Wicket Keeping

Mark Prosser

1 Likes
0 Followers

I’d like to get some advice about the wicket keeping crouch position.

I see keepers today with wide stances especially up the stumps and wonder how awkward they look and the pressure they have on their thighs to stay low and come up with the ball.

Growing up keepers generally had their feet shoulder width apart and looked more comfortable with their gloves coming up with the ball. Ian Healy for example.

With such a wide stance also does it affect the bigger edges off the spinners hitting their legs as opposed to travelling through to first slip?

Should we be advising young keepers to keep their feet shoulder width apart or is the wide stance ok?

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6 months ago

Steve Winchester

I.T Manager

Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia

1 Likes
0 Followers

My son is 14 and wants to take up wicket keeping for cricket this year. I have no idea of how or where to start to try and help him. Are there cricket or wicket keeping coaches on Sydney’s North anyone could refer me to?

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8 months ago

Tim Lovell

Business and Research Analyst

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

4 Likes
0 Followers

We have a young wicket keeper in our club who moves really well to his left but struggles moving to his right. Last season he missed a few catches with the balls going between himself and first slip off right hander batters. He didn’t have the same problem with left hand batters.
Can we ask what training drill we could help him with leading into this season?

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9 months ago

Adrian Thomson

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

1 Likes
0 Followers

My son is a 14-year-old wicket keeper, and he was asking questions about the Bairstow stumping. He said he’s tried it before and that it happens a lot in junior cricket.
He wants to know if he should do it or not. What advice can I offer him?

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9 months ago

Paul Ryan

Founder

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

456 Likes
511 Followers

Carey stumps Bairstow and the Spirit of Cricket

In almost every game of cricket at any level around the world, you will see a wicket keeper standing back to the fast and medium pace bowlers. At some stage during an innings, the wicket keeper will take the ball the batter either let's go or misses and, in the same motion under arm it back towards the stumps in the hope the batter is out of their crease.

It's been happening since the game began and every wicket keeper, including all our favourite test keepers, have done it at some stage.

Why now, when Alex Carey, in the same motion, does it in a test match for Australia against England and Jonny Bairstow strangely walks out of his crease and is run out are some people so upset and screaming from the rooftops?

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/32/paul-ryan/blog/1241/carey-stumps-bairstow-and-the-spirit-of-cricket

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10 months ago

Jim Dayhew

2 Likes
0 Followers

If a keeper bats 11 but takes 90% of the dismissals that come their way, would that justify their selection? How many runs is that worth? Why does a keeper have to bat 7 and average 35 when a bowler doesn't need to?

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11 months ago

Damien Trott

Student

Melbourne, Australia

37 Likes
7 Followers

Have England missed a trick by not selecting their best wicket keeper in the first test of the Ashes.

I understand Bairstow runs are important and he should be in the team but at what cost if he has the gloves on. Isn't Foakes a much better wicket keeper?

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11 months ago

Phil Emery

Insurance Manager

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

7 Likes
0 Followers

The following were my guiding principles as a wicket keeper

1. The nuts and bolts - footwork and hands. Hard work to develop technique and fitness that will stand up under pressure and tiredness both up to the stumps and back.
2. Run the fielding standard, set the example, and expect standards from the team.
3. Be the captain’s and bowler’s aid - field setting, bowling changes, ideas, advice.
4. Be a good team man and always be involved in the group activities.
5. Work harder than everyone else. Only one of you so the position deserves respect if you want to keep it.

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11 months ago

Scott Atkinson

TradesPerson

Gosford, Australia

62 Likes
24 Followers

They three key roles of a wicket keeper in my mind are:

• Self-motivation – to be physical fit so you can make the effort to be in the right positions to take dismissals and be tidy behind the stumps.
• Drive – talking to and supporting your team mates to help maximise their efforts in bowling and fielding.
• Defend - to be the protector in the field. When the going gets tough or there’s a level of conflict the keeper needs to stand up for the team and not take a backward step

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12 months ago

Heidi Cheadle

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

5 Likes
0 Followers

The stumping that always makes me mile was one I took when I was keeping up to Em Leys who bowled these beautiful left armers that would drift across batters. It darted through a little wider and the batter went out and took her back foot with her just enough and it was clean, quick and soooooo satisfying.

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12 months ago

Tim Ebbeck

Company Director

Central Coast, NSW, Australia

42 Likes
11 Followers

I was a wicket keeper and loved being in the action all the time. I wrote an overview on my LinkedIn profile a few years ago which described how what I learned as a wicket-keeper shaped me in my business career:

“For years I was the wicket keeper in a cricket team , a role that shapes how the team performs. It taught me the virtue of humility, the importance of teamwork and reliability, and the value that comes from instinct.
The wicket keeper is many things: the enforcer who takes the game to the competition, the elite fielder who’s able to convert half-chances into chances, and a safe set of hands who has the experience to be in the right place at the right time.
Like any successful person, a good wicket keeper is consistent day in and day out. He is never off duty mentally or physically.
What I learned behind the stumps shaped my approach to leadership.”

