Was Michael Clarke the worst modern Australian captain?

[PennOne]

Mark Taylor won 26 of 52 Matches as captain
Steve Waugh won 41 of 57 Matches as Captain
Gilchrist won 4 of 6 Matches as Captain
Ponting won 48 of 77 Matches as Captain
Clarke won 24 of 47 Matches as Captain
Watson won 1 of 1 Matches as Captain
Smith has won 7 of 11 Matches as Captain


Clarke also captained the most losses of Any Australian captain in 30 years. 16. Steve Waugh lost the same amount but in double the test matches that Clark Captained.

Clarke had a rift with Katich who was dropped after he became captain and Australian lost a good batsman.

Clarke couldnt handle his team during homeworkgate where Micky Arthur was made the scrapegoat instead.

Even Ponting has famously stated Clarke has failed to live up to the potential

Fought with Shane Watson repeatedly poisoning the dressing room. Could not control his own players again

Fought with Indian team in 2008 tour

threatened to break Anderson's arm

Rift with entire Australian team in 2015

Rift with Aleem Dar


Was this the worst Australian captain in modern day cricket outside of his own performances

 

[Junaids]

It's quite a difficult question.

Michael Clarke had the worst players at his disposal since 1986-87. Even now, under Steve Smith, the batting remains a train wreck of Flat Track Bullies.

Clarke was an enterprising captain on the field, who made much bolder declarations than Smith and also kept his quicks fit by restricting them to short, sharp spells.

The problem, as [MENTION=132373]Convict[/MENTION] will doubtless point out, is that he was a self-absorbed man who really wasn't liked or respected by many of the players.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

On the field, he was a tactical genius. Personally my favourite captain of all time.

 

[sunnykhan]

No, he wasn't. One of the best captain of modern times.

 

[GenericBrand]

He has a WC trophy to his name

 

[Convict]

Mark Taylor won 26 of 52 Matches as captain
Steve Waugh won 41 of 57 Matches as Captain
Gilchrist won 4 of 6 Matches as Captain
Ponting won 48 of 77 Matches as Captain
Clarke won 24 of 47 Matches as Captain
Watson won 1 of 1 Matches as Captain
Smith has won 7 of 11 Matches as Captain


Clarke also captained the most losses of Any Australian captain in 30 years. 16. Steve Waugh lost the same amount but in double the test matches that Clark Captained.

Clarke had a rift with Katich who was dropped after he became captain and Australian lost a good batsman.

Clarke couldnt handle his team during homeworkgate where Micky Arthur was made the scrapegoat instead.

Even Ponting has famously stated Clarke has failed to live up to the potential

Fought with Shane Watson repeatedly poisoning the dressing room. Could not control his own players again

Fought with Indian team in 2008 tour

threatened to break Anderson's arm

Rift with entire Australian team in 2015

Rift with Aleem Dar


Was this the worst Australian captain in modern day cricket outside of his own performances

Going to come back in more detail soon but on this - 1. nobody in Australia thinks this is an issue. In fact it was the height of his popularity. 2. Waugh obviously said worse off the mic as do a lot of players from other teams.

 

[#GreenRoars]

No, absolutely not. On field, dude was a good tactician.

 

[Pantani]

He had the worst team of any of them in recent decades. I'd say all things being equal Ponting, especially after the retirements of McGrath and Warne, was the poorest Australian captain.

 

[Slog]

I think he was fairly positive captain.

If he had the Ponting team in his dispoasal they possibly might have been even more ruthless

 

[Ironcat]

Of the folks on that list in the OP - minus Watson/Smith/Gilchrist - yes.

Still not a bad captain though. Aggressive, risk taking - and often not appreciative of what the opposition could do.

 

[Robert]

He had the worst team of any of them in recent decades. I'd say all things being equal Ponting, especially after the retirements of McGrath and Warne, was the poorest Australian captain.

Concur.

 

[Convict]

Just to illustrate the kind of batting line up he had to work with.

#  Captain       Span      Tests  Plyrs  Win  Loss  Draw  W/L   Win%  Loss%
1. MA Taylor     1994-1999    50     36   26    13    11  2.00  52.00 26.00
2. SR Waugh      1999-2004    57     28   41     9     7  4.55  71.92 15.78
3. RT Ponting    2004-2010    77     46   48    16    13  3.00  62.33 20.77
4. MJ Clarke     2011-2015    47     38   24    16     7  1.50  51.06 34.04
5. SPD Smith     2014-        11     20    7     0     4  -.--  63.63  0.00

Batsmen for each of the last four permanent Australian captains. Players who averaged over 25 and batted in at least 10 innings

For Taylor

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  SR Waugh      46    79  16  3718  200   59.01  10 21  7
2.  ME Waugh      50    86   6  3663  153*  45.78  10 21  4
3.  MJ Slater     30    55   2  2358  219   44.49   9  6  5
4.  JL Langer     11    19   1   757  179*  41.50   2  4  2
5.  MTG Elliott   17    28   1  1102  199   40.81   3  4  1
6.  RT Ponting    22    35   2  1209  127   36.63   2  7  0
7.  GS Blewett    31    53   2  1842  214   36.13   4 10  4
8.  IA Healy      49    79  13  2216  161*  33.57   2 11  4
9.  DC Boon       18    30   2   858  131   30.64   3  2  2
10. PR Reiffel    23    37  11   728   79*  28.00   0  5  4

