The Grand Wicky

[badgerhair]

"I cannot remember how good I was, compared with other keepers my age, but one day I saw the man I wanted to copy. At that time, Keith Andrew was keeping for Northants and John Ikin told me what a superb technician he was. He had played just once for England, despite his brilliance. It seemed that the England selectors preferred the more flamboyant qualities and the superior batting of Godfrey Evans to the quiet excellence of Keith Andrew. One day, I managed to witness his skills at first hand .....From that day on, I modelled myself on Keith Andrew; I wanted to have that quiet air of confidence, that unhurried quality." - RW Taylor, "Standing Up, Standing Back"

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Neil Pickup]

West Indies: Jackie Hendriks,Jeff Dujon
Bangladesh: Khaled Mashud
Zimbabwe: Tatenda Taibu
New Zealand: Mark Richardson

Richardson?

I know McCullum's a bit dodgy, but surely he's not that bad...

 

[Loony BoB]

Parore was rated as the best in the world when he was at his prime (from memory), so how good McCullum is wouldn't even matter.

Has Richardson ever taken the gloves?

 

[marc71178]

My picks are Deryck Murray and Franz Alexander (one of the most overlooked keepers and captains in cricket history). Ridley Jacobs is also an under-rated wicketkeeper.

Amazingly, Murray has only just been picked (Round 18) in A League for the Ages 2!

 

[marc71178]

Keith Andrew didn't seem to be a batsman of any stature at all and it may be that which has 'clouded judgement'.

What?

Keepers being ranked on batting ability?!

Next you'll be trying to tell me that Gilchrist should be in the All Time XI as keeper!

 

[roseboy64]

Hendriks is under-rated too.He would have benn recognised for his keeping if he'd batted better getting more Test matches.

 

[JASON]

Parore was rated as the best in the world when he was at his prime (from memory)

You Gotta be kidding Right !

Parore may have thought he was the best in the world, but in most Test playing countries I don't think the guy would have even had a look in. (Definitely not in England, Australia, West Indies, South Africa, India, Pakistan. And not even in Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe.)

I doubt anybody would have rated him as anything above 7th or 8th in the world even when he was at his prime!!

As far as New Zealand Wicket keepers go, Lee Germon, Warren Lees, Ian Smith etc. were far ahead of this highly over-rated keeper in my opinion.

 

[luckyeddie]

What?

Keepers being ranked on batting ability?!

Next you'll be trying to tell me that Gilchrist should be in the All Time XI as keeper!

Every cloud, as they say....

The cloud is : you'll find many who will agree with you.
The silver lining is : I shall take the mickey out of them.

 

[tooextracool]

Parore was rated as the best in the world when he was at his prime (from memory)

not really

 

[Loony BoB]

You Gotta be kidding Right !

Parore may have thought he was the best in the world, but in most Test playing countries I don't think the guy would have even had a look in. (Definitely not in England, Australia, West Indies, South Africa, India, Pakistan. And not even in Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe.)

I doubt anybody would have rated him as anything above 7th or 8th in the world even when he was at his prime!!

As far as New Zealand Wicket keepers go, Lee Germon, Warren Lees, Ian Smith etc. were far ahead of this highly over-rated keeper in my opinion.

Keep in mind I'm talking about keeping, not batting.

Parore was underrated if anything, because, well, he was a bit of a ***** at times to say the least. His batting wasn't amazing either. But with the gloves, he was easily rated as one of the best if not the best in the world at the time he retired, let alone when he was in his prime. 7th or 8th in the world? Did you even take note of his keeping skills or is a wicket keeper to you just another batsman who "has those big gloves and fields behind the wooden things"?

 

[Andre]

not really

Yes, really.

 

[tooextracool]

Yes, really.

umm healy?russell?

 

[_Ed_]

Parore was considered by many to be the best at around World Cup 99/NZ tour of England time I think.


* 50 posts! Quite boring ones I must admit. Will try to somehow be more interesting in the second fifty.

 

[JASON]

Parore was considered by many to be the best at around World Cup 99/NZ tour of England time I think.

How Many ?

If he was it really must have been a very short period of time, because I really missed it!

 

[Loony BoB]

Parore:

"perhaps the most consistent keeper in world cricket." - Cricinfo
"the greatest of all New Zealand's wicket-keepers." - NZ Cricket
"New Zealand's leading glove-man" - CricketZone
"unlikely, athletic takes were the norm; dropped catches virtuallly unheard of." - BlackCaps
"rivalled only by Australian Adam Gilchrist and South Africa's Mark Boucher - and, arguably, Parore had surpassed both to become the world's best keeper by the time of his retirement in early 2002. He had also become the best wicket-keeper in New Zealand's cricketing history, surpassing the iconic Ian Smith's record for most dismissals." - BlackCaps

Healy I'm not too sure on, although he did retire a few years before Parore did, and Parore wasn't at his prime until close to retirement.
Russell I'm not too sure on either, so I went through all the Russell's that you might mean in Cricinfo and couldn't find a single one of them that was a wicket keeper and playing tests in the 90's, so it's hard to give any comparison of the two.

 

[Loony BoB]

How Many ?

If he was it really must have been a very short period of time, because I really missed it!

It's quite possible that you were just ignorant to the matter of how good his keeping was. No offence or anything, it's not like I went around comparing wicket keepers at that age, but all the cricketers in the world can tell you that Parore was bloody awesome behind the wicket. As a young New Zealander, I was never aware of how amazing he was until I looked at other wicket keepers and thought "Why don't they take those catches? Parore takes them all the time..." It took a few years for me to realise that it was actually Parore being an outstanding keeper rather than everyone else being crap.

 

[JASON]

Keep in mind I'm talking about keeping, not batting.[/url]

Parore was underrated if anything, because, well, he was a bit of a ***** at times to say the least. His batting wasn't amazing either. But with the gloves, he was easily rated as one of the best if not the best in the world at the time he retired, let alone when he was in his prime. 7th or 8th in the world? Did you even take note of his keeping skills ?

He was only keeping for the Medium Fasters of the likes of Simon Doull, Geoff Allott, Chris Cairns, Dion Nash etc. , Remember ! Not to the likes of Donald, Pollock and co. or McGrath, Gillespie, Lee etc. or even Gough, Caddick and Co. I don't recall any significant contribution from his keeping helping win a cricket match, apart from his constant chirping, sledging and annoying of batsmen to distract their concentration .

 

[_Ed_]

I don't remember any important catches being dropped by Parore either...

 

[tooextracool]

He was only keeping for the Medium Fasters of the likes of Simon Doull, Geoff Allott, Chris Cairns, Dion Nash etc. , Remember ! Not to the likes of Donald, Pollock and co. or McGrath, Gillespie, Lee etc. or even Gough, Caddick and Co. I don't recall any significant contribution from his keeping helping win a cricket match, apart from his constant chirping, sledging and annoying of batsmen to distract their concentration .

1)mcgrath and caddick arent truly 'fast' bowlers!
2) very rarely do keepers win matches with the gloves.their efforts are often undermined due to good bowling etc

 

[Loony BoB]

It's not just speed, it's the fact that Parore could take catches that other keepers couldn't. Plain and simple. He would take catches wider and higher than most keepers, regardless of speed.

Yes, he was an annoying ***** - I don't deny that. If anything, his sledging and disinterest while batting were so famous that they overshadowed his keeping skills by a long way, and that's likely why you've never noticed. Parore wouldn't be regarded by so many as one of the most consistent keepers in cricket, let alone the greatest in NZ history, let alone the best of his time if he was as "crap" as you say he is. If you think he was 7th or 8th in the world then you clearly don't know what you're talking about.