7 Great cricketers who were not so good captains

3. David Gower:

The elegant left-hander was one of the finest batsmen to be produced by England. He scored over 8000 runs for his country in Test cricket in a highly successful Test career however didn’t enjoy much success as a captain in the same format. He led England in 35 Test off which his team won only 5 and suffered 18 defeats. He lost his first Test as a captain against Pakistan 1982 at Lord’s. With the regular captain Bob Willis out due to injury, Gower, with little experience was given the responsibility to lead the side in the 2nd match of the 3-match series. Willis returned for the 3rd match as England completed a 2-1 series win over the visitors.

He led against Pakistan in 2 Tests in 1984, in an away series in similar circumstances after Willis suffering from food poisoning, withdrew on the morning of the 2nd match. Gower led in the 2 Tests with both ending in a draw. The same year the West Indies toured England and hammered the home side 5-0, Gower’s first full series as a captain.

He came back strongly and led his team to a memorable away series in India (2-1) in 1984-85. The Ashes win over at home against Australia (3-1) in 1985 remains the high point of his captaincy career. This was followed by disappointment though as his suffered another 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Windies in an away series in 1986. In his last series as a Test skipper his team lost at home against the Aussies (4-0) in 1989. His ODI captaincy record was far better with a winning percentage of 41.67 from 24 matches.