For Waugh

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  ML Hayden     41    69   8  4105  380   67.29  16 13  3
2.  RT Ponting    51    80  13  4293  257   64.08  17 12  7
3.  DS Lehmann    10    14   2   767  177   63.91   3  2  0
4.  AC Gilchrist  49    67  12  3131  204*  56.92   9 16  6
5.  SR Waugh      57    83  12  3714  199   52.30  15 10  6
6.  JL Langer     54    89   5  4064  250   48.38  15 14  3
7.  DR Martyn     30    45   7  1818  133   47.84   4 12  5
8.  MJ Slater     27    47   4  1676  169   38.97   3  8  4
9.  ME Waugh      40    62   6  2025  120   36.16   4 12  8
10. GS Blewett    15    26   2   709   89   29.54   0  5  2

For Ponting

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  BJ Hodge       6    11   2   503  203*  55.88   1  2  0
2.  MEK Hussey    58   101  12  5605  195   51.75  13 24  9
3.  RT Ponting    77   140  13  6542  209   51.51  19 35  7
4.  JL Langer     30    56   6  2403  215   48.06   6  8  3
5.  PA Jaques     11    19   0   902  150   47.47   3  6  1
6.  ML Hayden     49    91   6  3913  153   46.03  13 14  7
7.  MJ Clarke     65   106  11  4321  169   45.48  13 18  5
8.  DR Martyn     24    40   4  1624  165   45.11   6  7  1
9.  SM Katich     46    82   3  3476  157   44.00   9 20  4
10. DS Lehmann     8    13   0   563  153   43.30   2  3  0
11. PJ Hughes      9    17   1   668  160   41.75   2  2  2
12. SR Watson     26    47   2  1870  126   41.55   2 15  1
13. BJ Haddin     31    52   6  1869  169   40.63   3  8  1
14. A Symonds     26    41   5  1462  162*  40.61   2 10  4
15. AC Gilchrist  41    59   6  2134  162   40.26   7  9  7
16. MJ North      21    35   2  1171  128   35.48   5  4  5
17. JN Gillespie  18    27   2   515  201*  25.75   1  2  4
18. NM Hauritz    17    24   7   426   75   25.05   0  2  1

For Clarke

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  SPD Smith     25    47   8  2289  215   58.69   8 10  3
2.  MJ Clarke     47    86  10  3946  329*  51.92  14  7  4
3.  MEK Hussey    21    36   4  1630  150*  50.93   6  5  3
4.  DA Warner     39    73   3  3461  180   49.44  11 19  3
4.  AC Voges       7    10   2   368  130*  46.00   1  2  1
5.  CJL Rogers    21    40   1  1609  173   41.25   5  8  1
6.  MS Wade       11    29   4   602  106   37.62   2  3  0
7.  RT Ponting    16    28   1  1105  221   37.59   2  6  3
8.  JL Pattinson  12    16   7   290   42   32.22   0  0  1
9.  EJM Cowan     17    30   0   939  136   31.30   1  6  2
10. SR Watson     29    54   1  1648  176   31.09   2  7  4
11. SE Marsh      12    21   1   607  148   30.35   2  2  7
12. MR Marsh       6    11   1   293   87   29.30   0  1  1
13. PJ Hughes     16    30   1   816  126   28.13   1  5  4
14. BJ Haddin     32    54   5  1282  118   26.16   1  9  7
15. UT Khawaja     9    17   2   377   65   25.13   0  2  1

In the entire Waugh era only 10 batsmen made that cutoff. And that's because Steve Waugh had an incredibly settled batting lineup with everyone performing (extremely well I might add).

Not only did Waugh himself play in all 57 of the tests he captained (averaged 52) but Ponting (average 64) and Langer (averaged 48) played in over 50.
Gilchrist played in 49 and averaged 57 while Hayden (average 67) played in over 40.

The same thing didn't apply for Ponting but you can see that even under Ponting while the retiring superstars were replaced by inferior players the new players were still pretty decent (Katich/Hussey/Haddin etc).

Meanwhile from Clarke's 47 tests the only good batsmen he had (save for himself) who played a significant majority of his tests was Warner.

Smith played 25 (out of 47) and Hussey and Rogers both played 21 out of 47 (less than half and never together).

Watson did play 29 out of 47 tests (nearly two thirds) but he averaged 30 from those 29 tests as a top order batsman and had twice as many ducks as centuries.

If you break things down it becomes even more apparent just how bad the Australian batting was.

Hussey was consistently good under Clarke's captaincy but retired after the 2012/13 series (less than half way through Clarke's reign).

At this point neither Smith or Rogers were even in the team.

Warner got himself suspended at the start of the 2013 Ashes. He missed the first two tests. Australia went into the first test with only one batsman averaging over 40 (Clarke). By the time Warner returned Australia were already 2-0 down.

For the first part of his captaincy Clarke had a team with two very good batsmen (himself and Hussey) and one decent young batsman (Warner).

DA Warner
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           3     6   2   195  123*  48.75   1  0  0
2.  2012          11    18   0   788  180   43.77   2  4  0
3.  2013          12    24   1   909  124   39.52   2  6  2
4.  2014           9    18   0  1136  145   63.11   6  3  1
5.  2015          13    24   0  1317  253   54.87   4  7  2

Warner took a level up as a batsmen in 2014, a year after Hussey had retired.

Ponting was an ATG batsmen and in particular was a dominant front foot hooker and puller. Unfortunately a player like that (and in the future a player like Steve Smith) due to the unorthodox shots that were heavily reliant on good reflexes and a good eye.
When he got old he really struggled against international class pacemen because of it.

