Armed with a lethal Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke’s shrewd captaincy, the Australian side currently starts with an immediate advantage over opposing teams.

At Centurion, the South African captain Graeme Smith offered Clarke a golden opportunity at the toss and Australia’s astute leader then unleashed his ‘attack dog’ Johnson to punish a hapless opposition.

Smith was unsure about his decision to send Australia in and this was a telling moment. A captain must be decisive; he must assume he’s going to win the toss and if he does, his choice must be made for the right reasons. This only requires one question before he attends the coin toss; “What is the best choice for us to win the game?”

If the decision — to bat or bowl — is based on dubious reasoning it can quickly lead to problems.

Smith’s uncertainty at the toss hinted that he may have asked Australia to bat — on a dryish pitch and a warm day — to avoid his batsmen having to face a rampant Johnson on a fresh surface.

News_Rich_Media: Alex Doolan shows brilliant reflexes to take two incredible catches at short leg on day four of the first Test against South Africa.

If that was the case, it didn’t take long for his ‘hedge-your-bets’ choice to unravel. Smith’s problems started to emerge as early as the match-changing double century partnership between Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith. As this liaison evolved it became obvious the South African captain was thinking; “What have I done?”

In the modern game, deep set boundary-saving fieldsmen are as commonplace as traffic lights but in this situation it alerted Clarke that Smith may be quickly resorting to plan B. In South Africa’s case, their fallback position is the draw.

To a strategically astute captain like Clarke, this information is as valuable as an adept code breaker to an army General.

Clarke’s ‘play for a win from ball one’ approach helps to engage his own players — especially the match winners — and gives opposing captains fits. Plenty of them, and Alistair Cook and Smith are among that number, don’t like the draw removed from the equation.

By resorting to boundary saving fieldsmen early, Smith was allowing the game to meander along like an absent-minded professor strolling in the park. Clarke, on the other hand, keeps the game moving with an urgency befitting a businessman running late for his train.

News_Image_File: Michael Clarke (L) showed astute leadership in the first Test, according to Ian Chappell.

While it’s assumed Clarke is fortunate to posses a top-class attack, maybe it’s also a case of the bowlers being lucky to have a captain who enhances their every effort. Clarke is aware of his assets and uses them wisely and Johnson for one, wouldn’t be as potent under the hesitant guidance of either Smith or Cook.

Clarke’s decisive and positive attitude flows through to the team. They have faith in his decision making and there’s no sign of panic when things aren’t going well; instead there’s confidence a wicket is around the corner.

News_Rich_Media: David Warner has survived three dropped catches as the Proteas let the dangerous left-hander off the hook.

Similarly when batting, even though Australia has often been in early trouble, they’ve been able to extract themselves from the mire and post a score that gives the bowlers a chance. These are traits of a team that has faith in it’s leader and in one another.

Contrast that with the mess England is in after sacking Kevin Pietersen in an attempt to bolster Cook’s captaincy. The ECB should be demoting those England players who DIDN’T question Cook’s lacklustre leadership in Australia.

Offering good batsmen easy runs, as Smith did too early in the game, can be fatal. In the end he was suitably punished by two Australian double-century partnerships, as David Warner and the calm debutant Alex Doolan, followed the first innings example set by Marsh and Smith.

Clarke offers no such charity to opposing batsmen and the South Africans, even the highly skilled A B de Villiers, were made to work hard for a moderate first innings score.

Smith’s hesitancy has resulted in his team trailing mightily, as the opening Test slips away from South Africa. Smith’s conservative style of captaincy will also make it difficult to fight back from a loss against Australia’s aggressive style of play.

Clarke on the other hand — with his let’s attack, all-guns-blazing style of captaincy — is only ever a decent first innings score away from Australia winning a Test. This leads to optimism even when the team slips behind in a series, something Clarke hasn’t had to worry about lately.