Home > Cricket > Chris Read, Geraint Jones or who? The hunt for England's best wicketkeeper-batsman

Chris Read, Geraint Jones or who? The hunt for England's best wicketkeeper-batsman

The big two throw down the gauntlets to Steven Davies, James Foster and Matt Prior.

by Scott Smith on 06 February 2007

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Chris Read: best in the world? (gettyimages.com)

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With Geraint Jones and Chris Read again failing to produce the runs, is it time for England to look elsewhere for a wicketkeeper-batsman? Not according to ex-England keeper and current Worcestershire CCC director of cricket Steve Rhodes.

Despite the fact that Read averaged just 11.66 with the bat in the last two Test matches, Rhodes believes that England are likely to stick with him ''as he is maybe the best keeper in the world at the moment.'' He added: ''You can’t really fault Jones and Read’s keeping, but the runs have dried up due to the good Australian bowling attack.”

Rhodes, who played an Ashes series in Australia in 1994-95, believes that these players didn’t fail because of the intimidating nature of Australian crowds, rather the fact that Aussie cricket is so good. He explained: “The quality is very good out there and they tend to play their best cricket at home, leading to it being a tough place to go and play.”

Even before the Ashes series, both Jones and Read had struggled to make runs consistently - leading calls for different faces to be included in the Test squad for this year. One player who has been mentioned as a future England keeper is Worcestershire’s Steven Davies, who has been with the England Academy over the winter and has just been chosen for the ‘A’ tour to Bangladesh.

Rhodes believes that Davies will one day play Test cricket, saying: ''I believe that Steven has what it takes to play for England. 'He had a very good season with us last year and we have been working hard to make him a better batsmen - one that can contribute down the order.”

Another wicketkeeper being touted is Essex’s James Foster, who played seven Tests between 2001-2002, averaging 25.11 before losing his place to the fit-again Alec Stewart. When Stewart retired in 2003, England went for Jones over Foster - and despite consistent county form with both bat and gloves, the Essex man has never been given another chance.

The there's Sussex’s Matt Prior, who has again been called up for the England ‘A’ team. His lack of runs for England in ODIs (he averaged just 20 in 12 matches) may have counted against him.

Rhodes points to the unpredictability of international cricket. “Not many people would have believed that Read would have been dropped for the first Test in Brisbane,'' he said. ''We can deduce that any of these players could find themselves with the gloves in the next few months.''

Who should be the next England wicketkeeper? Send your views to Sportingo.

Comments (1)

by Chris Galea on February 06, 2007

Who to select as England's Wicketkeeper? Prior's performances at county level can't be disputed, 46.7 avg, 934 runs in 14 matches including 3 100's and 4 50's. But as you said, he hasn't exactly shone at internation level. A player who i would add into the mix is Luke Sutton who has impressed for Lancashire with a batting average of over 50 and has made 38 catches in 13 county champs matches. There are a few in the running,. but they have to prove themselves when they get the chance at international level, because they may never get that chance again.