas of captaincy but tactically he was so good!
I am loving Warwick "Big Ship" Armstrong!
Border taught toughness and self belief and led by example and said follow me. Changed the culture of Australian cricket. Should be Sir Allan Border"
And the winner is... Ian Chappell? (Seemed to be only one discussed without any caveats about skill, tactics, coaching, and aggression.)
Overall great, tempo is bit much though, sometimes it’s tough to follow the conversation
Warwick Armstrong - 50 Tests - 2,863 runs at 38.68 and 87 wickets at 33.59, Warwick Armstrong was one of the finest all-rounders of all time.
W.G Grace - 22 Tests 1098 runs at 32.29 and 9 wickets at 26.22, most of his career took place before Test Cricket began but their First Class careers can be considered great, Grace had better bowling stats, Warwick better batting.
WG Grace played in the 19th century where averaging 30 was like averaging 50. He was definitely a batting all-rounder. The Big Ship was a great of Australian cricket though. They undermined his abilities for sure.
It's Allan Border move on.
Credit where credit is due! Bob Simpson needs to acknowledged alongside AB for turning Australian cricket around. People seem to forget about Simpson when mentioning this period of time in Australian cricket.
Allan Robert Border.............dude withstood rebels, retirements and successive beat downs by arguably the greatest cricket team of all time and still molded a team that would dominate cricket for 12-13 years. AB was so well respected that Curtly Ambrose, who did not speak to the opposition during games always called Border Skipper. I remember Kim Hughes talking about the effect getting beat up by the WI in those days had on team morale. He said that they played the WI very regularly, and every time they had built up team morale, they get beaten and they're back at square one. 1988 when the west indies went to Australia, the series was decided before New years day. Yet Australia, trailing 3-0 and facing demoralization, beat the WI in the 4th test of that series and made a serious contest of the 5th, which was a draw and for any onlooker, showed that the gap between the two sides was a lot closer than that 3-1 score line suggested. Then they went to England in 1989 and won the Ashes 4-0 and would have won all six if not for rain. The Australian renaissance of the mid 90s started with AB. Best Aussie captain followed closely by Ian Chappell.
Steve Waugh .. cold killer
Mr mental disintergration!
@@dluap569161 Mark Taylor did captain that team, Steve took everyone who failed under Taylor and turned them into legends.
@@everygamersdream72 You mean they just got older and reached peak age
@@dluap569161 That's a false assumption. Warne would have tried to win winless games. He would have rubbed teammates the wrong way with his eccentric personality. Test captains need to be calm and think long term. Conversely he could have been a great T20 captain for Australia as less of those issues matter in the shortest format.
@@cameronpetie8318 "Warne would have tried to win winless games". That could be a false assumption as well using your logic. Insisting the team wear their baggy green caps to go and watch tennis at Wimbledon could also be considered eccentric (although that is a completely subjective concept) and definitely rubbed players up the wrong way.
Border dragged the team out of the gutter. The greats that followed rose on the back of his legacy.
I haven't seen them all obviously, but of the ones I've seen it's a toss up between Alan Border and Steve Waugh. Border drove his team relentlessly and made them better, and Waugh picked at opposition sides relentlessly and made them worse. Both absolutely awesome. Seeing Border's Aussies perform in the 89 Ashes when they were written off before they even arrived never gets old.
Steve Waugh. He had huge egos in that team. He had such immense talent and time in the game. I mean time because he always seemed in control. The lift in fielding, professionalism and hunger for win, came under Waugh. He had legacy
Never understood how anyone doubted Ponting as a captain. I think it was just because Steve Waugh had an unbeatable team and Ponting inherited the tail end of that era when it was on the decline.
People give Waugh and Ponting stick for having good sides, but man management is key. To harness those egos to achieve what they did is a skill.
Ian Chappell rated Ricky Ponting more highly than Steve Waugh. “I’ve seen Steve Waugh run out of ideas as a captain, I never saw Ponting run out of ideas,” said Chappell. He said the times he saw Australia under Waugh really challenged there would be no plan b, c or d and that wasn’t the case under Ponting.
