Cricket is a team sport but one spot on the cricket field that is perhaps the most important is the wicketkeeper. He not only has to be able to bat but when in the field he has to inspire the rest of the team with constant talk and stop the ball to set the fielding standards for rest of the team.
When it comes to wicket keepers, Australia has been blessed over the years. Rod Marsh, Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist are three of the best wicket keepers cricket has produced.
Gilchrist is regarded by many as the greatest wicket keeper to ever play international cricket.
He was a great batsmen (played over 30 ODI's as a batsmen when Healy was still in the team). Gilly was an amazing stroke maker who could work the ball anywhere and hit the ball with tremendous power.
Looking at Gillys stats tell some of the story but watching his highlights over and over never gets boring he was a joy to watch and I doubt either Brad Haddin or Tim Paine will ever forget the great man but people cannot expect any following keepers to play at his heights.
Haddin and Paine are players gifted with different styles and techniques with both their batting and keeping, but both of them could have long careers if given the chance to stay injury free. Haddin though is almost 33 and has had a few injuries which is giving Paine more chances at Test level than he expected.
Having said that Ricky Ponting has said a number of times recently that he regards Haddin one of the most vital members of the current side.No matter who played after Marsh, Healy and Gilchrist, everyone was expecting the new keeper
to be a star player as well.
So when Brad Haddin made his test debut in May of 2008 in Jamacia against the West Indies, cricket fans and media all over the world were expecting big things and Haddin made a fine debut with his 1st catch being a brillant diving effort off Stuart Clark's bowling. Haddin factured his finger in that test but showed great courage to battle on and complete not only that test match but also the following 2 tests of that series.
BJ, as Hads nickname goes, had to wait many years before being given a chance to play test cricket behind the great Gilchrist.
Haddin made a fine 169 against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in 2007. It was a knock that showed his full class as a batsmen.
Tim Paine got his chance earlier than expected at test level with the injury to BJ. Paine made his debut at the home of cricket and what better place to debut? Paine is the 1st Tasmanian wicket keeper to ever represent Australia.
Paine, in 2000, became the youngest ever contracted Australian cricketer at just 16 when Tasmania signed him on a $10,000 contract. Paine, like Shane Warne, was a talented AFL player at young age and his signing by Tasmania at a young age convinced him to choose cricket over AFL.
At Lord's, Paine made a fine debut even though he has admitted to being nervous infront of family and friends who had made the trip over to see his debut. Paine showed his class and maturity beyond his years in the 2nd Innings with a fine 47.
Paine is a patient batsmen at test level who can bat for long periods and puts the bad ball away with ease and fine stroke-play.
Paine has the right attitude and you could see how annoyed he was when got out in the 2nd test at Leeds. It reflected what it meant to him to represent Australia as he also tried to get us back into that particular match.
His wicketkeeping was almost flawless and when you consider the fielding of Australia during the series, Paine was one of the form players in the side
One interesting fact that Paine, Gilchrist and Healy all have in common is that they all debuted at test level aganist Pakistan. So if thats anything to go by Paine is set for a fine career given that Healy and Gilchrist are the two best keepers Australia has had.
When you consider Paine is only 25 still he could have a very long test career given that BJ is almost 33. Paine could play more than 100 tests if his form and desire keeps up. He may have a baby face but Paine is a class act.
No matter who plays out of Haddin or Paine, Australia's wicketkeeper will always give a fine account of themselves, and just like the competition we are seeing between spin bowlers Nathan Hauritz and Steve Smith, one thing we realise is that competition for one spot is always healthy.
2010/9/4 Daniel Stapleton (http://twitter.com/Dan_Stapo)
15 comments:
Top article Stapo.
Interesting facts on the debuts against Pakistan, as well Tim's initial contract sum. Great work.
Roger Woolley.
Something we didn't know and something a few other sites have missed out on.
Thanks Tony. Well before my time. Was under the impression myself that Tim was the first specialist Keeper from Tassie to represent us.
Tim Paine is a better keeper and he showed in the series against Pakistan that he can bat. I think Haddin is overrated as a keeper though his powerful hitting would come in handy in shorter formats of the game.
Hey GB.
