Wicket Keeper

[DoubleO7]

Wicket Keeper

As pure wicket keeping goes, who is the best in the world?

Honestly, I would say Prasanna Jayawardene is the best wicket keeper in the world.

He rarely fumbles, he takes the regulation catches and his keeping to the spinners is of an excellent quality.

Here are some wicket keeper statistics comparing different players:

Name...............Matches........Catches........Stumpings
Boucher.............123...............445................21
Haddin...............12.................42.................0
Dhoni.................35.................81.................17
Jayawardene.......23.................49.................18

So I say again, as pure wicket keeping goes, who is the best in the world?

The players in the poll are the more well known wicket keepers in international cricket.

Nathan McCullum should read Brendon McCullum.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Internationally, it's a tough call as I really haven't seen enough of most of the keepers to comment but 3 of the 4 you highlight (minus Dhoni) would probably be in my top 3. I think it's fair to say that you can strike out the likes of Ramdin, Akmal and Prior as they make far too many mistakes.

At a county level, Chris Read is widely thought to be one of the best keepers in the world, likewise, Foster at Essex. If either of them could bat (or at least be perceived as being able to bat) then one of them would have been shoe in for 75-100 tests easily.

 

[Mousey]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Boucher for me. I just love the way he keeps.


Also Brendan McCullum is the NZ wicketkeeper, Nathan is an all-rounder.

 

[bundybullz08]

Re: Wicket Keeper

It would probably Jayawardene,keeping up to probably the 2 best spinners in the world,murali and mendis.
And rarely making a mistake.
But i'd still rather Boucher or Haddin on the batting ability, its a close one though.

 

[postmanpav]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Boucher for mine.

 

[Stumped]

Re: Wicket Keeper

i dont think you can have a world class "pure" wicket keeper any more? well certainly not in todays form of the game?

Gilly was my all time favourite, i see not many people like Dhoni but he is a good keeper and can bat.

as Mas Said, Foster is a fantastic keeper and had he not broken his finger he would still have his place in the side!

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Wicket Keeper

For me Dhoni always seems capable of making a mistake. He's a good keeper but not a great one and is helped out by his batting and chrisma.

 

[Kram81]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Never understood why Read hasn't played more for England when they have been happy to pick spuds like Geriant Jones.

 

[a for effort]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Never understood why Read hasn't played more for England when they have been happy to pick spuds like Geriant Jones.

The England selectors would sooner conscript a local vagrant and hand him a pair of rubbish bin lids than they would give a pure keeper like Read or Foster a game these days.

Matt Prior is comfortably the worst wicketkeeper in international cricket, but scored a century in his first test, which will assure him an England game for the next 75 years.

 

[Kram81]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Seems a bit odd, if the keeper drops say a Smith or Ponting they can go on to make a 100+. Sure if you are talking about Gilchrist or even Haddin type ability with the bat but playing bad ones on the hope that they might grind out another 20-30 runs?

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Wicket Keeper

Never understood why Read hasn't played more for England when they have been happy to pick spuds like Geriant Jones.

Geraint wasn't that bad but towards the end he was under a lot of pressure which affected his game. He should never have played in his final series, as by that time he as mentally shot as a test cricketer. Sure, he made mistakes but like umpires, it doesn't help when every mistake is picked up on and over analysed. I'm sure that if we applied the same logic to every other test keeper, we'd see some interesting results.

I played cricket with him for a few years when he first came over to England and though he had potential, I think it's safe to say that no-one ever thought he'd become test cricketer. I'll agree that he was probably over hyped in terms of batting and was, if we're being honest in the right place at the right time. England needed a keeper who could bat, he was having a good season.

His cause wasn't helped as many were pro Read (and still are) and refused to consider any other option. The same with the likes of Foster, Prior, Ambrose - unless they were perfect every match or score 60+ runs with the bat, someone, somewhere will take a pot shot and demand the inclusion of Read.

Read is not and never will be a test match quality batsman,even for what you'd expect from a keeper. Sure, he can keep wicket but in this day and age you need more than that. The other problem is his attitude, which I believe was the main contributing factor as to why he seldom got a game.

At the moment it doesn't matter as he's played ICL, so won't even enter the selectors thoughts for a long time.

Davies of Worcestershire is the heir to the throne and I honestly think we'll see him take over the keepers role in the next 18 months. He may get a chance in the one day series against the Windies, which will be a nice introduction to the international game.

 

[Stumped]

Re: Wicket Keeper

I think your right mas with England down to one keeper, davies has been flown in, they would be stupid not to give him a game!

 

[Kram81]

Re: Wicket Keeper

How good was Alec Stewart as a keeper Mas? I know England used to pick him over the specialist in Russell, I remember him as being very good with the bat.

 

[Stumped]

Re: Wicket Keeper

well thats one of the main reasons he was the keeper as well! because he could bat!

He wasnt the greatest keeper, but he was good enough!

 

[King Pietersen]

Re: Wicket Keeper

McCullum. Jayawardene's so over-rated. He may be good with the gloves, but McCullum's the best in the world. He's more agile than the rest, he's extremely good at keeping to the spinners, he very rarely drops a catch, I can't actually remember seeing a McCullum drop, and he pulls off some amazing catches to boot. He's a class act, and one of my favourite players in the world. I'd take McCullum over the rest anyday.

James Foster > Matt Prior and Steve Davies as well. Best actual Wicket-Keeper in the world, he was standing up to the stumps to Andy Bichel and taking the ball comfortably a few years back. He's a fantastic keeper and a decent enough batsman. Get him in the ODi team at least.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Re: Wicket Keeper

How good was Alec Stewart as a keeper Mas? I know England used to pick him over the specialist in Russell, I remember him as being very good with the bat.

This was always a confusing one for me as an Australian. Against Australia, Russell's batting average was better than Stewart's for most of the time their career's coincided and Russell was by far the better keeper.
Stewart as a batsman and Russell as the keeper always seemed the better option, but rarely did England do it.

v Australia
Stewart averaged 30.67
Russell averaged 32.58
Both scored one century v Aus

Of course, Stewart's overall average was better, so leading in to Ashes series he presumably showed better form.

 

[bd_cricket_is_my_thing]

Re: Wicket Keeper

McCullum for me. His keeping has improved a hell of alot and his batting in the ODIs is great to watch. He is a gusty keeper aswell, his left arm was injuried but still played in the game and run out an important player for the aussies too.

 

[bundy boy]

Re: Wicket Keeper

i reckon dhoni is a crap keeper.
boucher is the best keeper.

 

[Mousey]

Re: Wicket Keeper

100% agree.

 

[a for effort]

Re: Wicket Keeper

It is worth noting that Matt Prior let 35 byes through in a single innings the other day in the West Indies, further asserting himself as the world's most hopelessly inadequate keeper.

The world record is 37 byes in an innings, and that was from a 40 year old stand-in keeper. Read the cricinfo commentary on Priors desperate battle to avoid the record for a good chuckle.

For reference, Ramdin has let through 10 byes in roughly the same amount of overs in the match.