Thats only because Chappell hated Steve Waugh
Chappell had Lillee and Thompson. A luxury that his predecessor, Bill Lawry never had. He can be a massive hypocrite. He has a huge chip on his shoulder and is endlessly critical of anyone he doesn't like. Always critiscised Border even though for much of Borders reign he had fairly pedestrian bowling attacks. Never failed to kick Hughes when he was down. Hated Steve Waugh. Hated poor Bevan. Ian Chappell never got over the fact that he retired and was no longer in control. Certainly never held his own captaincy or batting record to the standards by which he judged others. It didn't take a tactical genius to toss the ball to Lillee and give him some slips when he needed a wicket.
Chappell was a mediocre batsman and a worse captain. He was captain when Lillee and Thommo won some tests for him. When Lillee and Thommo couldn't play in 1974 / 75 Australia lost. Chappell would have won his first test as captain if HE could bat.
AB had the hardest job of rebuilding the team. By far the best. Those that followed had a far easier task and far greater support from coaches selectors etc.
The quality of the cricket talk puts football in perspective. Utterly excellent.
ricky ponting , he won two world cups and a champions trophy for his country ... if he had born in india, he would be celebrated like a god
Never won test in india, lost ashes as captain in Australia
@@kartikgoel07 world cup >>>>> any meaningless series
@@beinghuman5701 not for Australia.
Australians care about test cricket, especially the Ashes, much more than ICC trophies. And Ponting failed a lot as an Ashes captain.
@@TheLeftie600 then why Australia hasn't played any international series after T20 world cup?
I love Steve Smith ❤
Adam Gilchrist won a Test Series as Captain in India in an era where Ponting even failed to win a single Test in India as Captain.
To be fair to Ponting, India were on course to win the 2nd test in Chennai test till rain played spoilsport
Sachin was injured for 2 out of 4 test matches in 2004 series
He played only last two tests of that series.
But Aus played better overall and made more runs than India and won that series.(2-1)
Warnie was probably really captaining that team.
Warwick Armstrong once borrowed a newspaper from a spectator and read it in the outfield while England boringly played out the day for a draw.
No mention of Greg Chappell, who scored a century in each innings of his first Test as Captain, and is still the ONLY Test Captain ever to score a century in his first and last Tests as Captain. Also, his winning percentage as Captain was better than that of his brother Ian.
Steve waugh is my favourite hardly smiling, dropped his champion spinner Shane warne for a test match, fine batter brilliant fielder lead by example.
In my opinion, Allan Border, Mark Taylor & Steve Waugh. 🫡
Pretty hard to disagree with you.
Allan Border led Australia out of the cricketing wilderness and frequently saved Australia from embarrassment through his efforts with the bat and a couple of times brought himself on as a bowler and got key wickets. He worked with Bob Simpson to improve the team's athletic ability and didn't unnecessarily hog the spotlight himself so players felt appreciated and that they were not just there to make Border look good. He was a brilliant leader and winning the World Cup in 1987 and Ashes in 1989 was just reward for a champion who had shouldered the burden of Australian cricket after the big three retired.
Border had limited opportunities to demonstrate tactical acuity as for so long he was digging Australia out of hole. Taylor was able to take the team that was fitter and more focused than any other and he applied tactics and was able to lead in a more consensus based manner as there were more world class players in the team and he was not required to personally grab the team by the scruff of the neck. When the batting line up collapsed he could rely of Steve Waugh to bat with the tail and get a decent final score and Warne and later McGrath could step up with the bowling. This gave Taylor the space to be tactically astute and he delivered a masterclass in captaining and his captaining was so great that he effectively maintained his spot in the team by virtue of what he brought as the captain.
