Ingredients of an effective captain

Former England captain Mike Brearley, who works now as a psychotherapist, talks about the importance and tactics of captaincy, the Kevin Pietersen saga, the role of coaches and more, in an interview with Subhash Jayaraman in the Cricket Couch.

Basically, these guys have to decide whether to have two slips and a gully, or whether to bowl this bowler from this end, or whether someone is tired and needs to be changed, or what is a good score on a certain pitch etc. That is the tactical side, and you still have a great responsibility of influencing the team, for grooming people together into a team that really supports each other, or building up the confidence of someone who is less confident, or challenging someone who is over confident. All of that, and trying to play yourself. All these things are absolutely the same.