Pup right age to be next Test top dog

Ian Chappell From: The Sunday Telegraph October 03, 2010

ONE of the more amazing cricket statistics is the minimal number of Australian Test captains appointed in 133 years.
Only 42 players have captained Australia, indicating how important stability is to the selectors.

The past is also a clue to the future. The trend of longevity is sure to continue, which narrows the field to one man - Michael Clarke.

Otherwise, why was Clarke anointed as Ricky Ponting's successor when Adam Gilchrist retired in 2008-09?

At that point the selectors made a judgment and having decided Clarke was the man to guide Australia's future path, it would take a monumental backdown for them now to admit they made a mistake.

Selectors backing down occurs about as often as sightings of Halley's Comet. In addition, if the selectors continue to choose a captain for the long haul, a glance at the other contenders also shows Clarke is best placed to take over from Ponting.


Clarke is 29, a good age to assume the leadership.

The other serious candidates in the team, Brad Haddin (32), Simon Katich (35) and Mike Hussey (35) are at an age where they would only serve as a fill-in captain.

Of those 42 Australian captains, about eight have been fill-ins, consequently the senior players' best chance of getting a gig is an injury to Clarke.

Of the other players around the right age to take over from Ponting, only Cameron White (27) fits the captaincy profile.

White, with six seasons of experience as Victorian captain, is well-credentialled - perhaps even better than Clarke, who has never led NSW.

However, White isn't a front-line Test candidate and with the emergence of Steven Smith as a leg-spinning all-rounder, he's unlikely to receive an opportunity anytime soon.

That leaves only two questions;

1. Is Clarke a good candidate?

2. When is he likely to take over from Ponting?

Apart from leadership qualities, the important attributes of a captain are his playing skills, the respect he has earned from his team-mates and his capacity for taking tough decisions.

Clarke has shown since his elevation to the vice-captaincy that his batting has been buoyed by the responsibility rather than weighed down by expectation.

In that period he's performed better than anyone other than Katich. He's shown maturity off the field in handling his father's health issues and then the turmoil caused by a stormy relationship.

He ended his extremely public engagement to model Lara Bingle in what must have been a traumatic time for everyone and yet retained his dignity.

Nothing that happens on the cricket field will ever be as difficult as that decision.

Clarke has also shown himself to be an enterprising captain in his stint as Australia's Twenty20 leader.

Nevertheless, if he stops whistling, as though calling up a sheepdog, to attract the attention of his team-mates in the field, I'm sure that would help the captain-player relationship.

The training received in a highly competitive system is another reason why Australia have needed so few skippers. Clarke has passed through that system with flying colours, including a stint as a youth leader, so he's well prepared for the next step.

Clarke is an ambitious cricketer, always has been and always will be. Potential leaders naturally possess ambition, just ask Bob Hawke about Paul Keating and John Howard about Peter Costello.

Like Clarke, Ponting is extremely ambitious and competitive.

His net sessions as a youngster facing Glenn McGrath at the Academy in Adelaide were stuff of legend and his recent strict exercise regime indicates he's in no hurry to depart the Test side.

In fact, Ponting has hinted he wants to retain the Test captaincy for sometime yet, perhaps even through to the Ashes in 2013. The difference between cricket and politics is the captain doesn't get to do a deal regarding the succession plan.

The captaincy is decided by the selectors. That means Clarke and Ponting's fate is in the selectors' hands. The ideal time to appoint number 43 would be after a successful Ashes campaign in Australia; Ponting would go out a hero and Clarke is the right age to take over.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/pup-right-age-to-be-next-test-top-dog/story-e6freyar-1225933268079