Tugger delivered a captaincy model that was half way between the two. He had the aggression of Border and the nous of Taylor and he mixed this with a bit of the Ian Chappell ruthlessness of getting your foot on the throat of an opponent and never releasing pressure until they capitulated. He introduced a trait that Ian Chappell, Border or Taylor never had and that was about getting in the head of the opposition and intimidating them so that more often than not they beat themselves through capitulating in the 3rd or 4th innings when they were mesmerised by Warne and the Australian team. Waugh was focused on winning and had leadership, tactics, man management and the new skill of mentally intimidating the opposition so they beat themselves.
For me each of these three captains were the ideal captains for their era who made the necessary changes unbound by tradition or their predecessors, making the most of their own talents while encouraging their team mates to shine and take ownership of their own roles.
@@MrCarrera28 : Thanks. Yours was an excellent write-up to sum up how each of the greats was responsible for not only improving Aussie cricket (Allan Border, Mark Taylor) but also making the Aussie team almost invincible (Steve Waugh) for the years to come. One can definitely enjoy the fruits of the labour (Ricky Ponting - no disrespect to him as he was fantastic too) but one must never forget the humble beginnings. That's the reason why I regard Border, Taylor & Waugh the best.
Gotta give Allan Border the prize, Australia was rubbish when he got the job, he took them from a team that could hardly win anything to winning the World Cup against the odds, then regaining the Ashes in England (that had not been done since 1934 and hasnt been done since), he only narrowly missed beating the West Indies. Perhaps Taylor, Waugh and Ponting had better win records but look at the talent they had to work with, West Indies team was in steady decline by the time they got the job.
Special mention for Shane Warne, he lost only 1 of 11 ODIs as captain and that by only 7 runs.
"Jarrod, who in your opinion is the greatest Bangladeshi cricketer of all time, who could bowl left arm spin, bat in the middle order, and be the captain of the team?"
"There can't be anyone else but Mohammad Rafique."
Steve Waugh & Ian Chappell equal in the modern era followed by Border who built a brilliant side that all came together in England in 1989
That Jarrod Kimber is an encyclopedia
You mention Armstrong …. But no mention of Bradman …. Captain of The Invincibles !!!
The thing about Bradman is he was a very successful captain and if you are doing a best ever Australian he is the player pretty much guaranteed a spot, so the argument is you would make him captain as no-one else takes his spot 😅
That Invincible side were the best cricket side EVER. Have a look at their individual records.
@@lloydsingline340 If by the Invincibles you mean the 1948 Australian side that toured England, then I absolutely agree with you.
Steve Waugh is the greatest ever Australian captain, he started taking risk by declaring second innings at low score and giving confidence to their bowlers, he made Australia invincible by winning 16 back to back tests
Greg Chappell undoubtedly, the underarm was genius
Not ponting, lost 3 out of 4 ashes, bowled marcus north to try and win a test, bowled first at edgebaston
Also never won test in india
won two world cups!
In all fairness to ponting, he did happen to captain australia when they were at their worst and going through a transitional period between 2008 and 2011 coinciding with 2 ashes defeats.
4 icc trophies bro just a few mistake does not make you a terrible skipper. Even Dhoni barely won a test series outside the subcontinent and also lost a test series at home against England after a long time
@@aimansharma9592 "even dhoni" he wasn't a great captain either
Cheers lads
*Steve Waugh* only because he never compromised on talents, neither did he ever got emotionally involved with decisions, neither did he get agitated. He managed to keep a locker room full of legendary players not have their ego stroked & the aussies decimated opponents left, right & center.
For me it should be Ricky Ponting, led a team of superstars & yet managed to be bring out best of them.
Border was class best I have seen by a distance...
For me from my time watching cricket I would say Alan Border & Mark Taylor.
Kimber ! Please talk about mohammad asif the Pakistani bowler some day . What you think of his bowling .
Ponting 100%.👍🏽
No other question
Steve Waugh is undoubtedly Australia's best captain. Not only that, he made test cricket far more entertaining and lifted the standards across all cricketing nations.