This is his series by series record under Clarke

RT Ponting
#   Year  Opp     Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0  
1.  2011  SL (A)    2     4   0   124   48   31.00   0  0  0
2.  2011  SA (A)    2     4   0    70   62   17.50   0  1  2
3.  2011  NZ (H)    2     3   0    99   78   33.00   0  1  0
4.  2012  IND (H)   4     6   1   544  221  108.00   2  3  0
5.  2012  WI (A)    3     6   0   146   57   24.33   0  1  0
6.  2012  SA (H)    3     5   0    32   16    6.40   0  0  1

Now Smith and Rogers came along in that 2013 Ashes series. Rogers as an experienced first class veteran was very reliable and consistent. Not a great test batsman but a good role player.

Smith become a very good player in 2014

SPD Smith
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           1     2   1    72   54*  72.00   0  1  0
2.  2012           -     -   -    --   --   --.--   -  -  -
3.  2013          11    21   2   711  138*  37.42   2  3  1
4.  2014           9    17   3  1146  192   81.85   5  4  2
5.  2015          13    24   4  1474  215   73.70   6  5  0

On the back of Smith, Warner and Rogers plus Johnson/Harris Australia were beginning to get some success.

You'd think that at this point Australia would now have three very good batsman and one good batsman but that wasn't the case - Clarke's back injury had made him a liability at that stage.

MJ Clarke
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           9    16   0   618  151   38.62   3  1  1
2.  2012          11    18   3  1595  329* 106.33   5  3  0
3.  2013          13    26   3  1093  187   47.52   4  3  2
4.  2014           7    14   2   429  161*  35.75   2  0  1
5.  2015           7    14   2   211   47   21.10   0  0  0

And save for one series Clarke never got much with the bat from his keepers (compared to Gilchrist or even Haddin under Ponting) plus at the end of his career Haddin was a very poor keeper behind the stumps and Wade has always been poor behind the stumps.

Then add the fact that Clarke never got to use McGrath and Warne and its unsurprising his record isn't as good as his predecessors.

 

[Fahdi]

Just to illustrate the kind of batting line up he had to work with.

#  Captain       Span      Tests  Plyrs  Win  Loss  Draw  W/L   Win%  Loss%
1. MA Taylor     1994-1999    50     36   26    13    11  2.00  52.00 26.00
2. SR Waugh      1999-2004    57     28   41     9     7  4.55  71.92 15.78
3. RT Ponting    2004-2010    77     46   48    16    13  3.00  62.33 20.77
4. MJ Clarke     2011-2015    47     38   24    16     7  1.50  51.06 34.04
5. SPD Smith     2014-        11     20    7     0     4  -.--  63.63  0.00

Batsmen for each of the last four permanent Australian captains. Players who averaged over 25 and batted in at least 10 innings

For Taylor

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  SR Waugh      46    79  16  3718  200   59.01  10 21  7
2.  ME Waugh      50    86   6  3663  153*  45.78  10 21  4
3.  MJ Slater     30    55   2  2358  219   44.49   9  6  5
4.  JL Langer     11    19   1   757  179*  41.50   2  4  2
5.  MTG Elliott   17    28   1  1102  199   40.81   3  4  1
6.  RT Ponting    22    35   2  1209  127   36.63   2  7  0
7.  GS Blewett    31    53   2  1842  214   36.13   4 10  4
8.  IA Healy      49    79  13  2216  161*  33.57   2 11  4
9.  DC Boon       18    30   2   858  131   30.64   3  2  2
10. PR Reiffel    23    37  11   728   79*  28.00   0  5  4

For Waugh

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  ML Hayden     41    69   8  4105  380   67.29  16 13  3
2.  RT Ponting    51    80  13  4293  257   64.08  17 12  7
3.  DS Lehmann    10    14   2   767  177   63.91   3  2  0
4.  AC Gilchrist  49    67  12  3131  204*  56.92   9 16  6
5.  SR Waugh      57    83  12  3714  199   52.30  15 10  6
6.  JL Langer     54    89   5  4064  250   48.38  15 14  3
7.  DR Martyn     30    45   7  1818  133   47.84   4 12  5
8.  MJ Slater     27    47   4  1676  169   38.97   3  8  4
9.  ME Waugh      40    62   6  2025  120   36.16   4 12  8
10. GS Blewett    15    26   2   709   89   29.54   0  5  2

For Ponting

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  BJ Hodge       6    11   2   503  203*  55.88   1  2  0
2.  MEK Hussey    58   101  12  5605  195   51.75  13 24  9
3.  RT Ponting    77   140  13  6542  209   51.51  19 35  7
4.  JL Langer     30    56   6  2403  215   48.06   6  8  3
5.  PA Jaques     11    19   0   902  150   47.47   3  6  1
6.  ML Hayden     49    91   6  3913  153   46.03  13 14  7
7.  MJ Clarke     65   106  11  4321  169   45.48  13 18  5
8.  DR Martyn     24    40   4  1624  165   45.11   6  7  1
9.  SM Katich     46    82   3  3476  157   44.00   9 20  4
10. DS Lehmann     8    13   0   563  153   43.30   2  3  0
11. PJ Hughes      9    17   1   668  160   41.75   2  2  2
12. SR Watson     26    47   2  1870  126   41.55   2 15  1
13. BJ Haddin     31    52   6  1869  169   40.63   3  8  1
14. A Symonds     26    41   5  1462  162*  40.61   2 10  4
15. AC Gilchrist  41    59   6  2134  162   40.26   7  9  7
16. MJ North      21    35   2  1171  128   35.48   5  4  5
17. JN Gillespie  18    27   2   515  201*  25.75   1  2  4
18. NM Hauritz    17    24   7   426   75   25.05   0  2  1

