Custom Bats Cricket Forum

General Cricket => Your Cricket => Topic started by: Spanky on November 20, 2012, 08:37:16 AM

Title: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Spanky on November 20, 2012, 08:37:16 AM
Has anyone made the transition from a fielder to keeping wicket?

Have fancied wicket keeping for ages but feels like that there is no chance to due to the club already having a number of wicket keepers.

Did anyone else have trouble getting a chance to keep wicket?

Usually when we are short a wicket keeper I put myself forward to keep but get told I'm needed for my fielding.
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Red Ink Cricket on November 20, 2012, 08:40:41 AM
I started off opening the bowling and being one of the better fielders in my team. i now keep wicket full time. probably helped we didnt have a decent keeper at the time but a good fielder can make a good keeper. aslong as you can catch thats a good start, the rest will come with practice. im still not a great keeper but do a decent job. put some practice in if you can and keep offering your services.
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Spanky on November 20, 2012, 08:50:35 AM
Guess a lot of it has to do with getting a lucky break to keep and show ability. Have no issue practicing as fielding practice I enjoy.
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Simmy on November 20, 2012, 08:57:17 AM
i cant help ive been a wicket keeper since i was 9 i think...

when i was 14-15 i used to have to field for the 1st 11 as they had a keeper,

i kept my 1st game when they thought i was ready and the other lad never kept again (he was in his late 40's tho)

i think it takes a certain person to be a keeper,

if you are  good fielder with a good eye should be fine!

when i dont play ryan keeps and he is a very very good keeper even tho he never really does it!
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Spanky on November 20, 2012, 09:09:17 AM
Currently specialise at fielding gully or point.

Understand its going to be completely different to fielding there as the number of takes you have in an innings will be new to my hands.

So kit wise is more expensive regarding gloves better? Obviously with bats this isn't always the case.
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: SOULMAN1012 on November 20, 2012, 09:18:04 AM
Like Simmy i have been a keeper since i was a colt. There are a few things IMO to being a decent keeper. You have to have soft hands when taking the ball. I also think you have to have a decent amount of confidence to stand up when required and i also believe the keeper has to be able to chat all through the game, supporting your team mates and have the confidence to tell captain or bowler what ou are seeing and anything you think may help you get the wicket you need.

Like others have said if you have good hand eye co-ordination you can work at all the other bits and pieces. 
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Dan W on November 20, 2012, 09:27:20 AM
Like Simmy i have been a keeper since i was a colt. There are a few things IMO to being a decent keeper. You have to have soft hands when taking the ball. I also think you have to have a decent amount of confidence to stand up when required and i also believe the keeper has to be able to chat all through the game, supporting your team mates and have the confidence to tell captain or bowler what ou are seeing and anything you think may help you get the wicket you need.

Like others have said if you have good hand eye co-ordination you can work at all the other bits and pieces. 

^This. Tbh I think anyone can "stop the byes and catch nicks off the quicks", and to that extent if you were a 'star' fielder I'd be wary of losing you to a role that anyone could do to a similar standard.

When you see good 'keepers -  and I mean hands moving quicker than your eyes - you can appreciate they had thousands upon thousands of hours of practice and experience, that would be very hard to replicate.

There's also the tertiary role of the Keeper - your the teams fielding quarterback and cheerleader, so it's not for the quiet ones!
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: SOULMAN1012 on November 20, 2012, 10:32:13 AM
I will have to say i disagree that ''Anybody can stop byes and take nicks of the quicks'' keepers make it look easy but that is not always the case espically when a lot of wickets have different bounce and carry etc. To say anybody can just put on a pair of gloves and stop byes, inside edges, nicks etc i think takes away from the skill involved in being a wicket keeper regardless of what level you play.
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Simmy on November 20, 2012, 10:44:42 AM
Like Simmy i have been a keeper since i was a colt. There are a few things IMO to being a decent keeper. You have to have soft hands when taking the ball. I also think you have to have a decent amount of confidence to stand up when required and i also believe the keeper has to be able to chat all through the game, supporting your team mates and have the confidence to tell captain or bowler what ou are seeing and anything you think may help you get the wicket you need.

