Wicketkeepers usually tend to do unusual tantrums behind the wicket to put off the concentration of the batters. While chirping constantly is the most common method used, former England cricketer Phil Tufnell recalled how Jack Russell did not brush for a couple of days to deceive the concentration of batters.
“My wicketkeeper, Jack Russell, didn’t use to brush his teeth for a couple of days. He said he wanted to put the batters off when he was standing up to the crease. Lots of little shenanigans go on there,” Tufnell said on the BBC.
Agreeing with Tufnell, former West Indian cricketer Carlos Brathwaite said, “Yes, there are some that, when you’re batting, it’s just like, shut up. But as a bowler, you just love it. It brings a different energy. When you have a quiet keeper, it feels like the game takes so long,” Brathwaite was quoted as saying.
Trend change
In the English summer of 1990 when Kiran More dropped a regulation catch of Graham Gooch at Lord’s, the England skipper made the visitors pay by going on to score 333. That was one of the famous instances when a wicketkeeper’s mistake cost the side badly.
However, despite the dropped catch, More was a decent gloveman and belonged to a generation of ’keepers whose ability with the big gloves came before their batting prowess.
“Back in the 80s and 90s, the term was wicketkeeper-batsman, someone who was excellent behind the wickets and could bat a bit. Jeff Dujon, Rodney Marsh, Jack Russell, Alan Knott, Wasim Bari, Syed Kirmani,” recalls former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif to The Indian Express.
However, as the game evolved, teams have preferred ’keepers who can bat well. In recent times, the trend has got to an extent that batsmen who can keep are being picked for red-ball cricket. “Instead of calling it wicketkeeper-batsman, the term should be batsman-wicketkeeper,” Latif said.
