Phil Mustard to debut tonight (hopefully)

[Mr. Wicket]

From what I've seen of him in the England domestics, this kid's someone to watch for. His keeping's solid - definitely better than Butterfingers Jones and Wooden Gloves Prior, but where he really stands out is with his batting. He's modelled himself on Adam Gilchrist and there's a lot of resemblance when he's slashing balls over gully and point, driving through the off side or playing pick up shots over square leg and midwicket. While he doesn't have the sheer grace and power that made Adam Gilchrist such a devastating batsman, I still expect he'll be quite handy with the willow in the long term particularly if England do give him a chance to open in ODIs (not in tests obviously, as his technique against the new ball's still too loose IMO). Will be interesting to see how he does in this series though. Sri Lanka's not an easy place to open with the ball moving around a fair bit early on and Vaas and Malinga being one of the toughest ODI new ball pairs to face, so it'll definitely be a huge challenge. Hope he can stand up to it though.

[Mr. Wicket]

Well, he's finally got a cap and was one of very few England players who can hold their heads up. Nothing wrong from what I heard behind the stumps, and got England off to a flier with 27 off 17 balls (including a quite impressive straight six off Vaas) in a tough chase - after which they promptly dissolved to 150 all out.

[Bongosamaj]

Salil, whatever happened to the English keeper before Jones ( Reid i think his name was) ? Fellow looked like the best glovesman in cricket for a while there but had terrible batting. I wonder if his batting has improved enough for him to expect a 30-ish average in Tests & ODIs, which i think should make him #1 easily in England, given the quality of his glovework.

[Gambit]

Apart from 3 byes off Colly's bowling which he should have stopped, he was quite decent.

[Mr. Wicket]

Read was probably one of the finest pure glovesmen I have seen in a long time on the international scene. For sheer class behind the stumps with some amazing footwork, there were very few who could compare to him in the last few years. Of course, England's obsession with runs behind the wickets meant he got dumped in favour of Geraint Jones, whose overrated ability with the bat eventually caught up with him. And then came Matt Prior, who could talk, beat up crap attacks on flat wickets and do little else. Don't expect Read to come back sadly, because Mustard looks a far better option than either Prior or Jones, and while he may be a bit inconsistent with the bat given his technique, he'll win more matches than both put together.

[kumble_rocks]

Salil' date=' whatever happened to the English keeper before Jones ( Reid i think his name was) ? Fellow looked like the best glovesman in cricket for a while there but had terrible batting. I wonder if his batting has improved enough for him to expect a 30-ish average in Tests & ODIs, which i think should make him #1 easily in England, given the quality of his glovework.[/quote'] Chris Read , if you mean was a ordinary wicketkeeper in my humble opinion. He was ordinary in the ashes and got dropped because of that. Plus the fact that his glove work was ordinary during the Pak series. I think , he may be more useful in ODI's because of his big hitting prowess but somehow , Prior gets the nod ahead of him in the pecking order , presumably because of his good batting against the Windies although he had indifferent WC and India series.

[Mr. Wicket]

Did you ever SEE Read keep... or are you getting him mixed up with Prior? Read only played four tests in the last couple of years - two against Pakistan where he got off to a few starts (including a 50 IIRC), and did almost NOTHING wrong with the gloves. In the Ashes he got heavy acclaim from everyone who saw him especially after Jones' pathetic displays and Gilchrist's fumbles. I think in the course of 2 and a bit innings in the MCG and SCG, he finished with 12 dismissals with no spills/errors - a SUPERB keeping display. BTW if you think he was ordinary in the Ashes, watch an Akmal or a Prior sometime... I happened to be at the MCG test and the general consensus there - from the press, fans (English and Aussies) and everyone else was that his keeping was OUTSTANDING. http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/read-england-finally-get-it-right/2007/01/04/1167777218067.html Read this... then go watch some of the man's keeping - and then if you still think he's an ordinary keeper, you obviously know **** ALL about wicketkeeping...

[kumble_rocks]

Did you ever SEE Read keep... or are you getting him mixed up with Prior? Read only played four tests in the last couple of years - two against Pakistan where he got off to a few starts (including a 50 IIRC), and did almost NOTHING wrong with the gloves. In the Ashes he got heavy acclaim from everyone who saw him especially after Jones' pathetic displays and Gilchrist's fumbles. I think in the course of 2 and a bit innings in the MCG and SCG, he finished with 12 dismissals with no spills/errors - a SUPERB keeping display. BTW if you think he was ordinary in the Ashes, watch an Akmal or a Prior sometime... I happened to be at the MCG test and the general consensus there - from the press, fans (English and Aussies) and everyone else was that his keeping was OUTSTANDING. http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/read-england-finally-get-it-right/2007/01/04/1167777218067.html Read this... then go watch some of the man's keeping - and then if you still think he's an ordinary keeper, you obviously know **** ALL about wicketkeeping...

Sweet Jesus ! Is it really necessary for you to swear ?

[Dravid]

i think read is 30+ anyways... good move by giving mustard a chance..

[The Outsider]

Read is smooth silk with the toughness of jute behind the stumps. As perfect a keeper as I have ever seen.

[Mr. Wicket]

So, Mustard's made his mark at long last. Took him some time, but he's just thrashed a brilliant 82 off 74 balls against New Zealand.

[apocalypse]

2 wickets in 2 balls changed the course

[sm332]

I dont reckon he is a long term solution ... I reckon he has some major flaws and will get sorted out relatively quickly at international level