Unsung heroes

Keeping wickets is perhaps the most important aspect of the game, but yet it has been the most underrated of all the cricketing jobs. Unlike a batsman, bowler or a fielder, the keeper's job has always been tough since he has to concentrate throughout the complete innings without a momentary lapse in concentration.

Altough in the limited version his job is less demanding than in the five-day version, he still has to ensure the same kind of attention to every ball that is bowled by his colleagues.

In today's cricket its even more demanding. A keeper is also an all-rounder in the side. He also has to bat at any position that may be required of him.

In the World Cup his role is no exception. In the 158 matches played to date in the six editions of the World Cup as many as 48 wicket-keepers have represented their respective countries. In all they have scored 3816 runs at an average of 20.85 runs per innings. They have scored these runs at a strike rate of 69.14 runs per 100 balls.

Interestingly, only two hundreds have been scored by the keepers - both by Zimbabweans. Dave Houghton, 141 against New Zealand at Hyderabad (I) in 1987 and 115 not out by Andy Flower against Sri Lanka at New Plymouth in 1992. Incidentally, Flower was making his international debut for Zimbabwe. Other than the above two hundreds, 14 scores of 'fifties' have been achieved by keepers, with Houghton achieving three such scores.

In the terms of run aggregates among keepers, Houghton leads by a long way with 401 runs (avg 33.42) in 12 matches. He is followed by fellow Zimbabwean Andy Flower. TableA lists the keeper-batsman with run aggregates of 100 or more runs, along with their batting strike-rate (runs scored off 100 balls).

TABLE A: WICKET-KEEPER'S PERFORMANCE AS A BATSMAN IN THE
                WORLD CUP

Wicketkeeper	Country	M	I	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	0	SR
DL Houghton	Zim	12	12	0	401	141	33.42	1	3	3	71.61
A Flower	Zim	14	14	3	295	115*	26.82	1	-	-	62.77
AJ Stewart	Eng	10	8	1	259	77	37.00	-	2	-	70.19
RW Marsh	Aus	11	11	4	220	52*	31.43	-	2	1	85.94
LK Germon	NZ	6	6	3	191	89	63.67	-	1	-	84.89
RG de Alwis	SL	6	6	3	167	59*	55.67	-	2	-	105.03
IDS Smith	NZ	17	13	3	138	29	13.80	-	-	1	132.69
K Otieno	Ken	3	3	0	126	85	42.00	-	1	-	56.25
DL Murray	WI	9	5	2	122	61*	40.67	-	1	-	76.25
PJL Dujon	WI	14	9	1	112	46	14.00	-	-	-	46.86
Salim Yousuf	Pak	7	6	3	112	56	37.33	-	1	-	121.74
IA Healy	Aus	14	11	2	110	31	12.22	-	-	1	88.00
KS More	Ind	14	10	5	100	42*	20.00	-	-	1	116.28

To Pakistani Wasim Bari goes the distinction of claiming the maximum dismissals in the World Cup. He has 22 dismissals (18 catches + 4 stumpings) in 14 matches. West Indian David Williams has the unique distinction of conceding just a single "bye" while keeping wickets in 8 matches during the 1565 runs scored by the opponents. His average of 0.06 for every bye conceded every 100 runs is the lowest among keepers who have appeared in more than 5 matches. However, Dutch keeper Marcel Schewe in the five matches he kept wickets during the 1996 World Cup did not concede a single bye while his opponents scored 1285 runs. Table B lists keepers with most dismissals in the World Cup.

TABLE B: CAREER PERFORMANCES AS A KEEPER IN THE WORLD CUP

Wicketkeeper	Dism	For	M	Ct	St	byes	Runs	byes/100runs	Dism/Match	St/Dism
Wasim Bari	22	Pak	14	18	4	6	3097	0.19	1.57	18.18
IA Healy	21	Aus	14	18	3	12	2865	0.42	1.50	14.29
PJL DujonL	20	WI	14	19	1	42	2999	1.40	1.43	5.00
RW Marsh	18	Aus	11	17	1	16	2472	0.65	1.64	5.56
KS More	18	Ind	14	12	6	15	2676	0.56	1.29	33.33
DL Murray	16	WI	9	16	0	13	1822	0.71	1.78	0.00
DJ Richardson	15	SA	9	14	1	3	1689	0.18	1.67	6.67
SMH Kirmani	14	Ind	8	12	2	6	1702	0.35	1.75	14.29
Moin Khan	14	Pak	10	11	3	13	1912	0.68	1.40	21.43
D Williams	14	WI	8	11	3	1	1565	0.06	1.75	21.43
IJ Gould	12	Eng	7	11	1	22	1518	1.45	1.71	8.33
DL Houghton	12	Zim	12	10	2	11	2612	0.42	1.00	16.67
GC Dyer	11	Aus	8	9	2	11	1818	0.61	1.38	18.18
WK Lees	10	NZ	8	10	0	12	1789	0.67	1.25	0.00

Statistics