The period after 2018 in Tests is often referred to as the pace pandemic, but there is also another cricketing class who are blossoming as brightly as they ever have in the past 150 years of red-ball cricket.
A few days ago, England found themselves reeling at 84/5, trailing by 500 odd runs when 24-year-old Jamie Smith prodded onto the crease. What followed was an exposition of ego, endurance and exquisite shot-selection at the Edgbaston stadium, which terminated with Jamie stranded at 184(207)*. Simultaneously, a few kilometres across the Atlantic Ocean, we had his ashes rival Alex Carey carrying out his recent routine, top-scoring for his side after coming at 110/5, in addition to his half-century in the first test which came in a similar situation. Furthermore, a few weeks earlier; we had Pant putting in one of the most dominant batting performances of the recent past, securing twin centuries at Headingley. However, please don’t come under the delusion that such events are a mere coincidence of luck. The current cream of wicket-keeper batsmen across the international circuit is arguably the finest that we have seen.
The evolution of the general expectation pointed towards wicket-keepers with respect to their keeping and batting skills, individually, is a well-known journey in cricketing circles. Starting with the pre-WW1 days, given the nature of pitches combined with greater workload, players with the gloves were seen specifically as specialists behind the wicket yet an average keeper was a better batter than an average bowler. The individual who served as the figure of revolution was Les Ames, the first designated wicket-keeper to average above 40 at a time when the second-best figure stood at 30.21. Hence, the jump in numbers from the 20s to the 30s in the below graphic.
Things stood stable up until the 2000s, which became the decade synonymous with the tag of flat-tracks and also saw outliers Adam Gilchrist and Andy Flower, who broadened the horizon of keeper-batters being out-and-out, the best batters, irrespective of additional context. The 2020s don’t seem to be an anomaly but considering the circumstance of the global average being at its lowest since 1950, the fact that the current period has the highest aggregate amongst keepers is amusing at the very least. Even so, the reason for this article isn’t the average modern-day international keeper-batter. Rather, it’s about the finest ones.
Unarguably, the best of the corps is jersey number 17. People at times overlook Saha when it comes to the transition from Dhoni to Pant. In the initial days of Rishabh’s career, the ancient debate of whether to go with the better keeper or the better batter was the area of focus up until as recently as the first test of the 20/21 BGT which oversaw one of the most embarrassing moments for the Indian batting lineup as well as the christening of a new era.
At the current moment, the question is not about whether he is the best WKB from India; rather it’s about where he ranks amongst the greats. From a purely batting perspective, only Gilly, Flower and ABD have a better average amongst those with a considerable amount of sample. His 55.84 average at home has certainly boosted his figures but he has fared more than well enough outside with Windies and New Zealand being the only countries where he has failed and even there he has played just 4 matches, combined. But the major factor as to why his name is etched in red-ball folklore is the approach with which he has scored his 3K runs till now.
A strike rate of 73.90 (6th best for min. 2K runs), Pant’s tally of 7 nineties seems to be more well-known than his 8 centuries and that’s what I feel is the best way to capture the enigma of Pant. Pant’s keeping has always been under the critical lenses, leading to him being dropped in the aforementioned match, but it has seen a steady increase ever since that date. He is one of the rarer subcontinental keepers who actually prefer the pacers instead of the spinners, and I personally feel his best glovework came in South Africa. Though a tragic accident in 2022 seemed to have had an impact on his mobility and his catching over the past 6 months has taken a slump. I won’t be surprised if Pant moves on to become a specialist batter to shift keeping responsibilities to Dhruv Jurel, another talented athlete.
Rizwan and Rishabh will very likely never play a test match together but from the perspective of accolades as well as recognition, the former is the derivative of the latter. Like Pant, Rizwan is in all likelihood the best of his respective nation but hasn’t yet reached the status of an ATG. Like Pant, Rizwan’s average of 40.59 is remarkable for a designated keeper yet it’s 4 points short of Spidey’s. Like Pant, Rizwan’s away record is brilliant, in fact one can even consider it to be better well-rounded; however, the difference in quality of both batters’ knocks, especially if you consider only the top 25-odd innings, remains sizable. Though glovework is indeed an aspect where the 33-year-old possesses the edge. Funnily, like Pant, Rizwan also found himself in a similar debate mentioned earlier, only though, here he exchanged the roles with Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Talking about the transitions of our watchmen from their predecessors, Carey had the most theatrical debut. Former skipper Tim Paine was ousted after a sexting scandal and Alex found himself making his debut directly at the Ashes. In a way, his debut series was a very good representation of the 42-games Test career he has had so far. He has 23 dismissals, the 2nd most for any debutant, which sort of prophesied him being the finest amongst the first-choice keepers when it comes to handling the handwear since 2021. Whereas, with the bat he had a mediocre start, averaging only 20 but despite this, he managed to top score in the last innings of the series with a score of 49, where the 2nd highest had 27 runs. Well this is exactly who Carey is, a proficient keeper who always outperforms himself on occasions when Australia needs him the most. Be it both WTC finals or situations such as 80/5, 54/5, 110/5, etc.
