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Old 24-08-2004, 05:19 AM   #16 (permalink)
Richard
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Wicketkeepers are traditionally short people - all the best ones have been, and not many wicketkeepers anywhere, in any game, are ever that tall.
Robert Turner is about the only "tall" wicketkeeper who is playing in the English game ATM. Though there might be some who I haven't seen.
WRT to short batsmen, it just goes to show that you don't need height and strength and heavy bats to generate power. You can accomplish so much through a high backlift and fast bat-speed (Stephen Waugh and Lara being two of the best examples), and IMO it's much more aesthetically pleasing than a big, tall, four-pound bat-swinger.
Of course, there are those who can make heavy bats look good (Tendulkar) and those who can lift heavy bats without looking like they're built for it (Sehwag, Klusener).
And Arjun, I really must dispute this:
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Still, very efficient and can do the job well, unlike Dravid. He's also the most effective batsman in Tests and ODI's today.
There are many, many better players, especially in ODIs.
Still, I'd dispute this more:
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And arguably the best keeper in the world at present - Tatenda Taibu - who's about four foot three...
Very arguably indeed - I'd say there are several as good, and probably hundreds more that we don't know about because they're not good enough batsmen to come near international cricket.
I'd also dispute the four-foot-three part, but that's another story... birds-of-a-feather, and all that, as you should know, Neil...
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