Items15The creator’s order
  1. 1Douglas JardineDouglas JardineBorn 23 Oct 1900Jardine's plan for the 1932-33 Ashes was to stop Don Bradman by having Harold Larwood bowl fast and short at the body with a packed leg-side field, which Australians called Bodyline. England won the series, but the tactic caused a diplomatic row and led to law changes limiting leg-side fielders. He…0i
  2. 2Richie BenaudRichie BenaudBorn 6 Oct 1930Benaud led Australia from 1958 with attacking intent: he set close catchers for his leg-spin, chased results on the final day and was willing to risk defeat for a win. The tied Test against the West Indies at Brisbane in 1960, played in that spirit with Frank Worrell, helped revive interest in Test…0i
  3. 3Ian ChappellIan ChappellBorn 26 Sept 1943Ian Chappell's Australia of the 1970s was aggressive in every sense: attacking fields with multiple slips for Lillee and Thomson, quick declarations and relentless pressure on batters, verbal included. He rebuilt a struggling side into one that dominated the 1974-75 Ashes. His blunt, players-first…0i
  4. 4Clive LloydClive LloydBorn 31 Aug 1944After a heavy defeat in Australia in 1975-76, Lloyd built the West Indies attack around four fast bowlers and almost no spin, rotating them in short spells so the pressure never dropped. The method won two World Cups and began a 15-year run without a Test series defeat that outlasted his captaincy.…0i
  5. 5Mike BrearleyMike BrearleyBorn 28 Apr 1942Brearley was an ordinary Test batter selected largely for his captaincy, and he justified it. In the 1981 Ashes he returned mid-series, persuaded a struggling Ian Botham to play freely, and switched Bob Willis to bowl downhill at Headingley, where Willis took 8 for 43. His book The Art of Captaincy…0i
  6. 6Arjuna RanatungaArjuna RanatungaBorn 1 Dec 1963Ranatunga's Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup by attacking the new ball with Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, using the early fielding restrictions as no team had before, then strangling opponents with spin. He was fiercely protective of his players, famously leading his team towards the…0i
  7. 7Stephen FlemingStephen FlemingBorn 1 Apr 1973Fleming captained New Zealand for a decade with limited resources and became known for unusual, batter-specific fields: a short mid-wicket here, a fly slip there, each built from detailed study. His sides punched above their weight, winning the 2000 ICC KnockOut. He later carried that analytical…0i
  8. 8Sourav GangulySourav GangulyBorn 8 Jul 1972Ganguly took over an Indian side shaken by match-fixing in 2000 and made it combative, backing young players such as Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan and refusing to be intimidated abroad. His shirt-waving on the Lord's balcony after the 2002 NatWest final summed up the new…0i
  9. 9Steve WaughSteve WaughBorn 2 Jun 1965Steve Waugh's Australia scored Test runs at around four an over long before that was normal, giving their bowlers more time to take 20 wickets, and won 16 consecutive Tests. He called it mental disintegration: relentless pressure in the field and with the bat. Unlike Benaud, his attacking captaincy…0i
  10. 10Graeme SmithGraeme SmithBorn 1 Feb 1981Smith was handed the South Africa captaincy at 22 and held it for over a decade, a Test-record 109 matches in charge. His style was steady and attritional: big first-innings totals, then pressure from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel with conventional fields. He led South Africa to No. 1 in the Test…0i