Shane Warne would have been a great captain. He was tactically brilliant, aggressive, patient, and had an aura “Tyson effect”. ACB should have taken the chance and my is that they would have been very happy. YOU RIPPER SW!!!!
Allan border should be the greatest captain of Australia , rebuilding australia from the defeats of the mid 80s and grooming the next crop of players like waugh, taylor and warne to sometimes singlehandedly grinding out in the middle,his world cup victory of 87 is not talked about much but that is what set the stage for the champion side the Aussies would become, and of course the 89 ashes when the team he captained was considered the weakest aussie team ever.
A.B and Bob Simpson rebuild Australian team after W.I and Sir Richard Hadlee destroyed them in mid 80's and it wasn't until the 90's we got over W.I.
A.B was most influential captain anyone who played against the W.I Bowling attacks from 70's to 90's merciless and dangerous but border stood toe to toe and lead the way forward
An Australian captain who was chosen only for his ability to make a speech was Ian Johnston. Syd Barnes said he could play him with a toothpick. Barnes actually called for a toy bat when Johnstone was bowling. Not good enough to get a place in the team but picked for captain. Keith Miller should have been captain. Johnston ended up the establishment man as Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Agree.My mother used to go on about Ian Johnson as a dud captain and of course she loved Keith Miller who would have been a Ritchie Benaud style captain.
2 Australian captains never lost a test series lan chappell captain 30 tests and don bradman captain in 16 tests
Great captains but it was also the strength of their teams that made that possible
Chappells teams in the mid 70s and bradman 1948 side
There teams were the strongest in the history of cricket
In my lifetime, probably Waugh. He was the most balanced overall. And he's the prototypical Number 5 batsman imo.
Agree, Clarke was a fantastic tactician. He perhaps doesn't get as involved in this discussion because of his poor overseas record as captain, lost in England 3-0, 3-2, whitewashed 4-0 in India and homework gate. I asked an Australian I worked with why Clarke was unpopular - he said that Clarke was from a working class family in Liverpool, NSW and let fame get to his head, with the glamorous and flashy lifestyle that gets you in the press for wrong reasons. Shame because I think he is an underrated test captain and batter, phenomenal record.
Clarke came across as an entitled brat.
I have a youthful bias for Tubby Taylor but not one mention of Bradman!? The only captain to go undefeated on a tour of England has to count for something.
George Bailey, of course
Or the great Graham Yallop!
Steve Smith has captained Australia in 38 Tests (21 wins, 10 loses). His winning percentage is 67.74% - better than Mark Taylor (66.66%), Greg Chappell (61.78%) and Michael Clarke (60%). Australia won the ICC Test Cricket World Championship under Smith’s captaincy in 2016. In 38 Tests as captain, Smith has scored 3,867 runs with 15 centuries and 14 fifties at an average of 66.67. So, he is one of the all-time great Australian Test Cricket captains.
Yeah he has a much higher cheating % and lower honor % than anyone else though...
And was such a wonderful guy he dumped poor old Cameron Bancroft in the toilet for his absolute stupidity ( along with that bum Dave Warner ). Not a captains a...hole.
1 Steve Waugh ... 71.9 win %
2 Allan Border ... 34.4 win %
3 Ricky Ponting ... 62.33 win %
4 Don Bradman ... 62.5 win %
5 Ian Chappell ... 50.0 win %
As if Australia only give the captaincy to the best willing batsmen?
There are very strong arguments for each of our captains over the last 40 years above all other players. Warne being the biggest exception yet it was his off field ways that cost him.
The best willing batsman - that certainly wasn't Ian Chappell - at that time we had better batsman ( Stackpole, Redpath, Doug Walters, Greg Chappell ).
Gilchrist has one of the best win ratios, and one of only a few to win on the subcontinent.
Pat “stop hurting the environment, but continues to fly all over the world cause I’m a flog lefty” Cummins
The new age Michael Clarke , absolute wanker of a human … the last bloke on earth you would have a beer with , but you cannot argue his captaincy resume.