Hads' power hitting is what kept him as a regular show in the ODI side from tim to time from 2001 till he took over from Gilly.
Hads' standards dropped.
After Hads' rough Ashes series & Tim's outstanding gloveswork at both ODI level and the recent tests, alot have been pushing his case. Hads has his batting which elevates his abilities.
Hey Stapo,
I feel Paine is a better keeper than Haddin.Haddin has been having average patches as a keeper.
When it comes to batting,Haddin is more aggressive than Paine,so I see him more successful in T20.However, in tests and ODIs,Paine with more solid technique should get the nod ahead of Haddin according to me.
PS:Nice article.
:)
Cheers,
Mayank Jhaveri
http://freehit-cricketanalysis.blogspot.com/
I dont agree that Paine is a better keeper than Haddin, but he is getting good. At the moment, also, Hads' batting is stronger and we need that.
In time, Timmy. In time.
Haddin has experience. And 9 years experience at International level, ideally 2 years of intensified experience. His batting technique is elegant. He is one my favorite stroke-players in the game. Picture perfect stuff, even when he does those lofted drives down the ground, damn! He'd easily slot in as a batsman, if he would also hold his nerve better and not get out carelessly 80% of the time.
Tim got his chances because Hads was injured. As Stapo wrote, Punter has noted many times that Hads is the man for the job. I don't disagree with that one bit, he waited along time. However I do think something went horribly wrong for him after taking over from Gilly as his Keeping became unbelievably scrappy, way below his standards for NSW. This summer he found his classy form but then injury hit...again.
Tim had his chances because of this, bottom line but another point Stapo did make was the pressure Hads had taking over from Gilly. Certain to tamper with your game no matter how good you are.
Tim's outstanding gloveswork in England is what has brought question marks over Hads' keeping. But on his day Hads is insanely awesome, especially the way he leaps about. Awesome to see him do this live, it's so freakin' quick.
Like Sid said, in time...assuming Matty Wade doesn't surprise us. But with all this experience Tim is getting, it's definitely putting him in an even better boat Hads cruised in during Gilly's reign. Those are my final thoughts on this.
Thanks for the feedback good to see people are getting into this topic.
I think its hard to say who is better at the moment out of Paine and Haddin.
All I can think of at the moment is that Paine has only played 2 tests and Haddin 27 so like Ian said all the experience that Paine is gettting while Haddin is injuried is just giving Paine more experience which can't be doing his chances of staying in the test team any damage.
I would like to see them both picked in the test team but I cant see that happening to often unless someone else misses out or drops away in form.
Haddin is the better T20 option but both worth a go in the one day side.
Hopefully they both do well and that makes it a good battle for the spot. Cant do the team anything but good.
Gilly was obviously a freak and that was good while he played but a letdown after. No-one is going to be as good as him. Often because of Gilly, Australia scored more runs with their last 5 wickets than the first. This isn't going to happen anymore.
Hi Andy.
Thanks for your input.
We had an incredible Keeper. Period, he was epic!
Fortunately, Hads, Tim, Graham M and Matty Wade have given us excellent keepers but also guys who can wield their way with the bat effectively. Gilly set the benchmark for the modern keeper.
The days are over where you just had an efficient keeper. He needs to do both batting & keeping at the elite level now.
Too right, Ian. He created a new kind of keeper, too - the wicket keeper batsman. Before him, the keeper was not much else. Since him, keeper is really expected to hold his own with bat as well.
I miss Gilly.
Ian, I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that Had's standards dropped when he took over and was injured. There are a lot of people talking as though he was never muhc of a keeper.
Yeah Kirby, I remember when he left I was thinking, "Now we wait for Haydos to call it day". After he left, the greatest opening pair in ODI cricket was all over. Still difficult moving on sometimes from those days.
Hey Jonno. Good to hear from you mate. It's strange people didn't notice because Hads himself actually made a statment sometime back that he was below his best. Last summer he was really solid for us and didn't spill anything, all round he was alot tighter with his keeping. Tim's efforts should make Hads try his best to maintain his standards. Can only think the pressure of his first Ashes series, first since Gilly, added alot of pressure.
Post a Comment