COACHING
Keeping wickets to fast bowlers - Part I
A wicketkeeper's job is multi-dimensional and involves a number of aspects that require careful attention and planning. One of these aspects has been dealt with in this article, i.e. the position and posture of the keeper when keeping wickets to the 'fast men'.There are a number of factors that will affect where and how the keeper will stand, or rather, crouch.
1. The speed of the bowler: fast, fast-medium, medium-fast
or medium.
2. The condition of the pitch: bouncy, fast, sticky or slow.
3. The direction and velocity of the wind and the atmosphere.
4. The state of the ball: new, semi-new or old.
5. The situation of the match.
Tendulkar falls
to the Gilchrist-Lee combination
When a 'tearaway' fast bowler like Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee is operating with the new ball in 'normal' pitch and wind conditions, a keeper should stand around 20 yards away from the stumps. A 'normal' pitch is one that is sporting, offering equal purchase to the batsmen and bowlers. 'Normal' conditions imply that it is not very windy. The definition of 'normalcy' of course varies from country to country. In England, it stands for overcast weather, seaming wickets and a wind that is not too strong. On the sub-continent, it represents hot and humid weather with little or no wind, and a pitch with low bounce.
On a bouncy, fast strip, it would be wise for a keeper to crouch 22 yards from the stumps.
Keeping wickets to fast bowlers on a sticky wicket is an art in itself. The ball plays all kinds of tricks on a sticky wicket; it may kick off, keep low or skid after pitching. This creates problems not only for the batsmen, but also the keepers. Here, the keepers will have to use their discretion. Depending upon their experience and confidence, they will have to decide the distance from the stumps where they will be most comfortable.
Wicketkeepers will also have to adjust their position according to the wind conditions, as the pace at which the ball travels in the air and off the pitch is influenced by the velocity and direction of the wind.
When the bowlers are 'fast-medium' like Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Sami and Makhaya Ntini, the ball is brand new, and the conditions normal, the keeper should crouch around 18 yards away from the stumps. As the ball gets older, he should move closer to the stumps in the manner stated above.
Parthiv Patel (R) celebrates
the fall of a wicket with Irfan Pathan
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.