Wicket keeping Drills - Part I
A keeper should try and simulate match conditions
as much as possible in his drills. The point of
focus in every activity should be specific to his
developmental needs.
In all the drills, the major focus should be the
ball. The keeper should watch it all the way, right
into his gloves.
Indian keeper Parthiv Patel stumps Australian Ricky
Ponting
in the third Test of the 2003-04 series at
Melbourne
For bowlers who are 'medium-fast', like Heath
Streak, Darren Gough and L. Balaji, the keeper
should stand around 14 yards from the stumps when
the ball is new. But with a ball that is 6-8 overs
old, he may well use his discretion and judgment,
and think in terms of 'standing up', close to the
stumps. This will give him the opportunity to pull
off stumpings if the batsman stretches forward and
misses. One remembers Indian stumper Sadanand
Viswanath 'standing up' to Madanlal against England
in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket and
taking a superb reflex catch to dismiss Richard
Ellison. Some bowlers tend to get more confident
when their keepers stand up, although there aren't
many who feel this way in international cricket at
the moment. Alec Bedser, England's bowling great of
the 40s and 50s, was one such. Another factor that
comes into play in 'standing-up' matters is the
match situation. Even if the keeper wants to stand
up, the captain or bowler may overrule him if they
want to cut out the possibility of the batsman
getting a thick edge and the ball sailing past the
keeper for a boundary.