So Who Should Captain England Then?

[Teatime FatCat]

The way I view it there's precious few options - so who do you think should captain England and why? I'm trying to make this into a poll, so let's see if I can make it work eh?

Oh yes I did it!

Anyway, the serious answer for me is Andy Strauss. Vaughan won't be fit and Freddy has too much on his plate. Also, although Strauss made a few mistakes in the ODI's, he cannot be held responsible for the appalling bowlers he has had to manage.

Alternitively, TTFC could be the man for the job, after all he did take Chertsey CC 3XI to the brink of promotion last year from Surrey Championship 3XI Div1 into the premiership!. I'd certainly shake a few things up and bust a few egos! I'd also kidnap Troy Cooley, copywrite the Merlin machine and replace 'Dunc' with Adam Hollioake as ODI coach!

My test team against the PAKS would be -

Tresco
Cook
Strauss*
KP
Colly
Freddy
Dalrymple
Read+
Harmy
Hoggy
Monty

[Lemming]

I reckon they should sit Vaughan down in a chair at mid-on and let him captain the side. That is the only option for me, non of this pick the captain from the best, fit XI players rubbish.

[Naveed33]

Freedy: not shrewd enough, to pally with other players. Best bet to win something is to let him loose, not tie him down with captaincy.
Strauss: Looses it under pressure.
Tresco: Most expreienced, tough, closest in style to Vaughan. If not picked he might be another example of England managaments (read: Duncan Fletcher) stubbornes/incompetence to not pick/do the best for England.

Here is an interesting one:

KP: Extremly tough and shrewd. Expert at making the most of his abilities (something he will transfer to England). Pressure and responsibilty raises his game. He will probably not get it now because of lack of experience and "hollywood" factor. South Africa went down similar route when the appointed Greame Smith. I would rather see him than Strauss or Freddy.

[BarmyBarmyArmy]

I agree with the KP option, he would be great IMO. He is tough, arrogant and a good player - do the other players like him?


If Vaughan isn't fit for the ashes i'd definately take him to help coach and captain from the boundary!

[Vrock]

Originally Posted by BarmyBarmyArmy

If Vaughan isn't fit for the ashes i'd definately take him to help coach and captain from the boundary!

Vaughan being a boundary captain, no chance whatsoever. Vaughan's plans for batsmen will probably be identical to that of any captain England will field, maybe the odd bit of inspiration in field placings here and there but it wouldn't do much for the players personally. It is Vaughan's mentality which makes him so much better than anyone else, when the chips are down he doesn't suddenly look all worried and this affects the players greatly.

Imagine how England's players must have felt when Flintoff in India suddenly sent all the fielders to the boundary, it doesn't exactly pass on a positive message if your captain is struggling to keep control. Not forgetting that Flintoff then chose to bowl himself even when he was probably nackered and struggling. This really doesn't help your bowlers' confidence levels does it?

Vaughan on the field would have controlled the situation better, on the sidelines him shouting at Flintoff to put fielders back into orthodox positions would probably have been worse. He would have undermined the captain which really would have put a dampner on things for players.

In jest or however it may appear, Vaughan should not interfere with things. He needs to get himself fit again!

Back to our next captain:

Trescothick - He might not even accept it if offered and would you really want to give the captaincy to someone who doesn't have the hunger for captaincy?

Strauss - He's had rubbish bowling to work with, our supposed strenght, difficult to really judge until he gets a crucial point in a match where he needs to turn up the screws.

Flintoff - He has too much on his plate but will probably be incorrectly given it.

KP - It's an interesting name to throw in the hat but I feel his inexperience as a captain would be his down fall. His attitude is certainly up there though.

TTFC - The classic choice, you would at least get the coaching side of things right!

[Vrock]

He has the hunger for captaincy and we have an ex-England skipper calling for him to play in the role also.

Given all that is going on within the side it probably is the best call, Tresco was the only other wise-man's choice for the side and he doesn't want it as much. That hardly gives a great impression to your team mates.

[Irish Left Armer]

Strauss seems like the most sensible option to me.

Have never been impressed with Tres as a captain and the debacle in India didn't help. He's also England most consistent batsman (well maybe KP now) so just leave him to make the runs at the top of the order.

Flintoff, like I've said all along has more than enough to be doing as it is. Giving him the captaincy long term will burn him out even quicker than he is at the moment.

Kp, hmm I dunno, never seen him captain at any level but he hasn't been in the team for very long.

[Paoli]

I voted for Strauss, though if Giles is fit, I'd give it to him. At least he doesn't have much on his plate, and isn't a very good bowler at all. South Africa did the same thing, giving vice captaincy to Nicky Boje a while back.

I think it is better if a player like Giles is captain, as he seems to have a smart cricketing brain, would know his fellow bowlers quite well, and he can let Strauss look after the batting side of things.

Bottom line, it'll be a long, long summer if yer English!

[Vrock]

Ian Botham has now stated that Andrew Flintoff should be England captain.

Originally Posted by Beefy

There is no one else [other than Flintoff] and deep down the England hierarchy must know that.

In terms of inspiration yes, captaincy wise no.

[greg]

As far as i am concerned Vaughan is gone and forgotten until next summer so we need to work out now whether the burden is to much for Freddie to carry or let Strauss carry on as there is nobody else who can be trusted.I don't mind either of them getting it as long as they are backed by the other players and the press.