Bat and ball / Frank Gregan / 29 September 2008 /

Say what you like about wicketkeepers but they occupy a vital position in a team and England's number seven should be awarded with a central contract, says Frank Gregan.

When they are standing up behind the stumps to a medium pacer who is getting movement off the seam armed with only a hard hat, a gum shield and a box to protect the delicates it is probably just as well that wicketkeepers are perceived as generally not being great thinkers. They'd be standing twenty yards back if they were!

It takes a special kind of character to fulfill the role and invariably they are not the type of individuals who hide their light beneath the bushel. They have to be constantly upbeat, chirpy and full of encouragement even when the chips are down.

They are the cricketing equivalent of the goalkeeper, their mistakes are often the most costly and as a direct consequence the criticism that comes their way is often brutal. Like goalkeepers they are a special breed which is a polite way of saying that invariably they tend not to be the full shilling!

You have to be a bit mad to call out "Come on boys, one wicket, it's all it will take, just one wicket to start the collapse," when the batting side are 104-2 chasing a total of 127.

It is strange that such a key position in which confidence is absolutely vital has not had a central contract awarded by the ECB. There are two increment contracts in place for Matt Prior and Tim Ambrose but surely it would have been better to make the statement that there is a number one and that he has the backing of the selectors.

The argument about who should be first choice rages on and is always good for a half hour of debate up the pub. Everyone has an opinion, apart from the selectors who have not been prepared to reward their choice with the security of a central contract. It would have been the show of faith that may well have inspired a tenuous selection.

It's Prior for me, his occasional gaffe with the gloves can be forgiven because he has the talent to dig the top 5 batsmen out of a hole with his invaluable runs.

The selection issue highlights another similarity between wicket keepers and goalkeepers as for years the England football team has chopped and changed its number one. There is obviously the difference in physical stature between a wicket keeper and a goalkeeper with some of the men behind the stumps being short in comparison to the skyscrapers we see between the sticks. Most goalkeepers belong on a sweet corn tin!

There is scope for the giants to play both sports; indeed I have known two goalkeepers who were both English non-league football internationals and played cricket at a good level. One skippered Wiltshire in the minor counties for many years and had the privilege of captaining his side at Lords.

Wicket keeping legend Jack Russell lacked the necessary inches to play football but after he finished his cricketing career he helped out on the staff at Forest Green Rovers as a goalkeeping coach for a while. The similarities between the two jobs, in particular the mental pressure that they both face when they make a mistake and the reliance on good footwork to be positioned correctly meant that Jack was able to offer sound advice in the core subjects that he is an expert in.

I didn't envy him the task of passing on counsel to the enigma that is a wicket keeper/goalkeeper. As I have already explained the stereotype is quite rightly thought to be as bright as Gordon Brown's future.

Their IQ is best summed up by the tale of one of the aforementioned England non-league keepers/trusted wicket keeper who was going mental with the kit manager before going out to play a league game away at Stevenage because his shirt was uncomfortable. The kit manager fixed it in a flash, he made him take it off and take the coat hangar out of it!

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