ICF All Time Test XI : Wicketkeeper

[Marut]

Oh please! Gilly was no less a keeper than Healy. There was this strange obsession with Healy wrt test matches while Gilly was winning odis with his bat. Its as if you're a very good attacking batsman automatically means you cant be a very good wicket keeper in the longer form of the game.

I doubt whether the attacking style of Gilly, like Sehwag would work against the best bowlers in the world. Which side is this World XI going to face? A second world XI team, possibly? That is why I went for the better keeper in my opinion, which is Healy. Gilchrist is slightly disadvantaged by his height for a pure wkt keeper selection. Flower would be a good choice too.

[ganeshran]

Healy's batting puts him at a serious disadvantage. Flower and Gilchrist add far more value to the team than Healy.

[Marut]

Healy's batting puts him at a serious disadvantage. Flower and Gilchrist add far more value to the team than Healy.

Depends. Don Bradman's dream XI picked Don Tallon as the wkt keeper, but Tallon only had a test batting average of 17. Batting is not crucial for a wkt keeper in a world XI with phenomenal batting strength at 1-6, just like bits and pieces all rounders do not add much value with their batting.

[ganeshran]

Depends. Don Bradman's dream XI picked Don Tallon as the wkt keeper' date=' but Tallon only had a test batting average of 17. Batting is not crucial for a wkt keeper in a world XI with phenomenal batting strength at 1-6, just like bits and pieces all rounders do not add much value with their batting.[/quote'] True for bits and pieces players, not true for keepers. Keepers are nowadays expected to perform with the bat, they just cant rest on their keeping alone. In case if the gap between Healy and Gilchrist/Flower was so big, then picking him might be justified, but it is not.

[rkt.india]

Depends. Don Bradman's dream XI picked Don Tallon as the wkt keeper' date=' but Tallon only had a test batting average of 17. Batting is not crucial for a wkt keeper in a world XI with phenomenal batting strength at 1-6, just like bits and pieces all rounders do not add much value with their batting.[/quote'] those were different times. We need pick players based on today's requirement and Gilchrist was a good WK. People are talking like he used to drop catch every match like Akmal, Pappu, etc. HE could have made any team in his time just based on his keeping. He kept to Warne for years and was very successful.

[Crookbond]

It would be foolish to say that Gilchrist was NOT a good WK but compared to Healy in the gloves department he falls a bit short.

[Marut]

those were different times. We need pick players based on today's requirement and Gilchrist was a good WK. People are talking like he used to drop catch every match like Akmal' date=' Pappu, etc. HE could have made any team in his time just based on his keeping. He kept to Warne for years and was very successful.[/quote'] What today's requirement? That would be applicable only for a world xi selected out of modern players. When you select old players in the team, there could be multiple ways of selecting the team. If Bradman is the captain of this team, what would be his selection be? Isn't that a pertinent question? It is possible that some or many of the earlier greats selected in this team would be a flop ( and vice versa) if they play today with modern cricketers. Allan Knott was reputed to be the best wicket keeper/batsman and Gilchrist to be the keeper/best batsman. While choosing a keeper, you could lean towards the keeper in him or the batsman in him. Leaning towards the batsman has been a modern trend to fortify the batting unit, but the best world xi across ages hardly needs that fortification. Since I have not seen Allan Knott in action, I chose to exclude him and I chose Healy who could be said to be one of the best wkt keepers ever.

[Crookbond]

It's not like Healy was abysmal with the bat either !

[Pagalpanti]

Gilchrist easily. Keeping wise on par with the best and surely a better bat than most. Remember his innings with Langer? against Pakistan where he won them the game from no-win situation.

[adi B]

in tests, andy flower for me... in odi`s gilchrist or dhoni

[Debutant]

Gilly

[vamos_rafa]

Abit harsh on the exclusion of Prior and Prasanna Jayawardene' date=' the former has improved leaps and bounds to give the World No.1 Test team's batting some real omph and latter an excellent keeper and decent bat.[/quote'] Jayawardene is an excellent keeper, though his form dipped a bit off late. Prior has improved like hell but to have them in the All time Keeper's XI is a way too much sir.

[The Outsider]

No MSD in the options!? Poll :fail:

This is a poll to choose the best wicket keeper, not the best goal keeper.

[Marut]

It's not like Healy was abysmal with the bat either !

Yes, but no where close to Gilly. Healy batted better during his second half. Gilchrist happened to be part of a phenomenal batting unit, that he could often play freely with lot of runs on the board. Australia are not known much for batting collapses during their long reign. Not sure if he would have been the same player had he played in another team not full of match winners. A WK with a high 40 test average ( and 80+ strike rate) is mind boggling.

[Lurker]

I doubt whether the attacking style of Gilly' date=' like Sehwag would work against the best bowlers in the world. Which side is this World XI going to face? A second world XI team, possibly? [b']That is why I went for the better keeper in my opinion, which is Healy. Gilchrist is slightly disadvantaged by his height for a pure wkt keeper selection. Flower would be a good choice too.

If you are going for a better keeper why not Alan Knott? Far better keeper, much better batsman, original professional (his work ethics was what folks like Graham Gooch and Alec Stewart embibed) and also a fighter who amongst other things is often credited with inventing uppercut, something many batsman do today. Plus any keeper who can keep away Bob Taylor away from National XI has to be some keeper. Not to mention Knotty would be the keeper who started the trend of keeper who could bat, and bat decently. Alan Knott for me. :winky:

[Marut]

If you are going for a better keeper why not Alan Knott? Far better keeper, much better batsman, original professional (his work ethics was what folks like Graham Gooch and Alec Stewart embibed) and also a fighter who amongst other things is often credited with inventing uppercut, something many batsman do today. Plus any keeper who can keep away Bob Taylor away from National XI has to be some keeper. Not to mention Knotty would be the keeper who started the trend of keeper who could bat, and bat decently. Alan Knott for me. :winky:

I did mention the reason. I have never seen Allan Knott in action ( not even in videos), so I chose Healy who played during our times.

[King Tendulkar]

Gilly

[King Tendulkar]

Although loved dujon

[The Outsider]

This is the spot on which I dither a lot in making an all time XI choice - Gilchrist was a very good keeper, but definitely not the best. As a batsman though it's needless to say that any wicket keeper has been as good as him, even Flower. He along with Warne and McGrath was the main force behind the great Australian side. Knott is the best wicket keeper though - he kept wonderfully to the spin of Underwood as well. Sometimes I pick Gilchrist in my all time XI and some times Knott - on this occasion I've gone with Knott. Bari was also a superb keeper - I find it surprising that his keeping skills don't often find a mention very often in discussions.

[rkt.india]

T Knott is the best wicket keeper though - he kept wonderfully to the spin of Underwood as well. Sometimes I pick Gilchrist in my all time XI and some times Knott - on this occasion I've gone with Knott.

Underwood....what a pie chucker he was..saw his bowling in videos posted by Robe Linda. He was very much like Michael Bewan as bowler.