For Clarke

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  SPD Smith     25    47   8  2289  215   58.69   8 10  3
2.  MJ Clarke     47    86  10  3946  329*  51.92  14  7  4
3.  MEK Hussey    21    36   4  1630  150*  50.93   6  5  3
4.  DA Warner     39    73   3  3461  180   49.44  11 19  3
4.  AC Voges       7    10   2   368  130*  46.00   1  2  1
5.  CJL Rogers    21    40   1  1609  173   41.25   5  8  1
6.  MS Wade       11    29   4   602  106   37.62   2  3  0
7.  RT Ponting    16    28   1  1105  221   37.59   2  6  3
8.  JL Pattinson  12    16   7   290   42   32.22   0  0  1
9.  EJM Cowan     17    30   0   939  136   31.30   1  6  2
10. SR Watson     29    54   1  1648  176   31.09   2  7  4
11. SE Marsh      12    21   1   607  148   30.35   2  2  7
12. MR Marsh       6    11   1   293   87   29.30   0  1  1
13. PJ Hughes     16    30   1   816  126   28.13   1  5  4
14. BJ Haddin     32    54   5  1282  118   26.16   1  9  7
15. UT Khawaja     9    17   2   377   65   25.13   0  2  1

In the entire Waugh era only 10 batsmen made that cutoff. And that's because Steve Waugh had an incredibly settled batting lineup with everyone performing (extremely well I might add).

Not only did Waugh himself play in all 57 of the tests he captained (averaged 52) but Ponting (average 64) and Langer (averaged 48) played in over 50.
Gilchrist played in 49 and averaged 57 while Hayden (average 67) played in over 40.

The same thing didn't apply for Ponting but you can see that even under Ponting while the retiring superstars were replaced by inferior players the new players were still pretty decent (Katich/Hussey/Haddin etc).

Meanwhile from Clarke's 47 tests the only good batsmen he had (save for himself) who played a significant majority of his tests was Warner.

Smith played 25 (out of 47) and Hussey and Rogers both played 21 out of 47 (less than half and never together).

Watson did play 29 out of 47 tests (nearly two thirds) but he averaged 30 from those 29 tests as a top order batsman and had twice as many ducks as centuries.

If you break things down it becomes even more apparent just how bad the Australian batting was.

Hussey was consistently good under Clarke's captaincy but retired after the 2012/13 series (less than half way through Clarke's reign).

At this point neither Smith or Rogers were even in the team.

Warner got himself suspended at the start of the 2013 Ashes. He missed the first two tests. Australia went into the first test with only one batsman averaging over 40 (Clarke). By the time Warner returned Australia were already 2-0 down.

For the first part of his captaincy Clarke had a team with two very good batsmen (himself and Hussey) and one decent young batsman (Warner).

DA Warner
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           3     6   2   195  123*  48.75   1  0  0
2.  2012          11    18   0   788  180   43.77   2  4  0
3.  2013          12    24   1   909  124   39.52   2  6  2
4.  2014           9    18   0  1136  145   63.11   6  3  1
5.  2015          13    24   0  1317  253   54.87   4  7  2

Warner took a level up as a batsmen in 2014, a year after Hussey had retired.

Ponting was an ATG batsmen and in particular was a dominant front foot hooker and puller. Unfortunately a player like that (and in the future a player like Steve Smith) due to the unorthodox shots that were heavily reliant on good reflexes and a good eye.
When he got old he really struggled against international class pacemen because of it.

This is his series by series record under Clarke

RT Ponting
#   Year  Opp     Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0  
1.  2011  SL (A)    2     4   0   124   48   31.00   0  0  0
2.  2011  SA (A)    2     4   0    70   62   17.50   0  1  2
3.  2011  NZ (H)    2     3   0    99   78   33.00   0  1  0
4.  2012  IND (H)   4     6   1   544  221  108.00   2  3  0
5.  2012  WI (A)    3     6   0   146   57   24.33   0  1  0
6.  2012  SA (H)    3     5   0    32   16    6.40   0  0  1

Now Smith and Rogers came along in that 2013 Ashes series. Rogers as an experienced first class veteran was very reliable and consistent. Not a great test batsman but a good role player.

Smith become a very good player in 2014

SPD Smith
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           1     2   1    72   54*  72.00   0  1  0
2.  2012           -     -   -    --   --   --.--   -  -  -
3.  2013          11    21   2   711  138*  37.42   2  3  1
4.  2014           9    17   3  1146  192   81.85   5  4  2
5.  2015          13    24   4  1474  215   73.70   6  5  0

On the back of Smith, Warner and Rogers plus Johnson/Harris Australia were beginning to get some success.

You'd think that at this point Australia would now have three very good batsman and one good batsman but that wasn't the case - Clarke's back injury had made him a liability at that stage.

MJ Clarke
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           9    16   0   618  151   38.62   3  1  1
2.  2012          11    18   3  1595  329* 106.33   5  3  0
3.  2013          13    26   3  1093  187   47.52   4  3  2
4.  2014           7    14   2   429  161*  35.75   2  0  1
5.  2015           7    14   2   211   47   21.10   0  0  0

And save for one series Clarke never got much with the bat from his keepers (compared to Gilchrist or even Haddin under Ponting) plus at the end of his career Haddin was a very poor keeper behind the stumps and Wade has always been poor behind the stumps.

Then add the fact that Clarke never got to use McGrath and Warne and its unsurprising his record isn't as good as his predecessors.

This right here is the answer.

Clarke's record as captain is more a reflection of his team's strength rather than his skill as a captain.

As a captain he was quite good.

 

[Varun]

Clarke was a grade A home track bully.

