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Let me conclude the great wicket-keeper batsmen series today with cricketers who have shone both in front of and behind the wickets.
Denis Lindsay (South Africa)
Lindsay played what was to be his last Test aged 31 in 1970 when he was at his peak.
Then, there were no Tests for South Africa for two decades as they were boycotted for their apartheid policy. This sadly ended his career.
In 19 Tests he scored 1130 runs at 37.66 with three centuries (highest score 182), took 57 catches and stumped two.
He is best remembered for his brilliant and winning performances in the home series against Bob Simpson’s Australians in 1966-67. He hit 606 runs at 86.57 and took 24 catches.
To quote Rodney Hartman from CricInfo, “His cavalier feats in a maiden 3-1 series win over Australia are indelibly writ in the folklore of South African cricket.”
In the first Test in Johannesburg, he scored 69 and 182, his maiden Test hundred, hitting five sixes.
He also took eight catches as South Africa won by 233 runs (their first home victory over Australia) thanks to his all-round excellence.
In the third Test in Durban the following month, he once again came to the rescue with his team at 6 for 94. His 137 took them to 300. He took six catches as South Africa triumphed again.
Later on he became ICC match referee and died in 2005 aged 66.
Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
Of all the players featured in this series, he is the most scintillating and spectacular, an excitement machine.
You expect fireworks every time he reaches the middle, with no settling down period for the gregarious left-hander with outstanding talent and ears.
And he is the uncrowned ‘Six Sultan’, having clobbered 100 sixes in 96 Tests at a striking rate of 1.04 six per Test. Gilchrist also smashed 149 sixes in 287 one-day internationals (ODIs).
Nicknamed ‘Gilly’ and ‘Churchy’, Gilchrist was born on 14 November 1971 in Bellingen, NSW. He could not break into the New South Wales team as a wicket-keeper as Phil Emery was the regular ’keeper and had to move over to Western Australia to play first-class cricket.
When you think of ‘Gilly’ you think of quicksilver innings. But he has proved himself a match-winner as a ’keeper too with 416 dismissals (379 caught, 37 stumped) in 96 Tests and 472 dismissals (417 catches and 55 stumpings) in 287 ODIs.
Only Mark Boucher (see below) has made more dismissals in Test history. But Gilchrist’s 472 dismissals in 287 ODIs is a record.
Despite his impressive figures as a ’keeper, ‘Gilly’ will be remembered as a top flight and exciting batsman.
He scored 5570 runs in Test matches (17 centuries, top-score 204 not out and) at an average of 47.60 and a strike rate of 81.95.
In 287 ODIs he belted 9619 exhilarating runs (16 centuries, highest score 172) at 35.89 and a strike-rate of 96.94.
Going in at number seven in whites or as an opener in colours, Gilchrist was the nucleus of Australian invincibles from 1996 till he retired in 2007.
He received universal accolade when he ‘walked’ when given not-out by the umpire in the 2003 World Cup semi-final.
In his Test debut against Pakistan in Brisbane in November 1999, he scored 81 runs including five fours in an over from leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.
Gilchrist’s second Test in Hobart was more memorable. He took four catches, scored 6 and 149 not out, guiding Australia to an unexpected victory with a do-or-die sixth wicket stand with Justin Langer (127).
After this innings he said, “I just tried to survive initially, but maybe my natural instinct in trying to survive was being aggressive.”
He was at his effervescent best, when scoring an unbeaten double century against South Africa in Johannesburg in February 2002. His 204 off 213 deliveries included eight sixes.
When 169, he took a pot-shot at an advertising hoarding 30 feet in the air and well behind the boundary, a carry of at least 100 metres.
A local gold mine owner had offered a bar of gold worth £80,000 for a direct hit. He missed the hoarding and £80,000 by a couple of feet but broke the opponents’ spirit and Australia won by an innings.
In the next Test in Durban he smashed an unbeaten 138, as he reached his 100 off 91 balls. Wisden 2003 described it as “feverish butchery”.
Gilchrist was at his belligerent best in the Ashes Test in Perth in December 2006.
After reaching 50 off 40 balls, he accelerated to notch the next 50 off 17 to reach his frenetic ton in 57 deliveries. Only Master Blaster Viv Richards had scored a century faster – by one ball!
He did not concede a bye when England compiled an imposing 6 declared for 551 in the Adelaide Test of December 2006.
