Wicket keeper batsmen captains: The stats show it's your batting that suffers

Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 18 February 2008 / 3

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Andrew Hughes looks at how the likes of Dhoni, Sangakkara and Alec Stewart have coped with wearing the gloves, captaining the side and playing a vital role with the bat

On Tuesday the Commonwealth Bank Trophy passes the halfway mark as India and Sri Lanka tussle once more in the ongoing squabble for second place. This game will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's twenty-seventh as India's first ever wicket-keeper captain. So far he has coped well with the role, leading his young team with courage and enterprise, without letting his own performances decline. In fact, his glovework has improved in recent months and his batting has grown in maturity.

But can it really work in the long term? Unfortunately for Dhoni, the evidence of cricket history suggests not. India are not the first country to try it. Jack Blackham, Australia's first ever wicket keeper in the inaugural Test Match of 1877, went on to captain his country eight times. After him, there was the South African Barberton Halliwell, the first man to use raw steaks in his wicket-keeping gloves and Rony Stanyforth who stepped in to captain MCC on their 1926-27 South African tour. In recent times, keepers Moin Khan, Rashid Latif and Lee Germon have all taken on the burden of captaincy. All admirable cricketers, but none of them could make it work for any length of time.

That is hardly surprising when you consider what is involved. A wicket keeper's concentration must reach a peak of intensity six times an over. The rest of the time, he needs to switch off. By contrast, captains should be steeped in contemplation, like chess players, always several moves ahead. To switch between the two modes of thinking takes a mind of rare complexity.

Marvel then at those who have attempted to add a third discipline. Percy Sherwell, who led South Africa to their first Test win in 1906, combined opening the batting with captaincy and keeping wicket. Another South African, Jock Cameron, was a top class stroke maker and wicket keeper who led his country nine times in the early 1930s. Imtiaz Ahmed captained Pakistan four times between 1959 and 1962 at the same time as keeping wicket and opening the batting. Then there is Alec Stewart, who tirelessly performed the triple duties from 1998, leading his country in fifteen Tests and forty-one limited overs matches. All of these admirable players have one thing in common. Their batting average declined markedly.

Perhaps it is simply beyond the capacity of any player, no matter how talented or patriotic, to perform these duties simultaneously for any length of time. That Dhoni is only captain in the limited overs forms of the game might ease the pressure but then he must also contend with the vicissitudes of a demanding press and public.

In contrast to India, Sri Lanka have been trying to take the pressure off their talented wicket-keeper batsman, Kumar Sangakkara, by only asking him to keep wicket in the shorter forms of the game. He seems to be coping well, topping his country's averages in this tournament. However, as vice captain, he is only a sprained ankle or tight hamstring away from leading his team. Whether he could handle the extra burden of such a role can only be guessed at.

Meanwhile, India are justifiable favourites for this match at [1.8] given the greater depth and firepower of their batting line-up. Sri Lanka at [2.12] are still in this tournament because they managed to defeat India last Tuesday but their batting continues to stutter and they badly need more contributions from big guns Jayasuriya and Jayawardene. Their bowling too has been ordinary. Maharoof, Vaas and Muralitheran have come in for some punishment and whilst no bowlers will be relishing the flat Adelaide track, India have four bowlers in Pathan, Sharma, Sreesanth and Harbajhan who are in top form.

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krish | 27 November 2008

There are people who perform at their best when free of pressures. Then there are also the ones who concentrate better, when under pressure. It looks like M.S.Dhoni belongs to the latter. There has been a marked improvement in his performance when he was given the captaincy.
Most captains prefer to field in the slips or a straight mid-on or mid-off, from where they have a close watch on the proceedings. But a wicket- keeper's position is the real position of advantage, where he reads the batsman's mind and shares the bowlers' thoughts. But the reason why most people are not able to carry out the triple responsibilities, is that they are too focussed on certain aspects of the game- a problem that affects excellent technicians that the Captain's mantle sits uneasily on them.
It is obviously too early to make a judgement on M.S.Dhoni's success as a Captain. But chances are that he will not be affected as much by his responsibilities, as by the physical strain of his keeping wickets as well as his unorthodox, yet flamboyant, style of batting.
Peter | 27 December 2010

The problem is that there isn't a lot of evidence to support the claims here, and in fact, some of the claims are directly contradicted by the evidence. Stewart's batting averages as captain and as non-captain are identical. Two years on, Dhoni's average as captain is 53, whereas his average as non-captain is 33. Sangakarra's average as captain is 70, whereas his average as non-captain is 55.
Andrew Hughes | 03 January 2011

Thanks Peter, for your comments and your diligence in digging out some stats. I should say that the article was not putting forward a scientific theory, but was merely a fairly uncontroversial piece pointing out the difficulties of being front line batsman, captain and wicket-keeper, difficulties which mean few have been burdened with those three responsibilities and very few have done it successfully.

As for the stats on Alec Stewart - with his triple responsibility, his batting average in Tests fell slightly, from 39.54 to 37.19. However, in one day internationals, it fell from 31.60 to 22.63. I think it is fair to say that, overall, his batting did suffer for being asked to fulfil the triple duties of captain, frontline bat and wicketkeeper.

As for Dhoni and Sangakkara, at the time of writing, neither had performed this role in Tests and Sangakkara hadn’t done it in one day internationals either. Dhoni had done it in 20 ODIs and his average had indeed held up well. However, I think it fair to say that at the time of writing, the evidence for how well these two were going to handle it was sketchy. Dhoni has gone on to be one of very few players to succeed in the triple role, whilst Sangakkara has done it successfully in one day internationals, but still does not do it in Tests.

If I were writing the article today, nearly three years on, it would look slightly different and I would certainly give Dhoni in particularly his full credit for being a successful batsman-keeper-captain in both the main formats of the game, a feat that few others have managed or indeed even attempted.