Wicketkeeper-Batsmen: A Fading Entity?

[flamy]

In the beginning, it was considered a bonus when your wicket-keeper could be relied upon to get you some runs. Then, as cricket evolved and especially limited-overs version of the game raised its ugly head :winky: , the WK was expected to carry the tag of "recognized-bat" and invariably the runs that were expected of him were QUICK. The WK-Bat was someone who could play those valuable "cameos" for you in the one-day match and in test matches play the role of a sacrificial lamb, in that, he is sent as an opener to make the job easier for the "specialists" or he is looked upon to grind it out to save the match when the regular bats couldn't do it or even get some quick runs coming lower down the order. Basically, the wicketkeeper is the handyman. This redefinition of the role made players concentrate more on batting and relegate wicket-keeping to a secondary detail. How tough could it be? Catch a ball that is coming directly at you with gloves and whip the bails off when necessary. Ya, doable. Let's spend the nets on something worthwhile. And out came, a new-breed of cricketer. There can only be one name that can be mentioned as the paragon of the modern wicket-keeper. Adam Gilchrist. He simply changed the game. :hatsoff: WKs all over the world were now expected to be like Gilly, which was just silly. If batting skills were approved before, there were now required from a wicket-keeper. Romesh Kaluwitharana, of Sri Lanka embraced his role as an explosive opener for their one-day campaign with aplomb, and Moin Khan and Nayan Mongia were looked upon to deliver in times of crisis in a one-day match. The dawn of the new millennium has seen the quality of WK-bats touch a new high. Kumara Sangakkara brought new meaning to the term "WK-Bat". In fact, his batting is considered in such high regard, and it must be said that he IS the best bat in the present SL team, that he has given up his original role of wicket-keeping to walk in to the side as a specialist bat. Brendon McCullum blasted his name into awe and fervor of world cricket in the IPL and is now a specialist bat in their one-day side. It is not that their wicket-keeping is of a lower standard. It is just that their batting is of a much higher value to their respective teams. And thus, the wicketkeeper-batsmen are replacing their wicket-keeping gloves with batsmen's. Everything else stays the same. Is this the start of a new trend?

[Dhondy]

That's a very godd post, Flamy. It certainly looks like an upgrading of expectations all around, doesn't it? SL aren't the only side to have selected a WK in an alternative role as a batsman. India did the same for a while with Dinesh Kartick, and Australia did their own little experiment with Haddin in ODIs alongside Gilchrist. As far as I recall, Alec Stewart played for England both as a batsman and as a WK. You are right- Gilchrist has raised the standards, and Sangakkara has consolidated them. The rest of the world must follow.

[Lurker]

There can only be one name that can be mentioned as the paragon of the modern wicket-keeper. Adam Gilchrist. He simply changed the game. :hatsoff:

Actually Flamy I think that is one of the biggest misconceptions about cricket. Adam Gilchrist did take the keeper batsman to a whole new level but the liking for a keeper who is a good batsman is a very old phenomenon. Take for example Bob Taylor. One of the purest wicket keeper ever. He got to play lot less because there was Alan Knott who was a good keeper and a much better batsman. Bob Taylor picked his favorite keeper to be Keith Andrew, who if you check never played Test cricket simply because he was more of a tail ender. In Indian context Farokh Engineer played more test as he was a better bat than Kirmani, who towards the end of his career had to give way to More and Pundit even though Kirmani was a better keeper. I would think of Gilchrist, Sangakarra, Alec Stewart, Clyde Walcott, Andy Flower as batsmen who were good enough to be picked as batsmen alone. Of these Gilly is on a different level since he also managed 400 catches or thereabouts.

[jf1gp_1]

Yes the expectations are high but lack of quality allrounder isnt helping much. If a team has 2 quality alrounder coming at 6 and 7 they could still afford to choose a solid keeper.

[flamy]

That's a very godd post, Flamy. It certainly looks like an upgrading of expectations all around, doesn't it? SL aren't the only side to have selected a WK in an alternative role as a batsman. India did the same for a while with Dinesh Kartick, and Australia did their own little experiment with Haddin in ODIs alongside Gilchrist. As far as I recall, Alec Stewart played for England both as a batsman and as a WK. You are right- Gilchrist has raised the standards, and Sangakkara has consolidated them. The rest of the world must follow.

Wow, I certainly overlooked them. In fact, I think even Andy Flower became a specialist bat, and after all he WAS the best in the Zimbabwe team, followed by Taibu. Strange, how Zimbabwean cricketers make good batsmen. In fact, to extend my original post, I think all-rounders have phases in life where they excel in one discipline more than others. This may be circumstantial, as in not getting to bat in many games or bowl. Look at Irfan now. He is in the team more for his batting skills than anything else. Also, Dhoni will walk into most teams for his captaincy alone, let alone his batting. Also, I think wicket-keeping by itself is considered a lowly job because of its minimal effect on the game in that there is not much that the wicket-keeper does proactively during the course of the game. @ Lurker: I stand corrected :hatsoff:

[Lurker]

^^ In 80s India played 2 keepers for quite a few games, specially in LOI. Pundit and Kiran More would play with More as the keeper. In 1987 Reliance WC they both played many a games together, including semi finals if I am not mistaken. Not being critical Flamy. The stakes today has been raised but it has been happening earlier as well.

[riya]

For me the prime job of a wicket keeper is to keep ,then comes batting .So i rate Ian healy the best Wicket keeper in the last 15 years .