 

[street cricketer]

He is one of the most fan friendly captains in that he forces results by making declarations in marches veering towards a tame draw. I loved his captaincy, was a breath of fresh air.

On another note, who was the worst captain - Kim Hughes?

 

[wrongun]

Just to illustrate the kind of batting line up he had to work with.

#  Captain       Span      Tests  Plyrs  Win  Loss  Draw  W/L   Win%  Loss%
1. MA Taylor     1994-1999    50     36   26    13    11  2.00  52.00 26.00
2. SR Waugh      1999-2004    57     28   41     9     7  4.55  71.92 15.78
3. RT Ponting    2004-2010    77     46   48    16    13  3.00  62.33 20.77
4. MJ Clarke     2011-2015    47     38   24    16     7  1.50  51.06 34.04
5. SPD Smith     2014-        11     20    7     0     4  -.--  63.63  0.00

Batsmen for each of the last four permanent Australian captains. Players who averaged over 25 and batted in at least 10 innings

For Taylor

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  SR Waugh      46    79  16  3718  200   59.01  10 21  7
2.  ME Waugh      50    86   6  3663  153*  45.78  10 21  4
3.  MJ Slater     30    55   2  2358  219   44.49   9  6  5
4.  JL Langer     11    19   1   757  179*  41.50   2  4  2
5.  MTG Elliott   17    28   1  1102  199   40.81   3  4  1
6.  RT Ponting    22    35   2  1209  127   36.63   2  7  0
7.  GS Blewett    31    53   2  1842  214   36.13   4 10  4
8.  IA Healy      49    79  13  2216  161*  33.57   2 11  4
9.  DC Boon       18    30   2   858  131   30.64   3  2  2
10. PR Reiffel    23    37  11   728   79*  28.00   0  5  4

For Waugh

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  ML Hayden     41    69   8  4105  380   67.29  16 13  3
2.  RT Ponting    51    80  13  4293  257   64.08  17 12  7
3.  DS Lehmann    10    14   2   767  177   63.91   3  2  0
4.  AC Gilchrist  49    67  12  3131  204*  56.92   9 16  6
5.  SR Waugh      57    83  12  3714  199   52.30  15 10  6
6.  JL Langer     54    89   5  4064  250   48.38  15 14  3
7.  DR Martyn     30    45   7  1818  133   47.84   4 12  5
8.  MJ Slater     27    47   4  1676  169   38.97   3  8  4
9.  ME Waugh      40    62   6  2025  120   36.16   4 12  8
10. GS Blewett    15    26   2   709   89   29.54   0  5  2

For Ponting

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  BJ Hodge       6    11   2   503  203*  55.88   1  2  0
2.  MEK Hussey    58   101  12  5605  195   51.75  13 24  9
3.  RT Ponting    77   140  13  6542  209   51.51  19 35  7
4.  JL Langer     30    56   6  2403  215   48.06   6  8  3
5.  PA Jaques     11    19   0   902  150   47.47   3  6  1
6.  ML Hayden     49    91   6  3913  153   46.03  13 14  7
7.  MJ Clarke     65   106  11  4321  169   45.48  13 18  5
8.  DR Martyn     24    40   4  1624  165   45.11   6  7  1
9.  SM Katich     46    82   3  3476  157   44.00   9 20  4
10. DS Lehmann     8    13   0   563  153   43.30   2  3  0
11. PJ Hughes      9    17   1   668  160   41.75   2  2  2
12. SR Watson     26    47   2  1870  126   41.55   2 15  1
13. BJ Haddin     31    52   6  1869  169   40.63   3  8  1
14. A Symonds     26    41   5  1462  162*  40.61   2 10  4
15. AC Gilchrist  41    59   6  2134  162   40.26   7  9  7
16. MJ North      21    35   2  1171  128   35.48   5  4  5
17. JN Gillespie  18    27   2   515  201*  25.75   1  2  4
18. NM Hauritz    17    24   7   426   75   25.05   0  2  1

For Clarke

#   Player       Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  SPD Smith     25    47   8  2289  215   58.69   8 10  3
2.  MJ Clarke     47    86  10  3946  329*  51.92  14  7  4
3.  MEK Hussey    21    36   4  1630  150*  50.93   6  5  3
4.  DA Warner     39    73   3  3461  180   49.44  11 19  3
4.  AC Voges       7    10   2   368  130*  46.00   1  2  1
5.  CJL Rogers    21    40   1  1609  173   41.25   5  8  1
6.  MS Wade       11    29   4   602  106   37.62   2  3  0
7.  RT Ponting    16    28   1  1105  221   37.59   2  6  3
8.  JL Pattinson  12    16   7   290   42   32.22   0  0  1
9.  EJM Cowan     17    30   0   939  136   31.30   1  6  2
10. SR Watson     29    54   1  1648  176   31.09   2  7  4
11. SE Marsh      12    21   1   607  148   30.35   2  2  7
12. MR Marsh       6    11   1   293   87   29.30   0  1  1
13. PJ Hughes     16    30   1   816  126   28.13   1  5  4
14. BJ Haddin     32    54   5  1282  118   26.16   1  9  7
15. UT Khawaja     9    17   2   377   65   25.13   0  2  1

In the entire Waugh era only 10 batsmen made that cutoff. And that's because Steve Waugh had an incredibly settled batting lineup with everyone performing (extremely well I might add).

Not only did Waugh himself play in all 57 of the tests he captained (averaged 52) but Ponting (average 64) and Langer (averaged 48) played in over 50.
Gilchrist played in 49 and averaged 57 while Hayden (average 67) played in over 40.

