Gone are the days of ‘keepers being just custodians of the wickets. Wicket-keepers are considered on par with the all-rounders constituting a team. This is a very tricky combination. A good ‘keeper might not be a good batsman for the team to rely upon and could be discarded for being just too one dimensional and a great batsman with sub-par ‘keeping skills might be discarded for being too unreliable. For a long, long time steady ‘keepers who could just scrape through with the bat were considered a very safe option (Nayan Mongia maybe). Alec Stewart was a notable exclusion as he was primarily a batsman who could also keep – albeit better than most batsmen-keepers of his times. Though at times his glove work to the spinners was a bit sloppy and this enabled Jack Russell (solid ‘keeper but squeaky batsman) a way into the England team (Not that they were any good in the late ’90s). Andy Flower was another exception. And then came Adam Gilchrist – a solid ‘keeper and a mind-blowingly brilliant batsman, his exploits led the pundits across the cricketing world to consider the ‘keeper to be an all-rounder. Suddenly the cricket playing nations scrambled to find their own Gilchrist – the likes of the Dave Richardsons and the Adam Parores were considered not good enough.
During the current India – Australia series, there has been an intense scrutiny by the Aussie media and also the selectors on their ‘keeper – Brad Haddin. With a very sub-par series both in-front of and behind the stumps, the Australian Vice-Captain admitted to feeling worn out and was promptly chided by the commentary team on live media. His verbal taunts against India also backfired as everyone considering that only his mouth was doing all the talking. I wrote this post just to find out who has been the best wicket-keeper in the longest format of the game in the recent times. Test match ‘keeping require some real technique to survive in the game. This is not like a T/20 or a ODI where a Rahul Dravid or a Craig Kieswetter could do an acceptable job and carry on with it. I have considered a sample size of the last 3 calender years to analyze who has been the best ‘keeper in the longest format. The groupings have been done in two separate tables – home and away.
Note:
1. Seasons considered – 2009, 2010 and 2011 and 2012 (first couple of weeks of January)
2. Matches not included – Only test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand, 4th test between India and Australia and 2nd test between Pakistan and England
3. Pakistan haven’t played a home game in the past 2 seasons. The tests they have played in the neutral venues have been considered as their away games.
4. This analysis is about the ‘keepers’ batting prowess only
The best ‘keeper-batsman at home has been Brendan McCullum, though he has relinquished his ‘keeping duties to Reece Young for the past 2 home games. He is followed by our very own captain cool – MSD and surprise, surprise – Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim. Matt Prior has also been scoring on-par with the likes of Dhoni and Rahim at home. Dhoni has hit the maximum number of 100s by ‘keepers at home over the last 3 seasons – followed by Prior and McCullum. Brad Haddin and Denesh Ramdin have been averaging 35 – acceptable but nowhere near good these days. The real surprise has been Mark Boucher – who is averaging just 28 over his last 22 home innings. There is another ‘file it under strange’ case here – but more on it later.
Now coming to the table that tells a lot – the performances away from home. The person topping this chart is – Prasanna Jayawardene averaging a whopping 56 in his past 16 away innings. The same Prasanna who has been averaging a paltry 22 in his 13 innings at home in the considered time frame. Out of the top performers at home only Matt Prior keeps his average close thereby easily claiming to be the best ‘keeper-batsman of the recent times. Dhoni averages just 33 and McCullum – 34.60. Mushfiqur Rahim has struggled away averaging just 21. Brad Haddin hasn’t been impressive away either, averaging just 30.90 Again Mark Boucher hasn’t been setting the world on fire with his bat and there will be few questions about his spot in the South African team before long.
Kirukkettu 