Maverick Warne deserved run as captain

Shane Warne directs his players in the field against England at the Gabba in 1999 in a rare period as Australia’s ODI skipper. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

A year after being demoted from the Australian vice-captaincy in favour of Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne reflected in his autobiography — one should say, one of his autobiographies — on this moment that ended his captaincy ambitions. Thereafter, despite all his achievements, he could never quite hide the frustration or regret he felt at being overlooked; on a glittering cricketing CV, the captaincy of Australia was the one glaring omission.

It is often said that, along with Keith Miller, the nugget, Warne was the best captain Australia never had. These counterfactuals are tantalising, especially in the case of those like Warne and Miller who played the game with such joy and enterprise and who, according to those they played with, were so inspirational to be around. “He made you feel ten feet tall,” one team-mate of Warne said. “He made you believe the impossible,” another said.

Warne did captain Australia briefly but only as a locum and was never given permanent tenure. He led Australia in 11 ODIs, mostly between January and February 1999, winning ten of them mainly against Sri Lanka and England, although it must be said that Australia of that vintage would have won games no matter who was in charge. Then, a year after he captained in these matches, he was demoted from the vice-captaincy in favour of Gilchrist.

Warne was clear why. In his book, he likened Gilchrist to Richie Cunningham, the clean-cut character from the television show, Happy Days.

“We do not want a Richie Cunningham-type figure in charge unless he is the best person. He was the character in Happy Days who was always polite and well-mannered, who said the right thing at the right time, but relied on the Fonz, the more confident, street-smart figure to overcome his problems in the real world,” Warne wrote, leaving readers to infer how he viewed himself in this regard.

In the days following Warne’s death last week, it has been said that he was a cricketer of his time, perfectly suited to the television/celebrity age. This is true: he arrived in the early 1990s, just as the satellite television revolution was taking off in the sub-continent, which transformed the economics of the game and brought sponsors to the sport in droves. Warne’s wealth and celebrity and the way his brilliance was highlighted through television could not have existed in an earlier age.

But it was also a time, because of the consequent influx of sponsors, when sport began to march in step with more corporate values. It became less likely that governing bodies would take a risk with maverick-type figures for leadership.

It was no secret that Cricket Australia grew increasingly frustrated by the string of stories in the tabloids, as the Official History of CA related. “Sooner or later he will always let you down,” one board member was quoted as saying.

England have avoided mavericks latterly. Alastair Cook — “Alastair Cook and his family are very much the sort of people we want the England captain and his family to be,” Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, once said — and Joe Root, the incumbent, can be seen in this mould.

It will be fascinating to see whether the authorities take a punt in future on a different type of character in their set-up, Ben Stokes, who is the most inspirational cricketer in the England dressing room right now.

There are different styles of leaders, obviously, and there are enough examples of what might be called the quiet “serve to lead” type to know that they can be highly successful and effective.

You would put Kane Williamson in that category right now, a very successful captain of new Zealand. There have also been enough examples in cricket to know that a different style of leadership, one by force of personality, can succeed, too.

Of the most charismatic cricketers I have seen — Imran Khan, Viv Richards, Virat Kohli and Warne - three were highly successful leaders. Tony Greig would probably be the last England captain of this type. It has always fascinated me the extent to which leadership can be learnt. Elements must be transferable from text book or lecture or passed-on experience, but charisma and force of personality are innate attributes.

No doubt, Warne would have been challenged in many different ways as captain and Australia were hardly inconvenienced by having a great leader in Steve Waugh in charge around that time. But the attributes alongside his skill that made Warne a great player — a never-say-die attitude, absolute conviction and willingness to take a risk - would have translated easily to on-field leadership at least.

It is highly likely that we overstate the influence a captain can have, and mythologise the role. That said, the coda of the old Richie Benaud line — that captaincy is 90 per cent luck and ten per cent skill — is often forgotten: don’t try it without the ten per cent, he said. Warne was the most intelligent cricketer I played against; it would have been fascinating to see him shape Test cricket not just as a bowler, but captain, too.

Gemma Morgan, a decorated former officer at Sandhurst who for a time worked on helping instil leadership credentials on the next generation of England cricketers, said this of leadership: “If you get a combination of a brilliant player, a charismatic leader and someone with the interests of others at heart, then great. But they don’t come along very often.”

I’ve often thought Warne would have been among that number.

The Times