Matt Prior as a Gloveman

[Burgey]

Been watching a bit of this fellow this (Northern) summer and have seen him come on pretty well as a keeper-batsman.

Would our English members please enlighten us on how he is rated purely as a gloveman, rather than a batsman, compared with other English keepers?

I only ask this because it seems to me, as a non-keeper, that he seems to "lunge" late at a lot of balls when keeping compared with some other keepers. Is it a footwork thing with him?

Not saying he has unsafe hands or can't keep, it was just something which I noticed. Could it just be that his keeping technique is just a bit unusual?

Be grateful for some thoughts on whether anyone else has notced this recently.

 

[Richard]

Can't say I've taken any great note of such a thing but I rarely tend to look for faults in wicketkeepers unless they're making loads of errors, which, to date, Prior mercifully hasn't.

There's absolutely no doubt there are better glovemen in the country, as there usually are for those who are picked for international cricket as wicketkeepers these days. But for me (not for everyone, as some are IMO deliberately picky about the wicketkeeping of good batsmen) his 'keeping is quite good enough that, should he keep scoring runs, he can stay in the side.

 

[pskov]

He has poor footwork but makes up for it with good athletecism and decent hands. Unless he works on moving his feet more he'll never be any better than competent, but if he carries on batting as well as he has started then competent is all he'll need to be to keep his place in the team.

 

[Perm]

I think it was Scaly piscine that pointed out to me about his poor footwork that quite often means he will take balls when diving, that other keepers will be able to take in the normal way and look a fair bit more comfortable. I've also noticed that quite often he doesn't watch the ball right into his gloves, especially when balls around his knees. However, as long as his keeping is to a competent standard and he continues to produce runs then I see no reason why he shouldn't be in the side.

 

[Bob Bamber]

I thought I'd dig this Thread up rather than make a new one.

I think that Prior's footwork is costing us alot of byes and catches for that matter. And yes maybe Alec Stewart is right , his footwork will get better in the end , but I don't think the international stage is the place to get better.

Now I'm no keeper , but I think hes going to early , and thats why hes missing / not getting to properly.

I think I've got to the stage where runs with the bat aren't vital to be an English keeper. If he can catch the ball , regularly , then thats good enough for me. So I guess Read is probably the best solution. But its not going to happen in a while yet.

What are your thoughts.

 

[Tom Halsey]

The problem with Prior, more than his lack of current 'keeping ability, is the ridiculous over-rating of his batting by just about everyone atm. We all know he's no great 'keeper, but honestly, the way some pundits go on about his batting, you'd think he was averaging 50+ against all sides.

OK, so he scored runs aganst an extremely dire WI team, but he's done nothing to suggest anything other than a similar Test career to his ODI career against India to date.

 

[howardj]

My rationale would be - If you haven't got a keeper who stands clearly above the rest with the bat, then just select your best gloveman. Don't just select a guy to keep if he's only marginally a better batsman than the rest.

 

[Bob Bamber]

The problem with Prior, more than his lack of current 'keeping ability, is the ridiculous over-rating of his batting by just about everyone atm. We all know he's no great 'keeper, but honestly, the way some pundits go on about his batting, you'd think he was averaging 50+ against all sides.

OK, so he scored runs aganst an extremely dire WI team, but he's done nothing to suggest anything other than a similar Test career to his ODI career against India to date.

I thought his 42 at Lords was a half decent knock , but apart from that his batting really doesn't work well enough. I just can't see how he justifies his role in the team. His footwork is terrible , and I'm sick and tired of people sticking up for the byes. OK some of the bowling at the beginning of the West Indies series was terrible , but the bowling has been pretty decent , and hes just not getting there. His footwork is nothing short of terrible. And lets not forget thats three hes dropped this summer. Three chances that should have been taken.



Oh and on a slightly unrelated note , did anyone think that (not after the replay , but in the live action) that he missed a stumping. After I saw the replay I knew he didn't and I'm not slating him it. But I just wanted to know what other people saw.

 

[Richard]

I really don't care about the byes that much (and many of them have been unreachable in any case) but 2 dropped catches and 1 denial of a chance to a slip-fielder in a single series is poor. Now, it's just 1 series and against West Indies his wicketkeeping was generally excellent, but I'm beginning to worry as you want your wicketkeeper to catch everything most series.

