6 best fast bowling captains of all time
It is often said cricket is more a batsman’s game. And we have seen it’s the batsmen who captain their team more often than not. Also, the longest serving captains have been batsmen.
Mike Brearley (former England captain) in his book ‘The Art of Captaincy’ had stated that fast bowlers need to be the last option as far as captaincy is concerned. One of the reasons may be because of the workload of a bowler (whether it is fast or spin) is large and it may become a little demanding if that player has to captain the side as well.
But there have been a few bowlers who’ve led their respective teams to glory. In particular, there have been fast bowlers who have enjoyed the captaincy role and their performances haven’t been affected. So, we look at 6 best fast bowling captains of all time.
#6 Heath Streak
A lion-hearted fast bowler who had the ability to extract seam movement even on docile pitches, Heath Streak is certainly one of the best bowlers to have played for Zimbabwe. He could bowl at a very good pace with great control and often carried a weak bowling attack single-handedly.
Heath Streak was appointed as captain for the first time in 2000 when he became Zimbabwe’s 4th Test and 6th One-Day captain, but the first bowler from his country to captain his side. He captained the side beautifully as he became the second Zimbabwean captain to win a Test against India (he took 7 wickets in the game as well) after a 2-0 series win against Bangladesh. But he soon resigned due to the tension with the board which affected his performances. He was reappointed for a second stint in 2002 which continued until April 2004 after Zimbabwe board refused to give him guarantee over selection.
But, Streak is still the most successful Zimbabwean Test captain (4 out of 11 Test wins for Zimbabwe have come under his captaincy) and also has 18 ODI wins as captain. With 216 Test and 239 ODI wickets, Streak is also the highest wicket-taker for his country.