The same thing didn't apply for Ponting but you can see that even under Ponting while the retiring superstars were replaced by inferior players the new players were still pretty decent (Katich/Hussey/Haddin etc).

Meanwhile from Clarke's 47 tests the only good batsmen he had (save for himself) who played a significant majority of his tests was Warner.

Smith played 25 (out of 47) and Hussey and Rogers both played 21 out of 47 (less than half and never together).

Watson did play 29 out of 47 tests (nearly two thirds) but he averaged 30 from those 29 tests as a top order batsman and had twice as many ducks as centuries.

If you break things down it becomes even more apparent just how bad the Australian batting was.

Hussey was consistently good under Clarke's captaincy but retired after the 2012/13 series (less than half way through Clarke's reign).

At this point neither Smith or Rogers were even in the team.

Warner got himself suspended at the start of the 2013 Ashes. He missed the first two tests. Australia went into the first test with only one batsman averaging over 40 (Clarke). By the time Warner returned Australia were already 2-0 down.

For the first part of his captaincy Clarke had a team with two very good batsmen (himself and Hussey) and one decent young batsman (Warner).

DA Warner
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           3     6   2   195  123*  48.75   1  0  0
2.  2012          11    18   0   788  180   43.77   2  4  0
3.  2013          12    24   1   909  124   39.52   2  6  2
4.  2014           9    18   0  1136  145   63.11   6  3  1
5.  2015          13    24   0  1317  253   54.87   4  7  2

Warner took a level up as a batsmen in 2014, a year after Hussey had retired.

Ponting was an ATG batsmen and in particular was a dominant front foot hooker and puller. Unfortunately a player like that (and in the future a player like Steve Smith) due to the unorthodox shots that were heavily reliant on good reflexes and a good eye.
When he got old he really struggled against international class pacemen because of it.

This is his series by series record under Clarke

RT Ponting
#   Year  Opp     Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0  
1.  2011  SL (A)    2     4   0   124   48   31.00   0  0  0
2.  2011  SA (A)    2     4   0    70   62   17.50   0  1  2
3.  2011  NZ (H)    2     3   0    99   78   33.00   0  1  0
4.  2012  IND (H)   4     6   1   544  221  108.00   2  3  0
5.  2012  WI (A)    3     6   0   146   57   24.33   0  1  0
6.  2012  SA (H)    3     5   0    32   16    6.40   0  0  1

Now Smith and Rogers came along in that 2013 Ashes series. Rogers as an experienced first class veteran was very reliable and consistent. Not a great test batsman but a good role player.

Smith become a very good player in 2014

SPD Smith
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           1     2   1    72   54*  72.00   0  1  0
2.  2012           -     -   -    --   --   --.--   -  -  -
3.  2013          11    21   2   711  138*  37.42   2  3  1
4.  2014           9    17   3  1146  192   81.85   5  4  2
5.  2015          13    24   4  1474  215   73.70   6  5  0

On the back of Smith, Warner and Rogers plus Johnson/Harris Australia were beginning to get some success.

You'd think that at this point Australia would now have three very good batsman and one good batsman but that wasn't the case - Clarke's back injury had made him a liability at that stage.

MJ Clarke
#   Year         Mat  Inns  NO  Runs  HS    Ave   100 50  0
1.  2011           9    16   0   618  151   38.62   3  1  1
2.  2012          11    18   3  1595  329* 106.33   5  3  0
3.  2013          13    26   3  1093  187   47.52   4  3  2
4.  2014           7    14   2   429  161*  35.75   2  0  1
5.  2015           7    14   2   211   47   21.10   0  0  0

And save for one series Clarke never got much with the bat from his keepers (compared to Gilchrist or even Haddin under Ponting) plus at the end of his career Haddin was a very poor keeper behind the stumps and Wade has always been poor behind the stumps.

Then add the fact that Clarke never got to use McGrath and Warne and its unsurprising his record isn't as good as his predecessors.

Other side of that batting line up coin is that Waugh backed Hayden, Langer & co to the hilt when others wanted them on the scrapheap & they were 2-3 time failures in the team with averages in the 20s (maybe 30s for Langer). Part of captaincy is getting the best out of a player, creating an environment where excellence is possible.

Clarke fails in that regard. He was interesting tactically, but our 2nd worst modern captain after Ponting (who just lacked tactical awareness & instinct).

 

[wrongun]

Clarke was a grade A home track bully.

Apart from career defining hundreds in Mumbai and South Africa vs fancied attacks. About as two diverse challenges as a batsman could face actually.

Turner in Mumbai vs Harbajahn & Kumble. 150 runs.
Greentop in SA vs Morkel, Steyn, Philander. Century with a shoulder fractured by a Morkel barrage.

Flat track bully, yeah righto mate. Try watching a game.

Average captain- class batsman.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Clarke was the best tactician I saw in my life.

Overdid in Asia but nonetheless he was the best.

 

[Ab Fan]

Worst?? Seriously??

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Decent Captain,didn't have the resources his predecessors had at their disposal.A good batsman but not a top tier one.

 

[Varun]

Turner in Mumbai vs Harbajahn & Kumble. 150 runs.

Nope. Didn't happen. I think you're referring to the first test of the series - Bangalore, which was a flat one.

Mumbai was a vicious turner where nobody got runs.

 

[Ab Fan]

Clarke has one or two top knocks everywhere away from home but there were times he would go missing completely. He did piled lots of runs on Aussies flat wickets but so did the likes of Hayden and Hussey and Warner and Smith are doing the same although Smith is more consistent than all of them.

 

[wrongun]

Nope. Didn't happen. I think you're referring to the first test of the series - Bangalore, which was a flat one.

