Who Should Keep Wicket For England?

My Great Uncle Pat, who was a keen cricketer and member of the MCC, once said to me that when selecting a side the first name on the team sheet should be your best wicket-keeper, irrespective of all other considerations. There are many who would agree with him. However, in recent years the reverse argument has held sway and wicket-keeping performance has become a secondary consideration to runs scored.

After a run of eight games in the England side, Chris Read was dropped, just before the fourth and final game against the West Indies. He averaged a disappointing 12 in this series, (overall Test average of 15.30) but his wicket-keeping had been excellent. Many other batsmen had struggled on the pitches of the first three Test matches in the West Indies, at Sabina Park, Queen's Park Oval and the Kensington Oval. Trescothick averaged just 12.4 at this stage and Brian Lara only 16.67, before his epic 400 not out at St John's Recreation Ground. Chris Read was unlucky to be dropped; he averaged 44.68 in the 2005 County Championship and like so many others at Test level, his batting would have improved if he had been given more time to work on what should have been recognised as his secondary function in the side.

A player is far more likely to improve his batting than his wicket-keeping and so I cannot accept the much vaunted argument that Jones' wicket-keeping will dramatically get better. Those who make this argument are in fact putting unfair pressure on the player they are trying to support. By trying to argue that every poor performance could be the last one they are asking the public to expect too much.

We should accept that Geriant Jones is a talented batsman who will miss chances with the gloves. That is the player he is, we should either select him or not on that basis. In fact there is a strong case for keeping him in the side even if the wicket-keeping duties were passed to someone else. However, to illustrate the current thinking, it has been suggested that the "someone else" should be Trescothick.