Percy Chapman - Technique and Critical Judgements

Technique and Critical Judgements

Writer Neville Cardus described Chapman as "the schoolboy's dream of the perfect captain of an England cricket eleven. He was tall, slim, always youthful, and pink and chubby of face. His left-handed batting mingled brilliance and grace ... His cricket was romantic in its vaunting energy but classic in shape." While batting, Chapman always tried to attack the bowling; although this meant he made mistakes which resulted in his dismissal, it meant that he could change the course of a game in a short time. Cricket writer R. C. Robertson-Glasgow described him as: "Tall, strong, and lithe, he was a left-handed hitter with orthodox defence, much of which was rendered unnecessary by a vast reach, and an ability to drive good-length balls over the head of mid-off, bowler, and mid-on. His cover-driving, too, was immensely strong." Gibson notes that Chapman's career batting figures were good, but that critics believed that, with his talent, he should have scored more runs. Gibson writes: "When Chapman was going well, he looked quite as good as Woolley at the other end, and in the mid-1920s there was no other English left-hander, possibly no other England batsman at all except Hobbs, of whom that could be said." His increased weight in the 1930s robbed him of confidence and slowed him down to the point where his batting declined. When batting, Chapman usually wore the Quidnuncs cap.

Commentators claimed that Chapman was not a subtle captain and lacked tactical astuteness. Even so, his record is better than most others who led England during Chapman's career. Pelham Warner believed that Chapman started well, but that in the later stages of 1930, his tactical sense markedly deteriorated. On the other hand, several of Chapman's contemporaries believed him to be one of the best captains. Arthur Gilligan, one of Chapman's predecessors, considered him to be a model for the role, and Bert Oldfield, who played against Chapman as Australia's wicket-keeper, thought that Chapman possessed an "aptitude" for leadership. Chapman's teams were usually harmonious and his sympathetic handling of his players often brought out the best in them. Writing in 1943, Robertson-Glasgow said: "He knew his men as perhaps no other captain of modern times has known them." Cricket writer E. W. Swanton believes that Chapman's cavalier reputation was misleading in assessing his effectiveness, and that "underlying the boyish facade was both a shrewd cricket brain and the good sense to ask advice from those of greater experience."

Robertson-Glasgow described Chapman as among the greatest fielders of all time, and The Times observed that "at his best he had been one of the finest fielders ever to play for England". In his earlier years, he fielded in the deep but when he played for Kent and England, he was positioned closer to the batsmen—usually at gully or silly point. The Cricketer commented that his "capacious hands made him a brilliant close-to-the-wicket fielder, and some of his catches were miraculous". In his youth, Chapman bowled quite regularly, but his negative experience bowling for Berkshire lessened his enthusiasm, and he did not take it seriously.