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12 months ago

Dale McInerney

Student

Auckland, New Zealand

2 Likes
0 Followers

As a wicket keeper it was mentioned last season I was standing too far back to the fast and medium pace bowlers. Is there a guide to where I should be standing?

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12 months ago

Dale Hinchey

Artist

Perth, Australia

2 Likes
0 Followers

What should form part of a selector or coach thought process when considering two wicket keepers who are both good keepers and have similar batting records?

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last year

Toby Jackson

Teacher

San Franciso, United States

1 Likes
0 Followers

As a baseball catcher I’d like to ask about the relationship between the bowlers in cricket and the wicket keeper.
Baseball catchers offer signals to the pitcher so we know what pitches will be thrown. Do wicket keepers do the same as I can’t seem to pick up any.
How does the wicket keeper know what the bowler is going to bowl?

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last year

Xavier Clark

Adelaide, Australia

3 Likes
0 Followers

What is the right footwork for a wicket keeper standing back to fast bowlers. Is it having the feet cross over behind each other as the keeper moves sideways or a shuffle where the feet following each other?
From memory as kids, we were taught to cross over the get extra distance, but a coach has mentioned to my son he should shuffle his feet as quick as possible

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last year

Tim Shipley

Hobart, Australia

1 Likes
0 Followers

I have a son who is a keen wicket keeper and when he is up to the stumps to the spinners he struggles when the ball goes down the leg side. Is there any technical advice someone can provide and some drills I could help him with?

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last year

Evan Styles

Launceston, Australia

3 Likes
0 Followers

How important is the relationship between a spinner and their wicket keeper?

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last year

David Wilcox

Student

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

4 Likes
0 Followers

If a wicket keeper has the skills and confidence to stand over the stumps to a slow medium pace bowler to create more chances for the team but the bowler doesn’t want like it, should the keeper persist or stay back?

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last year

Evan Styles

Launceston, Australia

3 Likes
0 Followers

For a wicket keeper how important is it to work on what some people say is the right technique compared to creating my own style as long as I get the job done?

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last year

Mark Sincock

Student

8 Likes
1 Followers

What does it mean when people say the wicket keeper is coming up too early to spinners and what drills can help keepers?

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last year

My son is 14 and wants to take up wicket keeping for cricket this year. I have no idea of how or where to start to try and help him. Are there cricket or wicket keeping coaches on Sydney’s North anyone could refer me to?

My son is a 14-year-old wicket keeper, and he was asking questions about the Bairstow stumping. He said he’s tried it before and that it happens a lot in junior cricket. He wants to know if he should do it or not. What advice can I offer him?

If a keeper bats 11 but takes 90% of the dismissals that come their way, would that justify their selection? How many runs is that worth? Why does a keeper have to bat 7 and average 35 when a bowler doesn't need to?

Have England missed a trick by not selecting their best wicket keeper in the first test of the Ashes. I understand Bairstow runs are important and he should be in the team but at what cost if he has the gloves on. Isn't Foakes a much better wicket keeper?

As a wicket keeper it was mentioned last season I was standing too far back to the fast and medium pace bowlers. Is there a guide to where I should be standing?

What should form part of a selector or coach thought process when considering two wicket keepers who are both good keepers and have similar batting records?

I have a son who is a keen wicket keeper and when he is up to the stumps to the spinners he struggles when the ball goes down the leg side. Is there any technical advice someone can provide and some drills I could help him with?

How important is the relationship between a spinner and their wicket keeper?

If a wicket keeper has the skills and confidence to stand over the stumps to a slow medium pace bowler to create more chances for the team but the bowler doesn’t want like it, should the keeper persist or stay back?

For a wicket keeper how important is it to work on what some people say is the right technique compared to creating my own style as long as I get the job done?

What does it mean when people say the wicket keeper is coming up too early to spinners and what drills can help keepers?

My son is a 14-year-old wicket keeper, and he was asking questions about the Bairstow stumping. He said he’s tried it before and that it happens a lot in junior cricket.
He wants to know if he should do it or not. What advice can I offer him?

Have England missed a trick by not selecting their best wicket keeper in the first test of the Ashes.

I understand Bairstow runs are important and he should be in the team but at what cost if he has the gloves on. Isn't Foakes a much better wicket keeper?