[punjabi_khota]

Wow, I certainly overlooked them. Also, Dhoni will walk into most teams for his captaincy alone, let alone his batting.

Umm..maybe Pakistan and Bangladesh, at most Windies. Vettori, Vaughan, Smith, Mahela are excellent captains. Ponting is very good generally and Aussies chose the best player as captain, anyways, So he has no hope.

[Dhondy]

Actually Flamy I think that is one of the biggest misconceptions about cricket. Adam Gilchrist did take the keeper batsman to a whole new level but the liking for a keeper who is a good batsman is a very old phenomenon. Take for example Bob Taylor. One of the purest wicket keeper ever. He got to play lot less because there was Alan Knott who was a good keeper and a much better batsman. Bob Taylor picked his favorite keeper to be Keith Andrew, who if you check never played Test cricket simply because he was more of a tail ender. In Indian context Farokh Engineer played more test as he was a better bat than Kirmani, who towards the end of his career had to give way to More and Pundit even though Kirmani was a better keeper.

Kirmani played 88 Tests to Engineer's 46, Lurker, and they both retired at pretty much the same age. And Knott was an absolutely fab wicket-keeper, the best England have ever had. Dunno if Taylor was rated ahead of him.

[riya]

Both Taylor and Knott are in the same league ,but Taylor is rated slightly hgher than Knott .

[Lurker]

Kirmani played 88 Tests to Engineer's 46, Lurker, and they both retired at pretty much the same age.

Dhondy, Engineer played from 61 to 76. Kirmani had started playing first class in mid to late 60s and but for Engineer's batsmanship, Kirmani would have walked into Indian team. Actually that reminds me of 2 more Indian keepers. They were - Naren Tamhane & Budhi Kunderan. The former was a great keeper but a poor batsman and the latter was a more accomplished bat than a keeper. Kunderan would open regularly for India and if I am not mistaken he still has a few batting record for a keeper(atleast from Indian point of view). Even Kunderan lost out to Engineer in the end due to latter's batting. In fact I wouldnt be surprised if atleast 2 of Tamhane, Kunderan, Engineer played together in a few test.

And Knott was an absolutely fab wicket-keeper, the best England have ever had. Dunno if Taylor was rated ahead of him.

Knott was a fab keeper. The difference between Knott and Taylor was that Knott was an extremely safe keeper while Taylor was a delight to watch. There was not a whole lot seperating the two in terms of keeping but most people I have read keep Taylor slightly ahead. Knott of course was a much better bat.

[flamy]

It seems Pakistan have finally chosen to go for a specialist keeper in Sarfaraz and dropping Kamran who played some useful knocks. The difference here, of course is that Akmal made way too many mistakes for someone wearing gloves.

[arkay]

Mosf of these players were predominantly selected as wicket keeper who could bat. They start improving batting skills to add versatality to the team as well to cement their place in the side. The following players can walk into any team as a wicket player first / some can walk in as test / odi / test. * Brendon Mcculom * Sangakarra * Boucher * Dhoni * Brad Haddin (He is no muck at the bat. But he sure has lot more room to fill to replace Gilly) * Taibu

[flamy]

Actually, the title should be "Pure WicketKeepers - fading away" Are there any keepers who make it to the team purely on their primary skills nowadays?

[Mr. Wicket]

No. In days when teams bat down to 8, 9, 10 at times, nobody wants to risk a keeper who'll average 20-something. A real shame though, as a fine keeper is an incredible sight to watch at a game. At the MCG a couple of years ago I had the chance to see a chalk and cheese comparison between Chris Read and Gilchrist. Gilchrist shelled a bunch. Put down some catches, missed a few takes, moved awkwardly quite often and made a lot of errors that normally are not picked up by TV cameras that will focus on bowlers/batsmen, and not keepers' footwork/etc. Read was amazing to watch, on the other hand. His keeping was sublime. Watching him after Gilchrist was amazing, because he would pull off many similar takes and catches, but anticipate them so brilliantly and use his feet so well that a lot of harder chances would look relatively simple and nobody would give some of them a second thought. Easily the finest pure keeper I have seen since Ian Healy retired, and unfortunately a dying breed. I did feel bad for guys like Ryan Sidebottom in the 2007 India/Eng series, when Sidebottom really did turn in a fine performance - wholehearted, probing, accurate bowling, and so often he would get edges from batsmen as good as Tendulkar and VVS - and Matt Prior would shell them. The sorts of catches Read would have taken so smoothly you wouldn't have given them a second thought.

[punjabi_khota]

Man flamy you wrote that **** ?

[flamy]

India is in dire need of a half-decent keeper.

[graphic23]

India is in dire need of a half-decent keeper.

We've got a few options. I've been impressed with Goswami. Naman Ojha (though I haven't seen much of him). And, Robin Uthappa isn't a bad option, as someone noted earlier - he kept well to Anil Kumble, and that is very very very hard, as Dhoni will confess.

[flamy]

Umm..maybe Pakistan and Bangladesh' date=' at most Windies. Vettori, Vaughan, Smith, Mahela are excellent captains. Ponting is very good generally and Aussies chose the best player as captain, anyways, So he has no hope.[/quote'] :giggle:

[Mr. Wicket]

Maninder Bisla is a very good young talent. Keep an eye on him. He's a fine glovesman and can handle a bat well. Omkar Gurav from Bombay/ex-India U19s is also a talent but not one who will probably make it near international level. A very good, proficient keeper in the manner of Vinayak Samant... unfortunately like Samant more a keeper than a batsman-keeper, and thus unlikely to go far.