Who’d be an English wicket-keeper?
It’s no secret that the position of English wicket-keeper has in the last couple of years become almost farcical. But what isn’t clear is quite how it descended in to started plumbing the depths that it has. Chris Read and Geraint Jones are the two most high-profile casualties of the scandal, but considering neither made a serious claim for the job when given the opportunity, it’s no wonder that they were both dropped in favour of Paul Nixon for the World Cup. His selection was met with some serious finger-waving - mostly due to his age, as at 37 he represents a “backward step” in search of an English wicket-keeper.
I was even skeptical. But Nixon was in my book England’s man of the tournament and a real turn up for the books. Even forgetting his batting and keeping (which were both excellent) we finally saw a quality in an English batsman which we haven’t really seen since the likes of Alec Stewart and Jack Russell - a man who genuinely looked like he wanted to play cricket for England. Nixon is a class player and shows it by getting himself involved in every single ball. Whether it’s his constant motormouth behind the stumps, or insisting that the ball come to him, or even during the batting as he coaches the man at the other end, Nixon is a genuine guy who loves his cricket. And even at 37 was easily the fittest man in the side, which is a pretty embarassing fact for many of the other members.
Nixon has since been sacked from the position in favour of Matt Prior for the upcoming West Indies series. It is probably the right decision. Given Nixon’s exceptionally high levels of fitness, he probably could be in the side for a couple of years to come. He isn’t though and he’d be within his rights to have the hump right now.
But nevertheless, Paul Nixon - I salute you.
Tags: cricket, England, paul-nixon, wicket-keeperRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Cricket
3 opinions for Who’d be an English wicket-keeper?
SixandOut.net - The International Cricket blog » Matt Prior announces himself to England
May 20, 2007 at 10:01 am
[…] very impressive job of saying “cheers” to England coach Peter Moores. Moores, chose to put his faith in the Sussex ‘keeper, and said ‘keeper duly repaid him with a magical century on […]
Oh dear God - is it any wonder?
Aug 10, 2007 at 12:19 pm
[…] hard enough being an England wicket-keeper without the barrage of garbage that come from these people. Judge first, think […]
Tim
Jul 29, 2008 at 6:28 am
This article implies Alec Stewart was a top class keeper/bat. He was a good test match batsman who at best was a long stop with pads on (as a keeper). Get serious England pick your BEST keeper and if he can bat, great. If not at least you will have your best keeper to serve you in the field. It’s NOT rocket science but I guess picking jolly nice chaps from more fashionable counties has been going on since the dawn of English cricket.
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