Alec Stewart did, and he wasn't a natural. It's not an impossible task.

 

[Neil Pickup]

He's not going too early. His weight is just completely off balance.

I watched that Alec Stewart piece on Sky tonight and - as you do - I was shouting at the TV, finishing his sentences for him with exactly the same words he was using seconds later.

His weight is back and he can't transfer it fast enough, which means he has to dive rather than move across and gather. Footwork is absolutely critical behind the stumps - especially when you've not got it straight at you - and his, right now, looks about as good as mine: and that's not an exaggeration.

 

[Richard]

I watched that Alec Stewart piece on Sky tonight and - as I do, I know I'm in a minority of 1 - I was shouting at the TV, finishing his sentences for him with exactly the same words he was using seconds later.

Post corrected.

 

[GIMH]

He's not going too early. His weight is just completely off balance.

I watched that Alec Stewart piece on Sky tonight and - as you do - I was shouting at the TV, finishing his sentences for him with exactly the same words he was using seconds later.

His weight is back and he can't transfer it fast enough, which means he has to dive rather than move across and gather. Footwork is absolutely critical behind the stumps - especially when you've not got it straight at you - and his, right now, looks about as good as mine: and that's not an exaggeration.

What do you know about wicketkeeping, Craig?

Nah, can you elaborate on the bolded part for the less technically minded of us? Sorry to be a dumbass

 

[Prince EWS]

What do you know about wicketkeeping, Craig?

Nah, can you elaborate on the bolded part for the less technically minded of us? Sorry to be a dumbass

Basically, he stands on his heels to much - hence leaving all his weight back. It'd be the equivalent of a batsman stuck in his crease with his weight on his back foot. This restricts his abilty to move his feet from side to side quickly as he cant transfer his weight sideways (or forwards) quickly enough to do so. In the end, he just ends up flinging himself at the ball.

He looks a pathetic keeper technically, but he did the job in his first few games without too much trouble so you couldn't really fault him then. He had a bad game here - hopefully he'll improve his footwork during the ODI series, or at least go back to whatever he was doing earlier that compensated for it!

 

[GIMH]

Basically, he stands on his heels to much, and possibly crouches over forward too much while doing it - hence leaving all his weight back on his heels. This restricts his abilty to move his feet from side to side quickly as he cant transfer his weight sideways (or forwards) quickly enough to do so. In the end, he just ends up flinging himself at the ball.

He looks a pathetic keeper technically, but he did the job in his first few games without too much trouble so you couldn't really fault him then. He had a bad game here - hopefully he'll improve his footwork during the ODI series, or at least go back to whatever he was doing earlier that compensated for it!

That makes sense actually, cheers. I've never played Cricket, so sometimes I get lost when it gets technical on here, I am not afraid to admit that.

I'm not convinced with his batting tbh, and dont see that his average will end up much higher than good old geraint's.

 

[Richard]

I've never played Cricket, so sometimes I get lost when it gets technical on here

 

[GIMH]

Obviously I've played for fun. I've never played competitively though, as I am useless.

 

[Prince EWS]

Obviously I've played for fun. I've never played competitively though, as I am useless.

I thought the same of myself a few years ago - you'd be surprised how many useless players are out there though.

You'd also be surprised how dramatically you improve through the ranks if you put any sort of effort in.

 

[GIMH]

Appreciate the sentiment EWS, but maybe I'll get someone to film me on Sunday when I'll have a game with my brother and my sister's boyfriend. Then you would realise how uncoordinated thus boy is!!!!

 

[Neil Pickup]

That makes sense actually, cheers. I've never played Cricket, so sometimes I get lost when it gets technical on here, I am not afraid to admit that.

I'm not convinced with his batting tbh, and dont see that his average will end up much higher than good old geraint's.

It's the same skill set that a goal keeper uses getting across goal to scramble something away, or to save a penalty - weight forward, on the balls of your feet, so you can push off and move rapidly laterally and create the potential for a large amount of lift if you need to get up high.

 

[GIMH]

All makes sense now. Is this a problem Prior has always had? I think we have a fe Sussex fans on the board, maybe they can provide further insight?