Sports Commentary - The Wicket-Keepers in Test Cricket: A Review of Their Batting Contributions

 By Dale Brown

NEW YORK, NY. Tuesday, September 8, 2020 -- The role of the Test wicket-keeper has not changed over the years.

The wicket-keeper is a specialist fielder tasked with clearly defined responsibilities. He is expected to accept catches ranging from the straight forward to the most difficult ones.

He aids the spinners to dismiss the batsmen by effecting stumping chances whether they are deemed to be easy or difficult.

He is expected to prevent the opposition from scoring on the team and the bowlers by intercepting wayward deliveries from turning into byes or leg byes.

The ‘keeper also plays a vital role in aiding the bowlers to “work out” the batsmen weaknesses. He helps to elevate the team’s morale by constantly encouraging the bowlers and the other fielders.

The Dilemma

The problem facing most team selection panels depends on the desired composition of the playing XI.

Some Test teams used to routinely select wicket-keepers who are master technicians but were not regarded as good batsmen eg., Godfrey Evans of England, Don Tallon of Australia or Jackie Hendriks of the West Indies.

Some have selected players who are also excellent batsmen like the explosive Adam Gilchrist of Australia, Les Ames of England, the oft-forgotten Andy Flower of Zimbabwe and AB deVilliers, who was sparingly used as a wicket-keeper by South Africa.

The ideal wicket-keeper should be a practitioner who is well balanced in the art of wicket-keeping and is able to consistently contribute to the team as a specialist batsman.

In assessing their career batting prowess, it is important to remember that in addition to the normal effects of ageing, the job of the wicket-keeper is perhaps the most physically demanding of all the cricketing disciplines.

The natural wear and tear on the hands and body plus the mental demands of the position has proven to have an adverse effect on their batting especially during the later years of their careers.

In this exercise we will review the contributions of the wicket- keepers throughout history by examining some pertinent batting statistics as they relate to the individual Test playing countries.

Please remember the statistics are only relevant to the players when they played as the wicket-keepers for their respective countries.

NB- * denotes still active

NB - @ is followed by their traditional batting average

Australia

Adam Gilchrist, Australia

Australia has used 33 wicket-keepers in their history.  Six (6) players have scored over 1,000 runs and of these, only the leading run getter, Adam Gilchrist with 5,570 runs @47.60, Brad Haddin 3,266 @ 32.98 and Tim Paine* with 1,330 @31.66 have career averages of over 30 runs per inning.

Adam Gilchrist accounts for 17 of the 31 centuries scored by the Australian wicket-keepers.

Highest Individual score

 Adam Gilchrist 204 not out against South Africa in 2001/02.                                                                                 

Most Runs in a Series: Brad Haddin 493 v England - 2013/14.  

Adam Gilchrist 473 in South Africa (3 Tests) – 2001/2002.                                   

                               

Bangladesh

Bangladesh used 2 wicket -keepers in their short history and both of them have scored over 1,000 runs.

Mushfiqur Rahim leads in all categories with 3,515 runs at an average of 37. He has also scored 6 of their 7 centuries.

Highest Individual Score: Mushfiqur Rahim 219 not out v Zimbabwe in 2018/19.

Most Runs in a Series: Mushfiqur Rahim 270 v Zimbabwe (2 Tests) -2018/19.

England

Sixty (68) players have donned the gloves for England.  Les Ames (1929-39) was the first of their 11 ‘keepers to score over 1,000 runs. Here are the 7 players who also averaged over 30.

Les Ames 2,387 runs @43.40; Matt Prior 4,099 @40.18; Johnny Bairstow* 3,028 @37.85; Alex Stewart (runs leader) 4540 @34.92; Alan Knott 4,389 @32.75; Jos Butler* 1,294 @32.35 and Jim Parks 1,876 @32.34.

England’s keepers have scored 44 centuries with Ames again topping the list with 8.

Highest Individual score: Alex Stewart 173 against New Zealand in 1996/97.

Most Runs in a Series: Alex Stewart 465 v South Africa – 1998.

Les Ames 417 in West Indies -1929/30.

India

India has employed 36 gloved men with 6 scoring over 1,000 runs.

M.S Dhoni is the leading scorer with 4,876 @ 38.09 with 6 centuries. He leads in all categories.

Farouk Engineer with 2,611@ 31.08 and W.P Saha* 1,202 @ 30.82 joins Dhoni as the only players who have averaged over 30 runs, while scoring 1,000 career runs. 

Dhoni leads the way with 6 of their 21 centuries.

Highest Individual Score: M.S Dhoni 224 v Australia – 2012/13.

Most Runs in a Series: B.K Kunderan 525 v England 1963/64.

Farouk Engineer 415 v England 1972/73.

