When Andrew Flintoff was England’s leading bowler, Duncan Fletcher claimed that he was the cornerstone of the squad and that he had to build the team around him.

Following that logic, when Ryan Sidebottom became England’s leading quick bowler of 2007, bettered in wickets only by spinner Monty Panesar, the team should surely have taken his needs into account also.

Watching his wicket tally reached only 29 as wicketkeeper Matt Prior put down chance after chance and watching his economy creep up unnecessarily as far too many byes found their way past the man behind the stumps, Sidebottom’s expression said it all.           

'Just about every wicketkeeper in the country has tried their luck in the last 18 months'


With their penchant for batsman-keepers over keeper-batsmen it would seem that England see their run scoring, not wicket taking, as their problem area. Whoever came to that conclusion must have been following a different side.

England’s recent record at taking 20 wickets in a match has been nothing short of abysmal. When will those in charge learn that scoring runs will do a team no good unless they can restrict their opponents’ score accordingly? Endless extras, missed catches and fluffed stumpings have done England’s chances no favours as of late.

In Chris Read, England have at their disposal the man who has conceded the fewest extras per match for England since the retirement of Alec Stewart whilst being revered as the best glovesman in the country. He was also the only English wicketkeeping candidate to score over 1,000 runs in the 2007 county season, ‘kept more than anyone else to England bowlers Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann, will be ‘keeping to Stuart Broad and has spent three years watching New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming at close quarters.

And that this man was fully available for the three Test series that currently stands at 1-1 it seems England have only themselves to blame if their latest pick for the revolving door spot of English Cricket goes the same way as the last.

Despite performing well (notching up a half century and averaging over 40) with the bat and putting in a flawless performance behind the stumps (after nearly being squashed to death by 2006’s strangest hit wicket) against the side ranked fourth in the world, Read was dropped for the first, second and third Ashes Tests in Australia.

Given that Geraint Jones’ showing for his county after being dropped was no better than his England performances the choice seemed bizarre and unfair on both men. A warm-up match saw Read score a confident 50 and take an almost impossible catch but was not enough to win him a place in the third Test (in which Geraint Jones recorded a pair.) By the time Read was allowed into the team, the Ashes were long gone.

Just about every wicketkeeper in the country has tried their luck in the last 18 months and it has begun to sink in that the search for the ‘English Gilchrist’ is fruitless – he does not exist. England must play to their strengths and accept that whilst they don’t have a Gilchrist, they do have one of the world’s best glovesmen.

Let’s hope they don’t leave him sat on the sidelines for another summer.