Greg Chappell for ordering the underarm delivery against New Zealand
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
There have been some fantastic Australian captains, but Steve Waugh is arguably the greatest captain test cricket has seen!
Don't let Ian Chappel hear that!
I think ponting
2 world cups
2 champions trophies
Multiple ashes series
He lead that great invincible Australia team for quite some time and successfully
Barring a few ashes mis steps and shortfalls in the late 2000s early 2010s he had an incredible career
I have said it in the India captain video
I say it again
In the end of the day results matter and ponting was the best in terms of results
Can anyone here explain to me why Michael Clarke was so hated? Was he hated even? He captained a poor Australia side and rejuvenated them, dealt with the Phil Hughes incident with incredible dignity and was tough as they come on the field.
So he had a bit of a image problem away from the game, particularly before he was captain. He was tabloid fodder with his girlfriend, he had a whole "prettyboy" thing going on with the hair and earrings and stuff, choices in adverts and brand deals (like the bonds adverts), which didn't fit the mould of captains past, pissing off a chunk of the "traditional" fans. And then he had a different second group of people hating on him for the run ins with teammates, like the whole Katich thing which got big media attention, among others. And then he pissed off a further mostly separate third group of people with some of the on-field antics (broken arm etc), which incidentally may have actually won him some fans back from the first group.
He won over most fans by the end, but he was never universally loved, very little of it having anything to do with his actual performance on the field.
He was a very new generation of player personality wise.
-He clashed with what the Australian public and cricket establishment thought an Australian cricketer should be.
-His personal life, more specifically his relationships were often in the public eye.
-He clashed with certain teammates. His spat with Katich was pretty ugly and people never really forgave him for it.
I've always been a defender of him as a captain, and he is BY FAR the best Australian captain tactically since Taylor. But he always rubbed people the wrong way and that has unfortunately stayed with people far more than his brilliant captaincy.
He was different to other captains when he spoke, sounded like a politician with lots of cliches. Was boring to listen too. I think everyone also liked Katich and Symonds much more than him too so when he had blues with them we all saw the kinda dude he was.
his off-field life overtook what he did on it. Was never the typical old school Aus captian mould. he was an upstart, and seen as overly flashy dickhead with the fancy cars, tattoos, model girlfriend. Perceived as not a loyal teammate/ captain and often clashed with team mates Katich, Watson. In his 60 mins interview, he said there was always this perception that he was gunning for Ponting's job, so old heads like Matt Hayden were never too fond of him after he became captain. I liked him and mad respect for what he did for the team during the Phillip Hughes passing.
Personally I felt like he got a red carpet ride into a dominant side as a youngster. He was lauded for his stats early on but he was usually coming in at 4/350+ against disspirited bowling attacks.
Main issue was personality, but agree he handled the Hughes tragedy well from a leadership perspective. As a batter I believe it damaged his psyche/approach to facing short pitch bowling.
Steve Smith should have had the balls to tell David Warner to just suck it up about the Sonny Bill masks
Steve Waugh
Alan Border
Warwick Armstrong
Ritchie Benaud
Mark Taylor
Warwick Armstrong: 8 wins 0 losses 2 draws
AB, Tugga & Tubby....In that order for me!
Micheal Clarke won the 2015 world cup he is a popular captain
Popular? Ask Simon Katich and most of the other Australian players at that time. As Jimmy Anderson pointed out to him in Brisbane, all of your team hate you.
Tim Paine.. hands down.... tactically astute & brilliant, great reader of the game & match awareness ...also helps that he was Australia's best keeper ever...he captained beautifully in the bgt series.,..as an india appreciates his contribution to india
No, not even close, as captain or keeper.
@@davidgraham8299 LoL... it's called Sarcasm bruh...
😂
@@davidgraham8299read the last 2 lines lmao, this is trolling lmao
@@davidgraham8299you are very bad at understanding sarcasm