New Zealand

New Zealand used 28 wicket-keepers in their history with 5 of them scoring over 1,000 runs in their careers.

B.J Watling* with 3,266 runs @40.32 and Brendon McCullum 2,803 @34.18 are the players who also averaged over 30.

Watling* is the leading century maker with 7 of the team’s 18 centuries.

Highest Individual score: B.J Watling 205 v England – 2019/20

Most Runs in a Series: Warren Lees 292 in Pakistan (3 Tests) 1976/77.

Pakistan

Twenty-three (23) players have occupied this position for Pakistan with 7 scoring over 1,000 runs. Sarfraz Ahmed with 2,657 runs @36.39 leads in runs scored and averages. Kamran Akmal with 2,648 runs @ 30.79 and Imtiaz Ahmed with 2,010 runs @ 30.45, are the others who scored over 1,000 runs and averaged over 30.

Highest Individual score: Taslim Arif 210 not out v Australia – 1979/80.

Most Runs in a Series: Imtiaz Ahmed -375 in India -1960-61.

South Africa

South Africa has utilized the services of 24 players in the role of wicket-keeper. A total of 7 players scored over 1,000 runs with Mark Boucher’s 5,498 runs leading the way.

The following 6 players led by A.B deVilliers 2,067 runs @57.41; Quinton de Kock* 2,884 @40.61; Denis Lindsay 1,000 @40.00; Mark Boucher 5,498 @ 30.54; John Waite 2,336 @30.33 and Horace Cameron 1,239 @ 30.21 averaged over 30.

Despite playing only 24 matches as the wicket-keeper, deVilliers is the leading century maker with 7 of South Africa’s 27 centuries.

Highest Individual Score: Denis Lindsay 182 v Australia in 1966/67.

Most Runs in a Series: Denis Lindsay 606 v Australia 1966/67.

Walter “Billy Wade 407 v England -1948/49.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has used 19 wicket-keepers of whom 5 scored over 1,000 runs in their career. Three of the 5 players averaged over 30.                         L.D Chandimal 1,602 @ 41.07; Kumar Sangakkara scored the most runs, 3,117 @ 40.48 and N. Dickwella 1,915 @ 31.91.

Sangakkara scored 7 of the team’s 24 centuries.

Highest Individual Score: Kumar Sangakkara 230 against Pakistan 2001/02.

Most runs in a Series: HAPW Jayawardene -297 in India (3Tests) 2009/10.

 

West Indies

Jeffrey Dujon, West Indies

Thirty-two (32) players have kept wicket for the West Indies. Five (5) have scored over 1,000 runs.

Jeffrey Dujon, the leading scorer with 3,146 runs @ 31.46 is the only player with over 1,000 career runs who averaged over 30.

Dujon also scored 5 centuries to lead the team in that category.

Highest Individual Score: Clyde Walcott 168 not out against England – 1950.

Most Runs in a Series: Franz Alexander 484 in Australia -1960/61.

Clyde Walcott -452 in India 1948/49.

Zimbabwe

Andy Flower, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe are also relatively new to Test cricket and they have used 7 ‘keepers with 2 of them scoring over 1,000 runs. Andy Flower is the leading scorer with 4,404 runs @53.70 and he has also accounted for 12 of the team’s 14 centuries.

Highest Individual Score: Andy Flower 232 not out against India in 2000/01.

Most Runs in a Series: Andy Flower 540 in India (2 Tests) 2000/2001.

NB- The 5 players from Afghanistan and Ireland have not been included in this study

 

Summary

There have been 276 wicket-keepers in the history of Test cricket (excluding those from Afghanistan and Ireland) with 56 (20.28%) of them making at least 1,000 runs in their careers.

Thirty (10.86%) of the 276 ‘keepers have scored over 1,000 runs and averaged over 30 runs per completed inning during their careers.                                                                   

Seventeen (17) of the 30 players who scored over 1,000 runs and averaged over 30, began playing at the turn of the century while 4 others began their careers during the 1990’s.

The other 9 players range from the pre- war era with Ames and Cameron; and post-war, Waite, Imtiaz Ahmed, Jim Parks, Farouk Engineer, Denis Lindsay, Alan Knott and Jeffrey Dujon.

It is worth noting that only Adam Gilchrist (17) and Andy Flower (12) have scored 10 or more centuries while playing as the designated wicket-keeper.

It is a luxury for teams to have long serving wicket-keepers who remain excellent batsmen throughout their careers although there has been an increase in productivity during the last 20 years.

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Editor’s note. Dale Brown is a sports historian and host of SECOND BASE, the total sports program airing Tuesdays, 7 – 8 pm, on the Wee Radio Network at, www.weeradioonline.com