This is really sparked by some thoughts about the senior players and new comers in the Proteas side, but it's a general cricketing question to. Also in my head because I recently watched a documentary on the 1981 Ashes when Brearley was brought back, which, in turn, sparked memories of things he'd written in book about that series.

So we have a captain, and that captain wants to lean on other players, get their opinions and soundings. I suppose for seniors this is easy, because they've been around and seen a few things, and also by now they'll have a reputation: Some of them are shrewd, are good judges, some of them give the same old advice all the time (Brearley noted that Botham tended to think that all opposing batsmen were weak against the bouncer).

But what of the newcomers. How do you figure out who is worth listening to and who not? Again, I suppose, some players might have got themselves some experience and a reputation on the first class circuit.

I don't know what his thought processes were, but Graeme Smith must have seen a lot of this. When he became captain he was a new kid in the side, so would have had to lean on old pros like Pollock, Donald and Boucher.

Later on, Smith would have had the likes of Duminy, Morkel, Philander. Some of them would have offered useful input, some not.

I suppose a Brearley would let everybody have ther say pre-match, but not force it. But on the field? Maybe captains have to go through the motions and ask everybody at some point, just so they feel part of the team.

Jimmy Cook talked about how at Hampshire they learned to listen to Warne, and to let advise bowlers between overs (he said that what didn't go against Warne's record was the wickets he got for other bowlers). But that means they first had to listen to him, act on that and see what happened. Though maybe if your name is Warne then it's easy for a captain to have a word with you.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 06:49:15 -0800 (PST), "mega...@gmail.com"
<megapode@gmail.com> wrote:

>I suppose a Brearley would let everybody have ther say pre-match, but not force it. But on the field? Maybe captains have to go through the motions and ask everybody at some point, just so they feel part of the team.

Mike Gatting said that he was rather unnerved the first time Brears
casually asked his opinion in the field, and spluttered incoherently.
Thereafter, he made sure he was always paying attention in case the
skipper did it again. Which the skipper was wont to do to people if
things weren't getting anywhere. I expect that Brearley occasionally
received a suggestion he liked and acted on it, but usually didn't
really listen.

Cheers,

Mike

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 12:49:17 AM UTC+10, mega...@gmail.com wrote:
> How do you figure out who is worth listening to and who not?

I'll give you my thoughts as a village-quality player. Since I turned 18 I've played about 20 years of cricket, 2 seasons a year (we play all year round here in Brisbane). I've captained for a bit less than half of that.

On this front, there are broadly speaking 2 types of players;

1. those who just come along and play - they are like sheep. Do as they're told. Sometimes need fine tuning (re-positioning) in the field.
2. those who are actively switched on. They act like they've had 6 coffees before the game.

Those in this latter group are always talking, watching the batsman for weaknesses, backing up the throwers without being reminded, they'll move in a few steps if the ball isn't carrying, they'll fine tune their own fielding positions.
If they see a batsman chip one through mid-wicket they'll get the captain's attention then subtly point to mid-wicket.
They'll say "this batsman's fishing outside off, think we can put in another slip?".
They'll point to themselves then the boundary to communicate to the captain "should I drop back?".

A good captain will listen to EVERYONE who has something to say. Listening doesn't mean "take their advice 100% of the time", though.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 1:49:17 AM UTC+11, mega...@gmail.com wrote:

Broad on DRS calls?