Captain, my captains

Former Labour MP for Western Australia and legendary Australian hockey player Ric Charlesworth this week explained why he has become a champion of the collective over the individual. Australia's phenomenally successful women's coach Charlesworth believes that captains are no longer needed in team games. He says that there is no reason why every member of the squad should not take on a leadership role. Charlesworth argues that by promoting some players above the rest, those not defined as leaders within the group are encouraged to be "social loafers" on and off the pitch.

"I've had the view for some time and we have gone towards doing it by enlarging the leadership group to as many as six and having co-captains and co-vice captains and that sort of thing," he says. "This is, if you like, the next step in the process of getting rid of what I'd call a vestige of the past."

In short, it is about a captainless team freeing up individuals, not dumbing down the collective. Sporting utopia? An entire team of decision-makers is hardly the recipe.