5 great fast bowlers who would have made great captains
Cricket captaincy is as much of an art as it is science. It requires high levels of man management, uncanny ability to make decisions under pressure and the power to defend these actions as well as underperforming teammates before the world media.
More often than not, when the regular captain steps down or picks up an injury, a batsman is chosen as the new man to represent the side. Rarely do bowlers get picked as leaders of a cricketing side.
This has various factors, most of which revolve around the fact that once bowlers are made captains, they tend to under-bowl or over-bowl themselves from time to time.
Let us look at five quick bowlers who would've made great leaders in their time:
#1 Michael Holding
If there has been one bowling attack that has created tremors of fear within the batsmen of the opposition, it was the tremendous group of fast bowlers put together by the West Indies in late 19070s.
Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Andy Roberts, Wayne Daniel and Malcolm Marshall were partners in crime and developed a formidable bowling unit for the West Indian cricket team. Holding, who was nicknamed "Whispering Death" for his fearsome and fast bowling, is one of the greatest cricketers to have stepped onto the cricket pitch.
Between the tremendous success achieved by Clive Lloyd and the massive stature of Viv Richards, Holding did not get the opportunity to walk onto the middle as the captain of West Indies cricket. He continued to be the most menacing soldier they had on the field, but could never become the General of the side.