The Cricket Interview / Mike Brearley
"Sachin is not doing anything particularly wrong"
A cricketer liberally quoting Aristotle, Tolstoy and Keats, and lecturing senior managers and MBA students on building winning teams?!
But coming from Mike Brearley, the most cerebral captain the game has ever seen and, perhaps, will ever see, it isn't astounding. Rated one of the greatest captains ever, Brearley became a legend for taking over the reins of the English team in the late Seventies, at age 34, and transforming its fortunes unlike any other skipper before.
Notorious for that last ball he bowled underarm in an England-Australia one-dayer, famous for moulding Ian Botham into one of the game's greatest all-rounders, Brearley was a student of classics and philosophy, and even worked for the British Foreign Service before choosing a cricketing career.
Now a practising psychotherapist in London, Brearley, 55, is the author of the bestselling The Art of Captaincy -- a bible for cricket captains, wannabe captains and fans alike -- and is a much sought after speaker on building winning teams and team management issues. In India in connection with ITC's "The Winning Edge Series" of lectures across the country, Brearley spoke to Dhruv Prabhuswamy on the state of Indian cricket and the way the game has changed across the globe. Excerpts:
To what do you attribute the lean patch Indian cricket is going through?
I haven't watched much of the Indian team of late, though I did watch them during their England tour of 1996. It happened in the early part of the summer, and so it was very cold. The pitches didn't suit the Indians, and the spinners didn't come good. They had only two good seamers in Srinath and Prasad, and the two other seamers in their side were not even good enough to make it to a decent county side.
I saw them play in the Lord's Test, where they did get into a good position but didn't attack. The pitch had begun to help some spin, but they were bowling Kumble from one end and Prasad or Srinath from the other. And then they had only one slip fielder! Obviously, the team lacks the instinct to attack.
Does that mean that Sachin Tendulkar isn't getting his act right?
Well, Sachin wasn't the captain in England. As for now, he doesn't seem to be doing anything particularly wrong. I felt sorry for him in Sharjah. He could've kept on with the spinners when Pakistan were on the run, but he also had those 10 overs to be bowled by the fifth bowler. If he had persisted with the spinners and the Pakistan batsmen had survived, he would still be criticised.
Is he too young to be captain?
It is not easy to be captain when you are younger than a lot of people in the team. I was 29 when I became captain of Middlesex, and there were several players senior to me. I found it quite difficult then. But Sachin is in a very different position. He's the best player in the team, and has tremendous experience in international cricket. True, he is very young, but I don't see why he can't be good. It will however take some time for him to learn.
Is the excessive amount of cricket being played by the Indians impacting on their performance, do you think?
Too much cricket does make the players jaded. But then again, the players probably find the temptations hard to resist, and keep playing for financial considerations. The biggest pressure I think comes from the board and the sponsors.
There has in the recent past been some controversy in India about selectors deciding the playing eleven and the batting order. Your thoughts?
The selectors should stick to their job of selecting the skipper and manager, and leave the rest to them. That was how it was in my days, though there was no cricket manager then. The captain was a little king in his domain. And even if the selectors gave us some advice, they didn't tell the whole world about it.
Nowadays, the manager can do a whole lot of good to the team if he and the captain can establish a good rapport and understanding of each other's roles.
What, in your mind, makes a great cricket team?
Apart from the individual skills of the players, it is also the bunching together of a group of people with varied skills and strong characters. They need to play together, and on each other's behalf. They need to be keen to win, push each other to perform, be creative in planning, be willing to take risks, have the courage to be defensive when needed, be at each other's throats. And the captain should not allow too much room for flair, or allow teams to become complacent.
What, according to you, would be a good age for a player to make his international debut?
I have no answer to that. If a player is young but brimming with confidence, he should get in. At the same time, a player who is not performing should not be written off too early, based on his age alone. I was 29 when I first played for England, and 34 when I became captain.
Can different sets of players for Tests and one-dayers make a difference to the fortunes of a side?
Certainly, since the two forms of the game require different sets of skills. In some teams the difference caused by having seperate teams would be more striking. For instance, a player like England's Mathew Fleming is indispensable in the one day squad, but would in no way make it to the Test side.
Some teams, like the current West Indians, would not need to make too many changes for a Test or a one-dayer, as their players can adopt to both forms of the game easily. The trouble is, there is too much focus on one-day cricket. This leads to bowlers hesitating to attack and grill a batsman even in Tests. And a good one-day batsman may not be a top Test batsman, capable of scoring centuries in the longer version of the game.
Should players be allowed to take their wives on tour?
Cricket players are human beings and adults, and should be treated with respect just like any other adult. If they want to take their wives along on a tour they should be allowed to. In fact, they may not play as well if they leave their wives behind.
But what about discipline?
What do you mean by discipline? They just have to be fit, do their job well, and be keen to win. I don't think they should be treated like a bunch of schoolboys.
Are today's cricketers equipped to handle media attention?
The media these days is no doubt extremely intrusive, and the players have to be protected by the team management. But the players also need to expect to be asked impertinent and sometimes, ignorant questions, and should be able to handle them with ease and flair.
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