For as long as cricket has been in the public eye, everybody has had an opinion on what each player’s duty should be in a national or domestic squad, but the role of a wicket keeper has long been disputed. Where should he bat? Should he be extremely aggressive all the time, or should he know when to block out and preserve his wicket?
For many years, the wicket keeper would occupy the number seven or eight spot and be the proverbial protector of the tail-end batsmen, usually adding runs slowly and trying to drag out the innings as long as possible in order to help make a score slightly better than it was originally. If the wicket keeper failed he wouldn’t have been as scrutinised as he would in today’s world, as his job was to take catches and complete stumpings when in the field rather than contribute with the bat, but as the years have passed more and more is expected from wicket keepers with the bat and a new generation of wicket keepers have begun to change people’s opinions as to what is expected of the men with the gloves.
The first glimpse of this new model wicket keeper, many argue, was Australia’s Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist represented his country in 96 tests as well as 287 ODIs, in a number of different batting spots, scoring 5570 and 9619 runs respectively in each form, at an average of 47.60 and 35.89 . He filled the classic seven spot in the test squad, but played in a way which most sides at the time had no counter for. Gilchrist would adopt an aggressive style throughout his career, playing shots similar to top order batsmen. Many people feel this style was the reason for his huge success in the baggy green, as well as the fact he opened the batting for a number of games in the one day arena.
With the inception of T20 and a big impetus put on ODI games by fans, wicket keepers were beginning to reach new heights. The old age thoughts were beginning to be left in the past as keepers were turning into talismen for their sides. Captains were starting to use their keepers more and more, as explosive players burst onto the scene. Brendon McCullum, MS Dhoni, Kumar Sangakarra and Brad Haddin, to name but a few, are examples of this. These names, even in today’s generation of big hitters, are renowned for power hitting and devastating aggression in all three forms of the game.
If anything, in today’s game a wicket keeper’s ability to contribute runs is more important than his ability to be a ‘catcher’. This was best shown in the summer of 2012 when South Africa toured England. In a warm-up match between the tourists and Somerset, wicket keeper Mark Boucher was struck in the eye by a bail, thus ruling him out of the tour. With Morne Van Wyk on standby, the South African selectors chose to give the gloves to AB De Villiers instead. By giving a top order batsman the keeping duties, the selectors could choose to play an extra batsman, bowler or all-rounder depending on the conditions and pitch. Not only was AB De Villiers an excellent stand-in keeper, he contributed well with the bat too. This tactic is also used by Sri Lanka and New Zealand respectively, with Kumar Sangakarra and Brendon McCullum taking over on one day duties if required.
This change in roles of a wicket keeper has caused arguments amongst fans and pundits with young wicket keepers being brought up on this new explosive style, never really experiencing the age of the cautious keepers. This can be seen in younger wicket keepers who are more interested in coming in to bat and trying double the team’s total in a few overs rather than sensibly access the situation and know when the right time to put their foot down is. Either way, it’s obviously more entertaining to see sixes raining around the ground rather than dot ball after dot ball, but is cricket all about fan satisfaction, or is it succeeding as a team and winning games?
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