Many cricket enthusiasts agree that wicketkeepers don’t get enough of the glory and recognition they deserve. We tend to drool over batters, commonly forgetting that wicketkeepers also decide games.
Intelligent punters, including esports aficionados making a fortune from league of legends betting with bitcoin, know a team with a spectacular wicketkeeper is almost as good as a team with a fantastic batter.
This article highlights five outstanding wicketkeepers cricket has ever seen.
1. Rodney Marsh (Australia)
Rodney William Marsh was born on 4th November 1947 and was one of the most excellent wicketkeepers for the Australian national team. He was famous for his athletic keeping and team discipline. He started playing in 1971 and had a slow start in his career, but he gained momentum over time.
Meanwhile, he took just 96 Test matches to have 355 dismissals in his career and 92 ODI to have 124 dismissals. Marsh also has a personal best of 6 dismissals in a game. He had a total of 463 catches and 16 stumps.
After his last ODI game in February 1984, Marsh retired from playing cricket. He worked as a commentator and coach for a while. He also headed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He was inducted into the 2009 ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
2. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Also known as Sanga, Kumar Sangakkara is one of the most respected wicketkeepers in cricket. You will also find him to be among the list of top-tier batsmen. In 1997, Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara started his cricket career in the domestic cricket club, Nondescripts.
Throughout his cricket career, which lasted for 15 years, Kumar Sangakkara made 594 appearances in internal matches. He had to his name 63 centuries and 678 dismissals. He has played for over a dozen clubs and represented Sri Lanka in international cricket events.
Kumar Sangakkara has made several appearances and shown impressive playing skills. He appeared 134 times in Tests matches, made 182 catches, and had 4 run-outs coupled with 20 stumpings. He played ODI 404 times, made 402 catches, 20 run-outs, and 99 stumpings. And for the T20I format, he made 56 appearances and had 25 catches, 5 run-outs, and 20 stumpings.
3. Ian Healy (Australia)
Ian Andrew Healy represented the Australian national cricket team between 1988 and 1999. He was born on 30th April 1964 and made his debut against Pakistan in September 1988.
He was excellent at playing as a wicketkeeper and batsman and retired as one of the best wicketkeepers of all time.
Meanwhile, it took hardly 300 matches to make 600 dismissals. He stumped 29 times, had 366 catches in his 119 test matches, and took 194 catches and 39 stumps in 168 ODI games.
He averaged 1.763 test dismissals and 1.386 ODI average dismissals. Healy retired from cricket on 28th October 1999.
4. MS Dhoni (India)
MS Dhoni is one of the best cricket wicketkeeper batsmen. He started his cricket career in a domestic club, the Bihar cricket team, in 1999.
He started and ended his international career playing for his home country, India, from 2004 – 2019. During his play on the national team, he earned the position of captain and led the national team to a 3-time victory in the international leagues.
MS Dhoni generally showed great focus and brilliant skills on the pitch. He made a total of 538 international appearances and had 829 dismissals. Also, he is known and respected for executing the fastest stumping at 0.08 seconds.
MS Dhoni had 90 Test matches, making 256 catches, 3 run-outs, and 38 stumpings. For ODI matches, he made 350 appearances and had 321 catches, 22 run-outs, and 123 stumpings. And in the T20l format, MS Dhoni played 98 matches, had 57 catches, 8 run-outs, and made 34 stumpings.
5. Mark Boucher (South Africa)
Mark Boucher is recognized as one of the best cricketers in South Africa and the world. Starting his cricket career in Border in 1995, Mark Boucher quickly rose to fame as one of the best wicketkeepers in history.
He played international matches as a wicketkeeper-batsman for his country, South Africa, from 1997 – 2012.
Mark Boucher is known for his amazing wicketkeeping ability and is known to have the most number of dismissals ever. So far, he has made 467 appearances playing internationally and had 998 dismissals to his name.
His total appearances in Test matches are 147 and he made 532 catches, had 2 run-outs and made 23 stumpings. In ODI matches, he was spotted 295 times and made 403 catches, 16 run-outs, and 22 stumpings. He played 25 times in the T20l competition and made 18 catches, 1 run-out, and 1 stumping.
Conclusively, the best cricket wicketkeepers can be seen scattered all around the world. From Rodney Marsh down to Mark Boucher, we can see competency, focus, and the display of amazing technique.
