Answer-they both stood down as captain during the season from teams that were at the top of their game.
Former England captain Strauss obviously had different pressures and stresses than the North Down captain, but both in their own way highlight the qualities needed to be a successful leader and how important the role is in cricket as compared to other sports. No team sport gives its leader as much authority and governance as a cricket captain and as soon as the team takes the field the Laws of Cricket and tradition leave nobody in any doubt as to who is in charge. It is an integral part of the culture of cricket and from generation to generation the noble art of captaincy has been revered at every level.
The core qualities of a cricket captain haven’t changed much over the years although in former times the local incumbent would have been involved in preparing the pitch, contacting his team, the opposition and the umpires, and most likely committing his wife to a summer of cricket teas. Single men were rarely appointed as club or 1st XI captains because they had little backup and inevitably other interests. But although times have changed the commitment of the club captain is huge and little wonder so few have longevity.
At the expense of his blushes Peter Shields has been an outstanding captain for North Down and his record six Senior Cup wins and eight Senior League titles in the last decade has placed him with the great captains in Ulster cricket archives. He is an exception in that he has stood the test of time captaining his club to a string of Senior League and Senior Cup successes since 2001. It puts him in the company of another North Down legend Willie Andrews who captained the club every season from 1910-1949 with one exception in 1946. The exacerbating Mr. Willie has no equal in the captaincy stakes and his record of 12 winning Senior Cup victories as captain and 9 Senior League titles will remain untouchable. Other iconic captains in NCU cricket include the irascible Billy McCleery, a legend at Woodvale and Linfield Football Club, the Willie Pollock, Stuart Pollock and Billy Webb from North of Ireland, followed in modern times by the popular Herbie Parkhill. Going further back to the embryonic years of NCU cricket John Andrews (Jun) had unrivalled status with seven cup wins and three league titles and his son Oscar became the most outstanding captain in North’s history after his switch to Ormeau in 1901.
The post-war era produced several exceptional NCU captains in addition to McCleery. Jack Bowden and Cecil Walker were highly successful at Lisburn, and in their wake came the mercurial Dermott Monteith, not such a successful captain at club level, but inspirational for Ireland. Alfie Linehan will also be remembered as a genial and popular captain for both club and country in the Sixties, and Graham Crothers for his vision and enterprise when the overseas professionals were re-introduced to local cricket in the late Seventies. Perhaps the same could be said for Downpatrick wicketkeeper Derek McCann. The abrasive McCann was nicknamed the Genius for his uncanny, but successful captaincy skills in the Seventies and Eighties, even if he upset just about everyone he encountered.
Perhaps it is ironic that the most successful club in the post-war era rotated their captains and may well have had the lion’s share of outstanding captains even without longevity. Waringstown had the luxury of being able to rotate when so many of their rivals struggled to get the calibre of leader to meet the requirements of the job. They were well stocked in quality captains and in Michael Reith they had an exceptional leader.
The North-West also had excellent club captains. The peerless Andy McFarlane of Sion Mills was a legend between the wars as was Willie McGarvey at Brigade. Alex McBrine skippered Donemana to a string of successes in the Fifties and his son James did the same 30 years later. Another former Donemana stalwart Decker Curry made his captaincy mark at Limavady in the Nineties.
Are the days of the great captains numbered given the pressures in modern life that inevitably curtail the commitment to cricket leadership? Peter Shields has a young family, a demanding business and he’s building a house. To continue the captaincy of the most successful club in NCU cricket in the last decade and everything expected from that position was Mission Impossible.
Hopefully he’ll give it another go in the future as great club captains are a breed apart.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
