The Ashes 2013: Alastair Cook needs to become a bit more funky as a captain On days one and two at Old Trafford there was an argument to say that they could have been more creative and inventive. They bowled conventional, top of off stump, to orthodox fields. It was crying out for an unorthodox approach. Go short as you would in the subcontinent. Be aggressive with a third man and a man on the hook to someone like Clarke, who has been out to the short ball in the past. Alternatively bowl full and straight. Bowl yorkers for three overs, or you could go wide of off stump and get Clarke to chase one with seven-two off-side field. You need four or five plans when the opposition bat well on a flat pitch. England did not do enough to create a different environment for Australia. Clarke is a mover and shaker. He is what I call a funky captain. He likes to be proactive. He uses frequent bowling changes to create new angles, never letting the batsman settle. He creates new field settings and invents catching positions that might force an error in a shot or create an opportunity for a wicket. Sometimes he can be too funky. Sometimes the situation demands orthodox play. If you had a captaincy gauge I would say Clarke swings to being too unorthodox, Cook the opposite. If I was being critical of my own captaincy then I would say I was like Clarke and too unorthodox at times. To be the best captain in the world you have to have the right balance. Realise when to think differently and when to allow the pitch to do the talking. That is the skill as a captain. The best captain I ever saw as a player was Stephen Fleming. He always asked questions. First and foremost his idea was to have six or seven fielders in positions where he thought the ball would go and he could take a wicket. The rest would be there to block out runs. You need two sets of fielding units when being aggressive. On a flat wicket you need catchers in place to get wickets but fielders in place to stop runs. A theory I used on good pitches was not to allow the batsmen easy boundaries. I would regularly put the cover point on the boundary, which would then free up the man at extra cover, who could be in tighter to take a catch if there was a mistimed drive. Boundary riders allow you to have more catching positions. Ultimately this has been a fascinating Test match played on a true wicket. It has something for everyone. Seamers who bowl with pace and consistency have done well but you have been found out if you do not bowl at 85mph or if as a spinner you fail to put enough revolutions on the ball. Ultimately this series could be decided by Swann being the stand-out spinner. He has 18 wickets, while Australia's three spinners between them have taken six in three Tests played on dry, dusty wickets. I bet Clarke goes to bed at night wishing he had a certain Shane Warne in his ranks. Then again we would all have liked that to be the case.