5 brave captaincy decisions that altered the course of the tournament

#1. Don Bradman reversing his team's batting order

Bradman's decision to reverse the batting order was a masterstroke

One of the most interesting incidents in cricket took place in the Ashes series of 1937. Australia had lost the first two Tests and had to win the third to stay alive in the series. The 3rd test proved to be a cat and mouse game, with both captains trying to outdo the other with clever strategies.

Australian captain Don Bradman, in a surprising move, opted to bat first on a pitch which was assisting bowling. Australia struggled in the 1st innings and reached to a score of 181/7 when the match was stopped due to rain. The wicket became even more difficult to bat as the pitch was wet because of the rain.

Bradman sensed an opportunity and declared the innings at 200/9 making England bat on a wet wicket.

Bradman clearly understood the pitch and was in no mood to start batting again, so he asked his bowlers to bowl a defensive line so that the England batsmen are not dismissed cheaply. Sir Gubby Allen, captain of the England team too was aware of the situation, and he displayed his captaincy skills by declaring the innings at 76/9.

Sir Don Bradman then made a change which proved to be a masterstroke in the course of the match. The pitch being wet prompted the captain to reverse his batting order. Bradman asked his No 10 and No 11 batsmen to open the innings and spend some time in the crease so that the pitch became playable by the time the regular batsmen came out to bat.

This move worked wonders as the tailenders survived the day and the next day the pitch was much better to bat on. Bradman scored 270 runs in the second innings, and Australia ended up with a score of 564, setting England a target of 689. England finally ended up losing the match.

This move of Don Bradman not only changed the result of the match, but also enabled Australia to win the series 3-2. This move was also important in prolonging Bradman's captaincy stint with the Australian team.