Australia won the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies for a record fourth time and for the third time in a row. Gilchrist was adjudged Man of the Final after his scintillating 149 off 104 balls with 13 fours and eight sixes.
And he had introduced an innovation, placing a squash ball in his batting gloves to keep his wrist steady. He became the only player to score a century and make three dismissals in a World Cup final.
He is a world-class batsman who can ’keep rather than a wicket-keeper who can bat like his predecessors Ian Healy and Rod Marsh. According to experts, ‘Gilly’ lacks Marsh’s acrobatics and Healy’s finesse.
Robert Drane wrote in Inside Sport, “His batting is as effortlessly potent as Pavarotti’s singing.”
Mark Boucher (South Africa)
He holds many Test records; he reached 100 dismissals in Test cricket in the shortest time, and did not concede a bye in most innings.
In 2007 he became the first cricketer to make 400 dismissals in Test annals, overtaking Ian Healy’s record of 395.
He has scored 5312 runs at 30.70 with five centuries and taken a record 499 catches and made 22 stumpings in 139 Tests.
He is the first cricketer to achieve the double of 5000 runs and 500 dismissals and is the first to accept 400 catches. He has also dismissed most batsmen in Test cricket, 521; Gilchrist is next best with 416.
Boucher announced himself as a quality batsman in his second Test.
Against Pakistan in Johannesburg in February 1998, he came to the crease at 8 for 166, faced the chin music of Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis and the spin of Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq and scored 78, adding a record 195 runs for the ninth wicket. In this three-Test series he took 17 catches and stumped one.
He has been a permanent fixture in the South African team at Test and ODI levels. In 292 ODIs, he has compiled 4664 runs at 28.79, scored a century (147 not out) and 25 fifties, accepted 400 catches and stumped 22.
The ODI between South Africa and Australia at Johannesburg on 12 March 2006 was a classic, “a freak that’ll never be repeated”, to quote match referee Chris Broad.
Australia amassed a record four for 434 in 50 overs, skipper Ricky Ponting stroking 164. Incredibly, South Africa scored 9 for 438 off 49.5 overs to win this fascinating duel by one wicket and with a ball to spare.
Herschelle Gibbs hit a superlative 175. The tail was held together by Boucher as his team collapsed from four for 327 to nine for 433.
With two balls remaining and one run to win Boucher hit Brett Lee for a four to complete one of the finest fifties. What a match!
In the Test series to follow, he demonstrated immaculate skill behind the stumps. Born on 3 December 1976 in Cape Province, Mark Verdon Boucher remains a quality wicket-keeper batsman.
If a World XI of 2000s is to be selected who would keep wickets? Gilchrist would be an automatic choice in ODIs for his electrifying batting as an opener but in Tests it would be really hard to pick the gloveman.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)
I am hesitant to include Dhoni in this elite group. Of late both his batting and ‘keeping has suffered as cricket is being played round the year and the strain of captaining his country at all three levels – Tests, ODIs and T20 – is having its effect.
It is his inspiring leadership which has lifted India from an also-ran to a champion side and justifies his inclusion in this series. He wears three caps; an aggressive batsman, a thinking captain and an above average wicket-keeper.
Despite having champion batsmen Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman, world-class spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, India was ranked lowly in both Tests and ODIs.
Dhoni changed it all in a hurry; skyrocketing India’s morale by winning the inaugural World T20 in 2007.
By leading India to victories over Australia, South Africa and England in Tests, he ensured India’s ranking at no.1 in Tests and at No.2 in ODIs.
Under him, India won the 2011 World Cup with him playing a stellar role in the final in Mumbai.
In 56 Tests he has scored 2948 runs at 38.28 with four centuries (highest score 148), taken 156 catches and stumped 25.
His batting record is more impressive in ODIs; 6049 runs at 48.78 at a strike-rate of 87.53 with seven tons (HS 183 not out), taking 181 catches and stumping 60.
His captaincy record is eye-catching, winning 15 out of 26 Tests (58 per cent) and 59 out of 102 ODIs (63 per cent).
He rivals the iconic Tendulkar in both popularity and money-earning capacity. Time magazine (US) recently ranked him as the most influential Indian personality.
Dhoni’s name is synonymous with modern India – confident but not a braggart.
In this three-part series, I’ve featured Ames, Evans, Knott, Engineer, Marsh; Waite, Dujon, Healy; Lindsay, Gilchrist; Boucher and Dhoni.
I wish I could have included India’s Syed Kirmani, Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
Any other outstanding omissions, Roarers?