To cricket aficionados, Mike Brearley needs no introduction. He is sure to find a place in any list of the all-time best cricket captains. Though Brearley was primarily selected to play for England as a batsman, his batting record is nothing to write home about. However, fortunately for him and for England, his tactical acumen and flair for the leadership role were noticed by the selectors much early in his career, and Brearley was made the captain of England national cricket team in 1977, a year after he made his Test debut. And Brearley did not disappoint the English selectors and the cricket-loving public at large. His famed manmanagement skills won him many laurels in his short but illustrious cricket career as captain. Especially, the way he masterminded and turned around the fortunes of England in the third Test match at Headingley in the Ashes in 1981 is what every incumbent or aspiring cricket captain’s dreams are made of. This paper takes a close look at Mike Brearley, the cricket captain, and the celebrated Headingley Test to educe soft skills lessons and key leadership takeaways that every leader in every field can benefit from.

It was the second group match of the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup. The match— played at New County Ground, Hove, Brighton, England, on May 15, 1999—was between India and South Africa. The match was won by Hansie Cronje-led South Africa by four wickets. But the South African win was marred by an unseemly controversy: South African captain Cronje was found wearing an earpiece (earphone) while fielding, obviously to take instructions from their team coach Bob Woolmer as to the strategy to be adopted on the field against the Indian batsmen.

This is how it panned out: one of the Indian openers, Sourav Ganguly, noticed Cronje ‘talking to himself’ and then the earpiece he was wearing, and promptly brought the matter to the umpires’ attention. Subsequently, India lodged a complaint with the match referee, Talat Ali, regarding Cronje’s use of earpiece during the match, and Talat Ali dutifully stepped in, during the drinks break, and asked the South African captain to remove the earpiece. An irate ICC would later warn South Africa against using any such innovation, expressly stating, “The World Cup is not the event to experiment with new devices without first seeking permission from the ICC.”

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