The captain is the focal point of pressure; he always feels the heat

It is one of cricket’s ironies that players welcome captaincy despite knowing that the chances of escaping its psychological and physical damage are low. Great captains are often those who hide their trauma well. Even those who enjoy the job and have a profound effect on the game reach a point when the ‘honour’ doesn’t matter any more.

England captain Ben Stokes torching “the church that he built,” in the memorable words of cricket writer Vithushan Ehantharajah, was a reminder of what captaincy can do to players, even the best ones.

“I was so scarred and devastated by the experience,” admitted Sachin Tendulkar (who led in 25 Tests), “that I even wondered whether I should walk away from cricket.” This, from the man with over 15,000 Test runs and 51 centuries. Captains tend to grey prematurely and lose hair steadily. Anxiety is a constant companion. They make their decisions before an event but are judged only after the consequences become clear. Win or lose, it is difficult to be fully effective beyond a few series.

Michael Atherton, who led England in 54 Tests felt that “four years is about the limit. It is a job that takes its toll.”

Man of many parts

A captain, wrote Doug Insole, former England player and selector, is a public relations officer, agricultural consultant, psychiatrist, accountant, nursemaid, diplomat. Ray Illingworth in his book Captaincy added to that with: “He needs to have the patience of a saint, the compassion of a social worker, and the skin of a rhino…”

Despite the presence of the coaching staff, the captain has an unnatural burden on his shoulders. The reaction to Stokes’s post-victory celebration was extreme (he was dropped for a Test in the New Zealand series despite lack of clarity on whether the midnight curfew remained in place after a match was over). Stokes’ nose-thumbing or middle-finger wagging or whatever it was that caused him to open the batting and go on a suicide mission was extreme too. England cricket is in that familiar place now — a mess.

If there was one man who raised it to great heights recently, it was Stokes. If there is one who is the symbol of everything wrong with it now, it is Stokes. A great all rounder and inspiring captain jumped before he was pushed — other captains haven’t been so lucky.

One of India’s finest, Srinivas Venkatraghavan had the mortification of hearing of his sacking from the pilot on the PA system of the aircraft carrying the team back to India after a tour of England. Australia’s Kim Hughes bid a tearful farewell after yet another defeat against the West Indies.

After England’s defeat to India at Lord’s in ’86, skipper David Gower was at the post-match interview while in the dressing room chief selector Peter May was offering the captaincy to Mike Gatting. Gower was the last to know. “You will have the worst time of your life,” former England captain Brian Close told a successor, Ian Botham about captaincy.

The captain is the focal point of the pressure on a team, and feels the heat the most. In Stokes’ case, there was the added strain of ‘Bazball’, a wonderful system of play when things were going well but without a fall-back position when things were going badly. It was exciting while it lasted, but when it unravelled in Australia, Stokes and his men losing the Ashes series 1-4, the sharpened knives could be seen glinting. Victory is the only justification for any system, even the ones difficult to understand or accept.

Perhaps Virat Kohli was speaking for the majority when he explained why he gave up captaincy: “I was completely spent. I was consumed by it. It was gruesome.” Interesting choice of words, but the message is clear. As the great Mike Brearley pointed out in his classic, The Art of Captaincy, “We receive repeated intimations of our own fallibility.” It helped that skipper Brearley was a philosopher, psychoanalyst and author, but he is unique.

Captains have to absorb the pressure so the rest of the team can play freely. Stokes removed the fear of failure from the players, and backed them for fitting in. But in the end he was overwhelmed. A cautionary tale? Perhaps, but was it worth it?