Mumbai was a vicious turner where nobody got runs.

Bangalore it was. Although I wouldn't say it was flat- not a single declaration & 3 out of 4 innings <250.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Nope. Didn't happen. I think you're referring to the first test of the series - Bangalore, which was a flat one.

Mumbai was a vicious turner where nobody got runs.

He got a 100 in Chennai rank turner 2013.

 

[Hasan123]

Nope. Didn't happen. I think you're referring to the first test of the series - Bangalore, which was a flat one.

Mumbai was a vicious turner where nobody got runs.

Didn't you see his century in south Africa where he was getting bombarded with bouncers but still got a century? Remember he's weak against the short ball.

 

[Hasan123]

One of the better captains in recent times. Remember he didn't have the best team. His batting got even better when he was captain. A very good Australian captain. Brilliant tactician one of my favourites of all time.

 

[Rana]

Maybe the nicest and likeable of all Australian captains.

The Australian captain has to be like the Megatron of cricket. Clarke was more of a Bumble Bee

 

[Sherlock]

The players that captained the Aussies sides with a better/similar record to Clarke and above him in that list had better teams and better options off the bench.

Watson and Smith have too smaller pool of games to their names to even compare at this stage.

 

[Asim2Good]

how many away series Clarke won and against which team ? Taking about tests here

 

[Varun]

He got a 100 in Chennai rank turner 2013.

After being given not-out twice, I saw that game live.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

After being given not-out twice, I saw that game live.

Not out once.

Still runs are runs.

Getting dropped or not given happens to all.

 

[Convict]

Other side of that batting line up coin is that Waugh backed Hayden, Langer & co to the hilt when others wanted them on the scrapheap & they were 2-3 time failures in the team with averages in the 20s (maybe 30s for Langer). Part of captaincy is getting the best out of a player, creating an environment where excellence is possible.

Clarke fails in that regard. He was interesting tactically, but our 2nd worst modern captain after Ponting (who just lacked tactical awareness & instinct).

On the other hand Warner made his debut under Clarke and Cowan/Smith/Marsh bros etc got extended runs.

Clarke was a big advocate for Hughes as well.

 

[Slog]

Clarke was the best tactician I saw in my life.

Overdid in Asia but nonetheless he was the best.

the best i ever saw in LOIs was Johan Botha.

their 2008 (?) ODI series win in Australia is probably the best captaincy ive ever seen

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

the best i ever saw in LOIs was Johan Botha.

their 2008 (?) ODI series win in Australia is probably the best captaincy ive ever seen

Didn't see that series.

Botha? Never would have thought.

 

[Slog]

Didn't see that series.

Botha? Never would have thought.

i think SA missed a trick (and timing didnt work either due to Smith) by not making him LOI captain

ofcourse a problem with him was also that he wasnt a sure shot name in the squad.

but purely from LOI captaincy perspective he is right up there for me. did well in BBL and Ram Slam as well

 

[Convict]

i think SA missed a trick (and timing didnt work either due to Smith) by not making him LOI captain

ofcourse a problem with him was also that he wasnt a sure shot name in the squad.

but purely from LOI captaincy perspective he is right up there for me. did well in BBL and Ram Slam as well

Was okay for the Redbacks but they were generally a very mediocre team under him.

Really improved this season but much of that has to do with a newer player base and moving on the old mediocre lot like Cosgrove and Cooper than him getting replaced by Head

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

[MENTION=90074]PennOne[/MENTION]

Brother Michael Clark did have quite a few on and off field issues but tactically he was quite astute.


His record isn't as good as some of the other ex Aussie captains but we must keep in mind that Clarke did not have services of Australia's greatest Fast bowler ang greatest Spinner who both were a Captain's dream for Waugh & Ponting.

Similarly He did not have batting resources like Border, Waugh or Ponting. Not by any means.


So these things should be kept in mind while assessing Clark's record as Captain.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Big Mac]

Remember the good old days when everyone on here praised Clarke for being an amazing captain, pro-active, attacking, innovative (basically the opposite of Misbah)?

Then Australia came to the UAE and he continued to be the darling of PP as he was proactive and aggressive, making constant bowling changes, improvising and innovating with his field settings, a reverse umbrella field with close covers and short midwickets in abundance, Clarke even put a fielder right behind the umpire. The end result? He looked like a complete muppet and Australia basically got the biggest hammering in their 130-odd years of test cricket.

Those were good times weren't they?

Loved watching him bat though, especially the way he used his feet to the spinners. One of my favourite players to watch of that generation.

 

[Convict]

There are often some pretty good reasons why certain players weren't selected by Australia and why certain careers are ended.

It's undeniable that Clarke rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and made a lot of enemies. But Australian cricket has had many feuds between teammates even including Captains who were selectors.

Clarke was a convenient scapegoat to many for why 'insert shield superstar from my state or shield superstar I saw had nice stats on cricinfo but never saw play' didn't get selected when they were apparently an obvious selection.

Remember the good old days when everyone on here praised Clarke for being an amazing captain, pro-active, attacking, innovative (basically the opposite of Misbah)?

Then Australia came to the UAE and he continued to be the darling of PP as he was proactive and aggressive, making constant bowling changes, improvising and innovating with his field settings, a reverse umbrella field with close covers and short midwickets in abundance, Clarke even put a fielder right behind the umpire. The end result? He looked like a complete muppet and Australia basically got the biggest hammering in their 130-odd years of test cricket.

Those were good times weren't they?

Loved watching him bat though, especially the way he used his feet to the spinners. One of my favourite players to watch of that generation.

