Watching Butler drop a catch and then miss a stumping on the first day of Eng V Pak today made me think of something.
If you pick a specialist wicket keeper who has the batting ability of a bowler, how many runs per innings does the wicket keeper need to save with the gloves?
It's a crude measure, but suppose you take the batting average of Butler at 31.6. That means if you have a wicket keeper who bats a 15 average, he needs to save 30 runs per match with the gloves on. That's not very many. A stumping, or a catch here or there. And especially if you are playing at a ground where spin is going to come in to play.
People will talk about Adam Gilchrist and his impact on selectors' view of wicket keepers. But I remember, even in the 90s, England were dropping Jack Russell so that they could put Alec Stewart behind the stumps and play an extra batsman.
Perhaps I'm biased because I've recently started keeping wicket myself. But I think that too many people dismiss wicket keeping as nothing more than just another fielding position.
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