eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Now we constantly hear about how Gilchrist is the greatest keeper-bat to play the game and how he revolutionized the keeping position. That begs the question, who else deserves to be rated alongside him, and if not that, slightly below?
Many people believe that Les Ames deserves to be in the discussion, given he averaged 40 for his career, and 43 whilst keeping. Unfortunately not many people have seen him and therefore it's only based on stats where we can rate him.
Kumar Sangakkara could be included too, given that he averaged 40 whilst keeping and batting at 3 for the most part during that time period, but even though he was a fantastic batsman, I disagree due to the fact that he had a far superior record when not taking the gloves, and that he played without them more than he did with them.
The player I think deserves to be recognized as the #2 is Andy Flower. In fact you could mount an argument that he could be #1. Whilst keeping, Flower averaged 54 with the bat, no mean feat when you consider that only 2 other Zimbabwean players in his era of test cricket averaged more than 30 in Murray Goodwin and Dave Houghton.
Who else deserves to be part of this debate? Matt Prior was a very good keeper-bat for England for a while there. Maybe AB de Villiers? He's a freak though, really. MS Dhoni averaged 38 in test cricket, although most would argue his exploits were better in the One Day arena.
Many people believe that Les Ames deserves to be in the discussion, given he averaged 40 for his career, and 43 whilst keeping. Unfortunately not many people have seen him and therefore it's only based on stats where we can rate him.
Kumar Sangakkara could be included too, given that he averaged 40 whilst keeping and batting at 3 for the most part during that time period, but even though he was a fantastic batsman, I disagree due to the fact that he had a far superior record when not taking the gloves, and that he played without them more than he did with them.
The player I think deserves to be recognized as the #2 is Andy Flower. In fact you could mount an argument that he could be #1. Whilst keeping, Flower averaged 54 with the bat, no mean feat when you consider that only 2 other Zimbabwean players in his era of test cricket averaged more than 30 in Murray Goodwin and Dave Houghton.
Who else deserves to be part of this debate? Matt Prior was a very good keeper-bat for England for a while there. Maybe AB de Villiers? He's a freak though, really. MS Dhoni averaged 38 in test cricket, although most would argue his exploits were better in the One Day arena.