Like others have said if you have good hand eye co-ordination you can work at all the other bits and pieces.

totally agree mate :)
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: SOULMAN1012 on November 20, 2012, 11:09:22 AM
us keepers need to stick together. It can be a lonely place behind those stumps  :D
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: cricketbadger on November 20, 2012, 11:58:43 AM
I used to be an awesome fielder in my old clubs 1's, but they had a good keeper so i used to bowl first change
Until he left mid season one year and i got the chance, always did it in the juniors. havent looked back since, do miss fielding at times though
I wouldnt bother if I was you, too many injuries, and extra gear to tempt you and spend more money aha
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Simmy on November 20, 2012, 12:04:44 PM
touch wood! ive had no injuries as of yet! no broken fingers or loosing teeth etc! thats what ur hands our for
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: SOULMAN1012 on November 20, 2012, 12:26:44 PM
lucly you Simmy i have broken my right index finger 3 times keeping last time was to our off soin bowler, no idea how  :(
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: pacman75cricket on November 20, 2012, 12:35:58 PM
Took over the gloves half way through last year as no-one to do it. done & ok job standing back, but getting used to standing up i'm 37 so never too late.
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: cricketbadger on November 20, 2012, 12:37:24 PM
standing up to the quicks is awesome, always good for a few bruises aswell
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: GarrettJ on November 20, 2012, 12:39:07 PM
Like someone said before, anyone can stop byes and catch nicks off the quicks. I can safely say i have dropped a maximum of 2 catches standing back to quicks in 20 years of senior cricket ... im 34.

standing up is what makes a keeper and not a stopper.

You should be able to stand up to someone who you would stand 10 yards back for and catch it easy. YOu shoudl also be taking 100% of the legside balls from spinners.

Practice ina net taking it sowwn the leg side with a batsman just stood there. If your not taking the bails off 75% of the time then i think you should not bother. A wicket keeper is a very very important position. By simply standing up you can really mess up a free scoring batsman but can you do it to 70mph bowling without wearing a poxy helmet?
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: wilkie113 on November 20, 2012, 12:40:22 PM
I stood up to most of our quicks apart from one when keeping part time this year.

I got one hell of a bruise on my forearm, batsmen inside edged it and it smashed into my left arm, literally covered the whole of my forearm! Absolute pearler!
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Buzz on November 20, 2012, 12:44:20 PM
having tried keeping for a few games, I would say it is fun, but standing up is harder than it looks. I got asked because I am a decent slip and an average outfielder.

actually my keeping was more standing in gloves...

watching simmy standing up to the medium pacers at the aoc game was poetry, apart from the simple knick he dropped ;)
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: jimster on November 20, 2012, 01:34:44 PM
Completely agree with everything thats been said about standing up to the stumps and back! Im 16 now and have been keeping since U11! I think the main reason i enjoy keeping these days is because of now being able to stand up to the quicks, always hard when theres a decent knick from the batsmen, but some of the time is down to luck whether they stick or they dont!
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Dan W on November 20, 2012, 01:46:29 PM
watching simmy standing up to the medium pacers at the aoc game was poetry, apart from the simple knick he dropped ;)

Yup!..I can't Imagine I'm the first to think "'kinell, he doesn't half move fast for a big lass..." ;)
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Kieron_BT on November 20, 2012, 01:47:32 PM
If your not getting a chance in games get behind the stumps during your net sessions and show what you can do!

Was also an opening bowler and decent fielder but had always kept as a junior and school. Got back into it when I had surgery on my knee and have never looked back, I love it!
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: thecord on November 20, 2012, 06:27:48 PM
Firstly there are a couple of horribly discouraging comments in here, some people need to realise that not everyone here is playing top level cricket or on top level pitches!
Also I don't think it's true that you have to be the team cheer leader, you can be a top keeper and still be a quiet person. Somebody else who fields in the infield can do the shouting if that just isn't your thing.

The nature of the role does make it difficult to get a chance at times. I spent a long time at my club when younger pondering over whether to play 2nd team cricket and keep or to just bat in the 1's where the keeper was pretty much entrenched. In the end the other guy quit the sport fairly young so the slot opened up and have not looked back since. I do wish I had got the opportunity earlier though as didn't become a regular keep until I was about 18 or so.

Are there Sunday games/midweek fixtures you could keep in? Maybe in indoor team? If not then would you consider dropping down a team to give it a go? If these things aren't possible and you really want to become a keeper then you have two choices; wait or find somewhere else to play.

Good luck with it, it's another fantastic opportunity to buy even more lovely kit if nothing else  :D
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: Simmy on November 21, 2012, 05:47:08 PM
Yup!..I can't Imagine I'm the first to think "'kinell, he doesn't half move fast for a big lass..." ;)

haha cheers lads i wasnt paticually good that game!

had a quality game at indoor yesterday i was da man! dont think i dropped one ball lol
Title: Re: Becoming a wicket keeper
Post by: cricketbadger on November 21, 2012, 05:48:24 PM
omg your my hero