I heard from a guy who generally gets pretty good information before it gets public about cricket in Victoria and in Australia that some of those field settings in that test were a protest to the selectors about getting lumped with Glenn Maxwell at number 3 when he wanted a specialist top order batsman (Doolan or Hughes).

 

[Big Mac]

I heard from a guy who generally gets pretty good information before it gets public about cricket in Victoria and in Australia that some of those field settings in that test were a protest to the selectors about getting lumped with Glenn Maxwell at number 3 when he wanted a specialist top order batsman (Doolan or Hughes).

Haha, I'd somehow erased the memory of Maxwell at #3 from my mind. Yeah, that was insane. Cricket in the UAE is a battle of attrition and they decided to go with Maxwell for the "x-factor". No idea what the selectors were thinking

 

[Mamoon]

He was a fantastic captain and carried Australia with his batting when they were in a period of crisis.

A truly great cricketer.

 

[Major]

Thank god someone made a thread on his captaincy.

His captaincy was a joke.

Those field placements he made were just ridiculous. I remember how people here were praising him for being innovative and what not, but not a single fielder from his ridiculous placement worked.

This is international cricket, not club cricket where you could just land a wicket by a random field placement.

Also one thing i hated most about Clarke was the fact that he single handily destroyed Katich's career. Katich was performing but yet he was dropped because of his stupid little feud.

I also found his way of declaring before a 90 or milestone to be a bit annoying, it was not as if he was being unselfish, but it showed how he would try to send a message out to the public or showed how self centered he was to show he doesn't go after milestones.

 

[Poison]

In spite of his general tosser-type nature I think he was an incredible captain given the limited resources he had when he took over. He was fractionally unlucky in that he took overly positive decisions to induce results in Test matches where he could've just settled for a draw.

Also lol at FTB. Massive hundreds in India and probably one of the best knocks I've ever seen in South Africa after being literally broken by Morne. Despite the glitz and glamour he had real heart and Waugh-level toughness.

 

[blue_champion]

Sir Sir Sir Jadeja ended his career....was never again the same cricketer

 

[SLcric123]

Clarke was a HTB.

Averages 38 away from home.

 

[Convict]

Thank god someone made a thread on his captaincy.

His captaincy was a joke.

Those field placements he made were just ridiculous. I remember how people here were praising him for being innovative and what not, but not a single fielder from his ridiculous placement worked.

This is international cricket, not club cricket where you could just land a wicket by a random field placement.

Also one thing i hated most about Clarke was the fact that he single handily destroyed Katich's career. Katich was performing but yet he was dropped because of his stupid little feud.

I also found his way of declaring before a 90 or milestone to be a bit annoying, it was not as if he was being unselfish, but it showed how he would try to send a message out to the public or showed how self centered he was to show he doesn't go after milestones.

Katich had a long term injury as a 35 year old in a team which lost the Ashes 3-1 at home with three 35 years in the top order.

David Warner made his test debut the same year Katich was moved on.

 

[SL_Fan]

Overall probably. Great tactician right up there but as a man manger tho very poor you would have to think going by what went on. Quite a few internal issues involving Clarke during his time.

 

[JaDed]

Defn the worst Aus captain that toured India,unbelievable 4-0 loss but tbf unlike another certain captain he didn't lose 8-0 away when the chips were down.

 

[Bilal7]

Not a good leader. He was a shrewd tactician though.

 

[Barragan]

Tactically he was excellent.

Didn't have the players at his disposal to get Aus back to the top.

Ponting struggled with the same team in his latter years and Clarke worked with those same bunch.

 

[Mamoon]

Terrible thread. Brilliant captain and an inspirational cricketer. Had a lot of heart and guts.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Awful thread. Clarke is easily top 3 captain in the last decade. It's not his fault 50% of the players under him were junk quality.

 

[Ab Fan]

Clarke is probably a better captain than any one in the world currently.

Kohli and Faf I will wait for before coming to conclusions.

 

[Zeshan547]

For goodness sake, The guy has a world cup trophy in his CV.

 

[Statsman]

Second worst captain after Ricky Ponting? Gosh. What all am I reading?

 

[Ankit007]

He was the only man left from that legend Australian team and he did perfect what he could. He won a world cup too. .

 

[soso_killer]

He had poor man management skills.
Was very defensive when under the pump as well.
I remember Amla taking Australia to the cleaners only for Clarke to deny him a century under a session.
Instructed his bowlers to bowl negative lines and spread the field when the pitch still had some juice, it was day 2 as well.
Very disappointing stuff. But he did get his team to punch above its weight. Credit there.

 

[jagatk]

He definitely can't be called worst as he had to captain a team at its lowest possible talent level. He was a mixed bag as a captain, not bad but not really great either, he was a very tactically astute guy, yes he made a few mistakes but who doesn't. But he was a disaster man management wise, i dont think there is another captain of an international team who fell foul of that many players as he did.

 

[f.b.m]

the best i ever saw in LOIs was Johan Botha.

their 2008 (?) ODI series win in Australia is probably the best captaincy ive ever seen

Agreed. Him and Jayawardena (to a lesser extent) knew how to handle the middle overs better than anyone I've seen.

 

[Big Mac]

A lesson for all potential captains, every now and then place your fielders in completely random positions and watch the praise flood in for your "innovative" thinking and tactical genius

He definitely can't be called worst as he had to captain a team at its lowest possible talent level. He was a mixed bag as a captain, not bad but not really great either, he was a very tactically astute guy, yes he made a few mistakes but who doesn't. But he was a disaster man management wise, i dont think there is another captain of an international team who fell foul of that many players as he did.