 The pace of Thomson and the deadly accuracy and cunning of Lillee unnerved England and I honestly don't believe that Mike Denness had sufficient status and experience as a player and captain to help his batsmen get over what were deep psychological wounds, particularly as he himself was having such a wretched time of it with the bat.Michael Henry Denness was the leader of the 1974-75 touring team and the first Scottish-born captain of the England cricket team (Douglas Jardine was born in India of Scottish parents).The late 1960s and early 1970s had seen a split in the ranks of English cricket as the nature of the captaincy.