Best wicket keeper in the last 10 years

[sachinlaxman]

Who would you say is the best wicket keeper batsmen in the last ten years. In tests, I'd go with Flower, with Gilchrist a close second (not kumar s as he's only amazing when solely a batsmen) In ODIs, I'd say Mahendra singh dhoni with Gilchrist a close second, Anyone agree

[Kartikey]

ODI's - Gilchrist Tests - Flower was brilliant at batting but his keeping was not as good, so I'm gonna go with Gilly again.

[THX_1138]

Well a number of wicketkeepers have been exception with the gloves, but none as good as Jack Russell, Ian Healy and Mark Boucher. Though i am not certain if Russell or Healy are in contention as neither might have played in the last ten years. True that Sangakara's batting and keeping have be exclusively brilliant... i.e. when he is good with the bat, he is either not wearing his wicketkeeping gloves or he is not keeping as well or well, vice versa. Gilchrist has had to keep to the best bowling attack and has done quite well but his batting has been in spades, brilliant at times and at times as ineffective as a wine cooler for an Irish liver. For instance, the 2001 series, he began with a scintillating century and then was bhajji's breakfast bagel in the remaining 4 innings. And hence, the competition is narrowed down to Mark Boucher and Dhoni. While in ODIs one might argue that Dhoni is a better batsman, in test matches, Dhoni has often got the job done but he is hardly a specialist batsman that Boucher is. Not to mention that Dhoni's glove work has improved only lately and while he is maturing into one of the best stratagem captain since Gavaskar, he has hardly been the highlight of the past decade. So in the end, Mark Boucher!

[DomainK]

The question asked is: who is the best wicket keeper in the last 10 years. We dont have to evaluate batting abilities here. The first name that comes to my mind is Healy. Excellent keeping skills. Also Russell was great. But Rod Marsh might beat them all to the title.

[mhr123]

The question asked is: who is the best wicket keeper in the last 10 years. We dont have to evaluate batting abilities here. The first name that comes to my mind is Healy. Excellent keeping skills. Also Russell was great. But Rod Marsh might beat them all to the title.

Rod Marsh in last 10 years... nahi yaar... he was 80's.

[DomainK]

Rod Marsh in last 10 years... nahi yaar... he was 80's.

Oh yes, sorry, I forgot the 10 years part when I took his name..I think Rod played in the 70s.

[Sachinism]

Jack Russell did he play in the last 10 years? i know he played domestic, but did he play for England?? Andy Flower was another awesome keeper and amazing batsman make this thread in 5 years and the answer will be Dhoni

[DomainK]

Russell played from 1988 to 1998.

[diegovegaz]

mark boucher has done well all these yrs adam gilchrist isn't behind him though

[amits]

tests - sangakkara odis - dhoni

[The Outsider]

For me the comparison of Gilchrist with anyone else does not even begin. Yes, Flower and Sangakkara also have good averages but the number of destructive innings played by Gilchrist simply puts all of them in the shade. How many times have we seen Australia struggling at 5 down and a lot of people thinking, "That's it. Australia are going to lose this one for a change", and Gilchrist turning the match on it's head. To average close to 50 at a strike rate of 80 is phenomenal. And he wasn't a bad wicketkeeper. There have been better keepers for sure, but once you factor in his batting into the equation, there is Gilchrist, daylight, and then we can start talking of the others.

[nospam]

tatenda taibu :two_thumbs_up:

[kalrama]

taibu was't half bad but I'd say sanga and gilchrist.

[chamatkar]

Am not sure if S'karra's keeping is good any more in tests. In the recent WI series, the regular keeper was injured and Sanga was keeping wickets ... I saw him missing so many down the leg side and dropping a couple as well. I think the stress on batting is rusting his keeping armor. As for Andy Flower, we Indians will always rate him higher because he was a thorn in our side. His avgs dip slightly into the average "batsman" range, when you discount his scores against the minnows + India. Gilly, as someone pointed out earlier, tended to be inconsistent at times. He was much like the 100, 10, 2, 4, 80, 5, 11... kind of a player... Dhoni hasn't been around enough to be included. I was tempted by Alec Stewart and Boucher, but they're average players... So, more out of a lack of choice, I'd go with Gilly, purely because he was a beautiful batsman when on song.

[f.b.m]

Just as pure keepers, I havent seen too many better than Boucher. One of them was Gilchrist. Boucher's keeping wasnt tested against quality spin on a raging turner so I cant say.

[Predator_05]

How does Flower get into this ? He retired in 2002. The same goes for Healy, Russell, Stewart, etc. By last ten years, you are specifying the time frame of 1998-2008. So the real contenders are Gilchrist, Sangakkara, Boucher, and possibly Brendon McCullum - these are the guys who have been around the longest during that time-frame. Taibu could be there as well, but he doesn't have the numbers. Gilchrist is the best of those 4 by far.

[sachinlaxman]

Am not sure if S'karra's keeping is good any more in tests. In the recent WI series, the regular keeper was injured and Sanga was keeping wickets ... I saw him missing so many down the leg side and dropping a couple as well. I think the stress on batting is rusting his keeping armor. As for Andy Flower, we Indians will always rate him higher because he was a thorn in our side. His avgs dip slightly into the average "batsman" range, when you discount his scores against the minnows + India. QUOTE] First of all Flower played for AND CARRIED a minnow. Secondly, Flower barely had the chance to play against bangladesh since zimbabwe didn't play bangladesh much. Thirdly, You cannot call West Indies a minnow either because he still had the likes of walsh and ambrose to contend with for the majority of his career so his average in the 50's is amazing considering.