Wicket-keeper

A wicket-keeper in characteristic squatting position, ready to face a delivery. This keeper is positioned close to the wicket, for a slow pace bowler or spin bowler

A pair of wicket-keeping gloves. The webbing which helps the keeper to catch the ball can be seen between the thumb and index fingers.

The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike. The wicket-keeper is the only member of the fielding side permitted to wear gloves and external leg guards.^[1] The wicket-keeper may also wear a helmet with a mesh face guard to help protect from injury.^[2]

It is essentially a specialist role. The role of the keeper is governed by Law 40 of the Laws of Cricket.^[1]

Adam Gilchrist of Australia standing up to the stumps against England during the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes series in England.

Stance

Initially, during the bowling of the ball the wicket-keeper crouches in a full squatting position but partly stands up as the ball is received. Australian wicket-keeper Sammy Carter (1878 to 1948) was the first to squat on his haunches rather than bend over from the waist (stooping).^[3]

Purposes

The keeper's major function is to stop deliveries that pass the batsman (in order to prevent runs being scored as 'byes'), but he can also attempt to dismiss the batsman in various ways:

• The most common dismissal effected by the 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. More catches are taken by wicket-keepers than by any other fielding position.
• The keeper can stump the batsman by using the ball to remove the bails from the stumps, if the batsman is out of his crease after a delivery has passed the stumps into keeper's hands. The keeper must then dislodge the bail(s) and the batsman is out, if he is still outside the crease.
• 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 keeper's position depends on the bowler: for fast bowling he will squat some distance from the stumps, in order to have time to react to edges from the batsman, while for slower bowling, he will 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 is able to "stand up", for instance Godfrey Evans often stood up to Alec Bedser.^[4]

Legal specifications of wicket-keeping gloves

Wicket keeping gloves along with the inner gloves

Law 40.2, which deals with the specifications for wicketkeepers' gloves, states that: If,.... the wicket-keeper wears gloves, they shall have no webbing between the fingers except joining index finger and thumb, where webbing may be inserted as a means of support. If used, the webbing shall be:

(a) a single piece of non-stretch material which, although it may have facing material attached, shall have no reinforcements or tucks.

(b) such that the top edge of the webbing-

(i) does not protrude beyond the straight line joining the top of the index finger to the top of the thumb.

(ii) is taut when a hand wearing the glove has the thumb fully extended.^[5]

Substitutes

According to Law 2 of the Laws of Cricket, a substitute (taking the place of an ill or injured player) may not keep wicket.^[6]

This rule is sometimes suspended, by agreement with the captain of the batting side, although Law 2 does not provide for such agreement to be made. For example, during the England–New Zealand Test Match at Lord's in 1986, England's specialist keeper, Bruce French was injured during England's first innings. England then used 4 keepers in New Zealand's first innings: Bill Athey kept for the first two overs; 45-year-old veteran Bob Taylor was pulled out of the sponsor's tent to keep, immaculately, for overs 3 to 76; Bobby Parks, the Hampshire keeper, was called up for overs 77 to 140; and Bruce French kept wicket for the final ball of the innings.^[7]

Occasional wicket-keepers

Occasional wicket-keepers are players that usually play in other roles but sometimes keep wicket. John Wisden was described as an occasional wicket-keeper.^[8] Other players who have been described as occasional wicket-keepers include Ambati Rayudu,^[9] Lokesh Rahul,^[10] Johnson Charles,^[11] Peter Handscomb,^[12] Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lendl Simmons, Rahul Dravid, Marcus Trescothick , Eoin Morgan and Everton Weekes.

Playing without a wicket-keeper

There is no rule stating a team must play a wicket-keeper.^[13] On 5 June 2015 during a T20 Blast game between the Worcestershire Rapids and the Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Worcestershire chose not to play a wicket-keeper in the 16th over of the match.^[14] Their keeper, Ben Cox, became an extra fielder at fly slip while spinner Moeen Ali bowled.^[14] The umpires consulted with each other and agreed that there was nothing in the rules to prevent it from happening.^[15]

Leading international wicket-keepers

Test

The following top 10 wicket-keepers for dismissals in Test cricket.^[16]

Leading Test match wicket-keepers by dismissals1
Rank	Name	Country	Matches	Caught	Stumped	Total dismissals
1	Mark Boucher	South Africa	147	532	23	555
2	Adam Gilchrist	Australia	96	379	37	416
3	Ian Healy	Australia	119	366	29	395
4	Rod Marsh	Australia	96	343	12	355
5	MS Dhoni	India	90	256	38	294
6	Jeff Dujon	West Indies	81	265	5	270
7	Alan Knott	England	95	250	19	269
8	Matt Prior	England	79	243	13	256
9	Alec Stewart	England	133	227	14	241
10	Wasim Bari	Pakistan	81	201	27	228

Notes in table

1. Statistics are correct as of 19 June 2016
2. Indicates current player

ODI

The following wicket-keepers have taken 200 or more dismissals in one day cricket.^[17]

Leading one-day wicket-keepers by dismissals1
Rank	Name	Country	Matches	Caught	Stumped	Total dismissals
1	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	404	383	99	482
2	Adam Gilchrist	Australia	287	417	55	472
3	Mark Boucher	South Africa	295	402	22	424
4	MS Dhoni	India	294	275	97	372
5	Moin Khan	Pakistan	219	214	73	287
6	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	260	227	15	242
7	Ian Healy	Australia	168	194	39	233
8	Rashid Latif	Pakistan	166	182	38	220
9	Romesh Kaluwitharana	Sri Lanka	189	131	75	206
10	Jeff Dujon	West Indies	169	183	21	204

Notes in table

1. Statistics are correct as of 19 June 2017
2. Bold indicates current player

T20I

The following top 10 wicket-keepers for dismissals in Twenty20 International cricket.^[18]

Leading T20I wicket-keepers by dismissals1
Rank	Name	Country	Matches	Caught	Stumped	Total dismissals
1	MS Dhoni	India	76	42	23	65
2	Kamran Akmal	Pakistan	54	28	32	60
3	Denesh Ramdin	West Indies	58	32	19	51
4	Mushfiqur Rahman	Bangladesh	57	22	23	45
5	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	56	25	20	45
6	Mohammad Shahzad	Afghanistan	48	21	20	41
7	Quinton de Kock	South Africa	29	27	9	36
8	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	71	24	8	32
9	AB de Villiers	South Africa	71	21	7	28
10	Luke Ronchi	New Zealand	29	23	5	28

Notes in table

1. Statistics are correct as of 19 June 2016
2. Indicates current player

See also

• Catcher
• Glossary of cricket terms
• Wicket-keeper's gloves

Bibliography

• Surya Prakash Chaturvedi,Bharat ke Wicket Keepers,National Book Trust,2011

References