Herding Cats Page 16
As captain, the day will come when you’re no longer sure about the first name on the team sheet. Do you really want to keep doing all of this? Ultimately cricket is about making decisions. Forward or back? Play or leave? Full or short? The captain, amateur or professional, helps his team-mates with these decisions where he’s able to, as well as making his own. But the last one is the greatest of all. Do you carry on?
The end of the season creeps up on a captain. The relentless toll of fixtures in May, June and July gives way to August, when most of your team vanish on holiday. Many sensible skippers don’t even schedule matches during this month. Then suddenly your team want to play every game before it’s too late. The off-season is there for a reason. Namely you, the captain. You have seven months in which you can catch up with the rest of life. Come September, you are worn down by the effort and organisation of the season so far. Tempers fray, starting with yours but the team’s enthusiasm reminds you why you do this and why you just might put yourself through it all again once more.
Acknowledgements
The first rule of cricket captaincy, I’ve decided, is not to write a book. I await next season with trepidation.
The second rule of cricket captaincy should be to thank your team-mates, for so many moments of shared joy and for unwittingly providing the material for this book. So, in roughly chronological order, I’m very grateful to Tom Holland, for introducing me to this world of cricket played badly; to Nicholas Hogg, for providing the spark that revived the Authors and playing so wholeheartedly; to Jon Hotten and Anthony McGowan for being almost ever-present, good-humoured and very funny; to Sam Carter, Alex Preston, Matthew Parker, William Fiennes, James Holland, Peter Frankopan, Sebastian Faulks, Richard Beard, Mirza Waheed, Andy Zaltzman, Kamila Shamsie, Amol Rajan, Ed Smith, Dan Stevens, Thomas Penn, Joe Craig, Ben Falk, Tristan Jones and Jonathan Beckman for that fantastic first season. Both on and off the pitch, Laura Jeffrey, Matt Thacker, Digvijay Kathiwada and Ngayu Thairu have been heroic and extraordinarily generous. Thanks to those who have joined us subsequently – Jonathan Wilson, Tim Beard, Andrew Lycett, Andrew Duff, Oliver Craske, Robert Winder, Will Sutton, John Sutton, David Owen, Daniel Rosenthal, Dan Norcross, Iain O’Brien, Steve Cannane, Alex Goldie, Roger McCann, and many more. Especial thanks to all the teams we’ve played who have so generously hosted us on their beautiful grounds. Many others offered invaluable help to our team over the years, in particular Steven Murphy and Keith Gapp.
I’d like to thank also my brilliant and patient publisher Charlotte Atyeo, whose idea it was to structure the book in this way, Holly Jarrald, Lizzy Ewer and Henry Lord at Bloomsbury and Wisden; my terrific agent Nicola Barr; and Mike Brearley for his generous foreword. Jon, Tony, Sam, Peter, Sebastian, Richard and Alex all read early drafts of this book and made clever and thoughtful suggestions. Thanks also to Marcus Berkmann and Tim Rice for their encouragement, particularly when both are far better qualified to write this book.
Lastly I’d like to thank those who let us play. Julia Kingsford has been kind and tolerant during the research and writing of this book, as have the authors with whom I’m fortunate to work. My parents and sister have put up with years of this unseemly cricket obsession. And my girlfriend Rosamund has to deal with it every day. I cannot thank them all enough.
Index
Adams, Paul here
administrative duties here, here
advice, timing here
Akhtar, Shoaib here
Akram, Wasim here
Ali, Moeen here
Allen, Woody here
all-rounders here
Ambrose, Curtly here, here
Amla, Hashim here
Archibald, Steve here
Atherton, Mike here, here
Austin, Ian here
authority here, here
Authors’ Club, the here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
balls here
Barnes, S. F. here
Barrie, J. M. here, here, here, here, here
batsmen here, here, here; big hitters here; as captains here, here; defensive here; instinct here; middle order here, here, here; opening here, here, here, here, here; practice here, here; sensitivity here; styles here; weak here, here
batting order here
Benaud, Richie here, here
Berkmann, Marcus here, here, here
Best, George here
Birkenshaw, Jack here
Birley, Derek here
bladder control here
Bodleian Library, the here
Botham, Ian here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
bowlers and bowling here, here, here; as captains here; captains position here; changing here; and fielding here; getting the yips here; at the interval here; leg-spin here; match-management here; opening here, here, here; practice here, here, here; spin here, here, here; swing here; types here; worst here
Boxing here
Boycott, Geoff here
Bradman, Donald here, here, here
Brathwaite, Carlos here
Brearley, Mike here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Butt, Salman here
Buttler, Jos here
Cairns, Chris here
Campbell, Charlie here, here
captain, choosing here
car ownership, importance of here
Clarke, Giles here
Clarke, Michael here, here
coaching here, here, here
competition here
complacency here
Compton, Denis here
Conan Doyle, Arthur here
Cook, Alastair here, here, here
Cowdrey, Colin here
cricket, as faith here
Cronje, Hansie here