Well it’s certain he isn’t going to dislodge Gilchrist but Australia have a rich cricketing history and have multiple players fighting for the number 2 spot, namely Haddin, Rod Marsh and Healy. The general consensus is always going to keep Carey behind the trio when it comes to pure glovework but he has already eclipsed them on the batting front and if there’s one more stride of peak cricket left in him, we might see him playing the definitive Robin to Adam’s Batman.
On one hand, the above trio have already embedded themselves to be amongst the finest keepers of their respective nations, whereas on the other end, the trio of Smith-Verreynne-Da Silva have a long journey to scale such a peak, yet the promise they show is appealing. Smith has by far received a greater radius of spotlight and it makes complete sense; he is the youngest out of the bunch and has scored his runs at a stupendous average of 56.81 in his first 12 matches. On top of that, 4 out of his 6 fifty-plus scores has arrived when the scorecard had figures of 54/5, 66/4, 98/5 and 84/5!
If one views Jamie as a doppelganger of Pant, then Kyle Verreynne could be treated as the shadow of Carey along the same lines. A keeper with solid fundamentals, Verreynne may not be able to displace the greats of the Proteas, and to be honest, South Africa is probably the best when it comes to producing wicket-keepers in tests. But he is only 28, has secured his place in the side, has an away average of 32.70 and has scored the majority of his runs in tough situations. All indicators of a fruitful career.
Da Silva is the most disappointing sprout out of this trio, and unfortunately, it is by a fair margin. Brewing into existence at one of the most tumultuous periods a test side has endured, Joshua follows the Caribbean tradition of prioritising the work behind the timber rather than in front. The highest average for any Windies wicket-keeper is a meagre 31.46 (min. 20 matches). Although a career average of 24.76 cannot be excused, he has shown promise in foreign conditions (averages 29.35). At the moment, he has been dropped from the Windies Test squad and one can only hope that his international career doesn’t end the way it did for Shane Dowrich.
This article has already presented you with 2 trios, so why not a third one? One of the most frustrating sides to support in limited-overs, Ireland has surprisingly looked promising in tests, currently in a 3-series winning streak. Well, in their short stay so far, it isn’t controversial to term Locran Tucker as their greatest ever test player, period. He has played only 7 games, but has been their best batter with an average of 43.92 and has pretty much scored runs everywhere in the world except at home. The fact that he was selected for the 2023 Test XI of the year by Wisden is a testament to his ability to clear boundaries even outside of the field.
Mushfiqur Rahim is amongst the stalwarts of Bangladesh and isn’t yet done with his 21-year-old test career! Yet, the person with whom we are interested is Liton Das, the current first-choice keeper of the team. 50 tests old already, he might very well not surpass Mushfiqur the test player, but there’s an outside chance of him overtaking the master as a pure keeper, given only 16 matches separate both’s total games as a designated keeper, despite there being a 10-year gap between their debut matches.
Lastly, I would like to include Kusal Mendis. For a lot of years, Kusal seemed just another entrant on the long list of young Sri Lankan cricketers who seemed to receive admiration from the pundits but could not convert this applause into actual performances on the field. However, a recent role-change which saw him being demoted to number 7 alongside donning the gloves, appears to be the event which has flipped the switch, with him averaging 45.46 in the 10 games he has played so far.
In an XI, you have multiple batters and bowlers but a singular keeper and hence, it makes sense that it’s easier for a wicket-keeper to climb up in the all-time debates than the former roles yet I believe the title of the article makes sense even after taking this anecdote into account.
Rishabh and Rizwan have already snatched a position in their respective nations’ All-Time XIs in my opinion, whereas Carey is set to win the race for number 2 in Australia. Jamie’s profile is such that it isn’t possible to predict how he will fare up against the Knotts and the Priors after 10 years, while the others mentioned in the article may not reach the status of the above names, but are more than capable enough to carve out their own legacy.
