THE ART OF CAPTAINCY

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Mike Brearley is a qualified psychoanalyst. He is also among the game’s legendary captains.

Brearley’s strategic skills and leadership qualities transformed England into a formidable force from the mid to late 70s. Captaincy was always his strongest attribute whether leading Cambridge, Middlesex or England.

The 66-year-old Brearley retains his passion for the game. A part of the English media covering the India-England series, he shared his thoughts with 'The Hindu' in an interview.

Q. What is captaincy? How would you define it?

A. You cannot really define captaincy. Can you define female beauty? I think captaincy is a lot about having a passion for tactics…getting the best out of people. Each cricketer is different and you first need to understand a player, his strengths and his weaknesses.

I don’t like the word man-management, which is more about sitting in a chair and sending out instructions. Captaining a cricket team has several more dimensions to it. A captain has to reach out to his men, anticipate, create and react to situations on the field. For every match you have a different plan. And for every plan you have alternate plans. This could change between every session, hour, and over.

Q. You were admired for the manner in which you motivated the players…

A. It’s a lot about human engagement. There are certain basics. You must not try to humiliate a player in front of others. You got to be honest with a player without putting him down too much. You should try and encourage him whenever you have a chance. You must remember and recognise his contribution in a team meeting.

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu, December 14, 2008

Comments

Anonymous said…
Mike Brearley is so right. Captaincy is really all about knowing your job and your people, recognizing, developing and building the capacity of people, confronting the reality and having enough courage to be honest about the situation with self and the team members. And yes, he is absolutely right when he says that its lot about having a passion of tactics.

Thank you for sharing this with us.
December 15, 2008 at 11:36 PM
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