Currer, Father Tony here
Daniel (wicketkeeper) here
Daniel, Wayne here
de Selincourt, Hugh here, here
de Villiers, A. B. here
decision making here
declarations here, here
decline here
delegation here, here
Dhoni, M. S. here, here, here
disputes here
dog turds here
Donald, Allan here
Downton, Paul here
Dravid, Rahul here
dress here
dressing-room atmosphere here
drinking here
drop-outs here
ECB here
end-of-season awards here
England here
enthusiasm here
Essex here
excuses here
expenses here
family here
Ferguson, Alex here
fielders and fielding: attacking here, here, here, here, here; and the bowler here; depth here; opening positions here; strategy here
finance here
Fingleton, Jack here
fitness here
Fletcher, Duncan here
Fletcher, Keith here
Flintoff, Andrew here, here
football here, here, here, here
game, relationships with here
Gatting, Mike here
Gayle, Chris here
Giddins, Ed here
Giggs, Ryan here
Gillette Cup here
Gower, David here
Grace, W. G. here, here, here, here
grounds here
groundsmen here, here, here
Guardiola, Pep here
guest players here
Hambledon here
Hamilton, Gavin here
Herath, Rangana here
Hick, Graeme here
Hogg, Nicholas here, here, here, here, here
Holland, Tom here, here, here, here
Hollywood Cricket Club here
Hotten, Jon here, here
Hughes, Kim here
Hughes, Spike here
hundreds here, here
Illingworth,
Raymond here, here, here
improvement, achieving here
Imran Khan here, here
India here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
interval, the here
intimidation here
Inzamam-ul-Haq here
Jardine, Douglas here, here
Joe (batsman) here
Jones, Dean here
Jones, Simon here
Karloff, Boris here
Karno, Fred here
Kent here, here
kit here
Lara, Brian here, here
last game of the season here
leadership here, here, here
Le-Clercq, Mark here
Lillee, Dennis here
Lord’s: MCC Indoor School here, here; Nursery Ground here
MCC here
MCC Indoor School, Lord’s here, here
McCullum, Brendon here, here, here
Macdonell, A. G. here
McGowan, Anthony here, here
McGrath, Glenn here, here
McKenzie, Neil here
Maharaja of Porbandar here
Malcolm, Devon here, here, here
Marsh, Steve here, here, here
Marshall, Hamish here
match-management here
Medlycott, Keith here
Middlesex here, here
Miller, Keith here
Milne, A. A. here
Misbah-ul-Haq here, here
Morgan, Eoin here
Moseley, Hallam here
motivation here, here, here
Mourinho, José here
Murdoch, Iris here
Murdoch, Rupert here
Murray, John here
Nash, Malcolm here
nightmare scenarios here
non-playing captains here
non-playing members here
O’Brien, Iain here, here
off-season here
ōllamaliztli here
O’Neill, Joseph here
on-field captaincy here
Ormond, Jimmy here
Orwell, George here
Parfitt, Peter here
partnerships here
pecking orders here
performance, improving here
Peter (former Croatian international) here
Pietersen, Kevin here, here, here, here
Pinter, Harold here
pitch inspection here
pitches here, here
planning here
players here, here, here; assessing here, here; drop-outs here; egos here; lack of concentration here; latecomers here; limitations here; missing here; record falsification here; sulking here
Ponting, Ricky here, here, here
practice here; avoiding here; dangers here; net sessions here, here, here, here; pre-season training here
preparations here
professionals, fielding here
pub lunches here
Ramprakash, Mark here, here
Rana, Shakoor here
Ranjitsinhji, Prince here
recruitment here, here
responsibilities here
retirement here
Richards, Viv here, here, here, here
ringers here
rituals here
Roebuck, Peter here, here
Rogers, Chris here
Rome here
rotating captains here
run-outs here
runs, making here
St Peter’s CC here, here
Sangakkara, Kumar here, here, here
Schjelderup-Ebbe, Thorlief here
self-doubt here
setting up here
Shakespeare, William here
Shankar, Adrian here, here
Shaw, George Bernard here
Singh, Yuvraj here
Slocombe, Philip here
smartphones here
Smith, C. Aubrey here
Smith, Ed here, here
Sobers, Gary here, here
South Africa here
speed gun, the here
Sri Lanka here, here, here
Stanford, Allen here
Stanford Super Series here
Steele, David here
Stevens, Edward “Lumpy ” here
Stewart, Alec here
Stokes, Ben here, here
sulking here
Swann, Graeme here
switching off here
Symonds, Andrew here
Tankerville, Earl of here
Tavaré, Chris here
Taylor, Brian here
tea here
team hierarchy here
team selection here, here, here
team spirit here, here
team talks here
Telfer, Kevin here
Tendulkar, Sachin here, here
The Nightwatchman here
Thomson, Jeff here, here
thought processes here, here
timed games here, here
toss, the here
touring here; drinking here; joys of here; local conditions here; problems here; room sharing here
Tufnell, Phil here
Twenty20 here, here
umpires here, here, here, here
V&A Cricket Club here
Valley of Rocks here
van der Bijl, Vintcent here
Vaughan, Michael here
Vettori, Daniel here
vice-captain here
Walsh, Courtney here
Waqar Younis here
Warborough Green here
Warne, Shane here, here, here
Waugh, Mark here
Waugh, Steve here
weather here
White, Bob here
wicketkeepers here, here, here, here
Willis, Bob here
winning, desire for here
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack here
Wodehouse, P. G. here
Yagnik, Dishant here
yips, getting the here
youth cricket here
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First published 2017
© Charlie Campbell, 2017
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