England's Buttler proves great players are not always best captains

Jos Buttler made an unceremonious exit as England's white-ball captain on Friday, endorsing the popular perception that great players do not always make great captains.

Buttler is arguably England's greatest white-ball batter and was tipped to scale similar heights as skipper after he led the side to the T20 World Cup title in Australia in 2022.

Since then, England have instead made a steady decline.

In the last 16 months, England have failed to defend either of their World Cup titles and on Wednesday were sent packing from the Champions Trophy by Afghanistan.

As the captain of England's short-format teams, Buttler compiled a win-loss record of 18-15 in one-day internationals and 26-22 in Twenty20s.

The 34-year-old joins India's Sachin Tendulkar and West Indian Brian Lara as players who failed to translate their many individual triumphs into success as captains.

Despite being blessed with outrageous talent, those two greats of the game lacked the tactical acumen to outsmart their rivals and the man-management skills to get the best out of their team mates.

Former England captain Mike Brearley is often cited as a captain who got the best out of his talented team mates, Ian Botham in particular, despite being a modest player himself.

"The good captain enables talents to flower," Brearley wrote in his seminal book "The Art of Captaincy".

"Like a gardener, he must not prune too hard; but nor can he leave all to nature."

West Indies and Australia enjoyed sustained success under the leadership of two other greats of the game, Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting respectively.

Considering the remarkable wealth of talent both had at their disposal, however, many wonder how much actual captaincy was required.

Brearley, who became a psychoanalyst