When Gordon Rohlehr and Brinsley Samaroo died recently, the torrent of tributes celebrated their contributions to the world. Especially significant was the consistent references to their generosity with knowledge—the way they shared without regard for financial remuneration or public recognition. Along with the indefatigable Bridget Brereton, they have been exemplars …
Read More »Vaneisa: The Pollard principle—‘full of energy, strategic and sharp, [and] committed’
Two days ago, Kieron Pollard turned 35. He did not play in the Mumbai Indians’ match against Chennai Super Kings on the same day, which proved to be one of the rare victories for the MI team during this IPL season. Before the match, the ESPNcricinfo website posted a discussion …
Read More »Captaincy playbook: ‘Careful captaincy’ made the difference for great West Indies sides
The West Indies has had a phenomenal number of exceptional cricketers in its history. The captains have been mostly middling. I restricted the playbooks to those of Frank Worrell, Richie Benaud and Mike Brearley simply because they were known as thinking men—able in both the technical and ‘man-management’ aspects of …
Read More »Captaincy playbook: Brearley: ‘You need to be both inventive and cautious…’
I had been reading Mike Brearley’s 1985 classic, ‘The Art of Captaincy’, and re-reading ‘Frank Worrell’, by Ernest Eytle. It struck me in both that in a sense, like Richie Benaud, they did not become captains of teams, but rather, they moulded teams out of collections of individuals. In their …
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