Everything about Wicketkeeper totally explained
The
wicket-keeper in
cricket is the
fielding player who stands behind the
batsman on strike at the
wicket. The role of the wicket-keeper is governed by Law 40 of the
Laws of cricket, and is similar to that of the
catcher in
baseball.
The wicket-keeper's major function is to stop deliveries that pass the batsman (in order to prevent
runs being scored), but often he can also attempt to
dismiss the batsman in various ways. The most common dismissal effected by the wicket-keeper is for him to catch a ball that has nicked the batsman's bat, called an
edge, before it bounces. Sometimes the keeper is also in the best position to catch a ball which has been hit high in the air. The keeper can also
stump the batsman by using the ball to remove the
bails from the
stumps if the batsman has come out of his
crease during a delivery. Finally, when the ball is hit into the outfield, the keeper moves close to the stumps to catch the return throw from a fielder and, if possible, to
run out a batsman.
A wicket-keeper's position depends on the bowler: for
fast bowling he'll crouch some distance from the stumps, in order to have time to react to edges from the batsman, while to slower bowling, he'll come much nearer to the stumps (known as "standing up"), to pressure the batsman into remaining within the crease or risk being stumped. The more skilled the keeper, the faster the bowling to which he's able to "stand up", for instance
Godfrey Evans often stood up to
Alec Bedser.
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Wicket-keeping is a specialist discipline and it requires training consistent with the level expected of a specialist batsman or
bowler. However, the modern-day wicket-keeper is also expected to be able to bat reasonably well, in the middle order at least. Wicket-keepers who are also capable of batting at the top of the order are known informally as
wicket-keeper/batsmen.
Since there's only room for one wicket-keeper in a cricket side, selectors (especially at the international level) are often faced with a difficult choice between two or more skilled keepers. Often, one of the two wicket-keepers is an exceptional wicket-keeper, but only an average batsman, whereas the other is a wicket-keeper/batsman who is clearly better at batting, but not quite as good a wicket-keeper as his rival. One such selection dilemma was that faced by
England selectors in the
1990s between
Jack Russell (the pure keeper) and
Alec Stewart (the keeper/batsman). They were never able to consistently choose between the two until
1998, when Russell began to fade: prior to that, they'd regularly swapped the role, often with Stewart maintaining his place when not wicket-keeping thanks to his batting skill.
Adam Gilchrist,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
Kumar Sangakkara,
Brendon McCullum and
Mark Boucher are the top wicket-keeper/
batsmen today in
cricket. Ex
Indian captain
Rahul Dravid is a part time wicket-keeper, and played that role for India throughout the
2003 World cup.
The wicket-keeper may also have a captaincy role. Uniquely, they're usually involved in every delivery of an innings, and may be in a position to see things that the captain misses. They can frequently be heard encouraging the bowler and "
sledging" the batsman with well timed comments about their skill, appearance or personal habits.
The wicket-keeper is the only fielder allowed to touch the ball with protective equipment, typically large padded gloves with webbing between the index finger and thumb, but no other webbing. The protection offered by the gloves isn't always adequate. The
England wicket-keeper
Alan Knott sometimes placed
steaks inside his gloves for added cushioning. Wicket-keepers also tend to wear leg pads and a box to protect the groin area.
Wicket-keepers are allowed to take off their pads and bowl and this isn't uncommon when matches are drifting to draws or a bowling team is desperate for a wicket. Two wicket-keepers have removed their pads and taken hat-tricks in first-class cricket: Probir Sen for Bengal v Orissa at Cuttack in 1954-55 and A.C. (Alan) Smith for Warwickshire v Essex at Clacton in 1965.
England used 4 wicket-keepers in New Zealand's first innings at Lord's in 1986 when the appointed wicket-keeper,
Bruce French was injured during England's first innings.
Bill Athey kept for the first two overs before veteran
Bob Taylor was pulled out of the sponsors tent to keep, immaculately, for overs 3 to 76.
Bobby Parks, the Hampshire keeper, was called up for overs 77 to 140 and French returned for the final ball.
Leading Test match wicket-keepers
The following wicket-keepers have taken 200 or more dismissals in Test cricket.
Notes in Table
- Statistics are correct as of 05 March 2008
- Indicates current player
Leading One day wicket-keepers
The following wicket-keepers have taken 200 or more dismissals in one day cricket.
Notes in Table
Statistics are correct as of 05 March 2008
Indicates current player
Wicket-Keepers by Country (current Internationals)
Australia
Brad Haddin
Bangladesh
Dhiman Ghosh
England
Geraint Jones
Chris Read
Tim Ambrose
Phil Mustard
Matthew Prior
India
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Dinesh Karthik
Pakistan
Kamran Akmal
Sarfraz Ahmed
New Zealand
Brendon McCullum
South Africa
Mark Boucher
AB de Villiers
Sri Lanka
Kumar Sangakkara
Prasanna Jayawardene
West Indies
Denesh Ramdin
Carlton Baugh
Zimbabwe
Tatenda Taibu
Brendan TaylorFurther Information
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