Going in to bat for the wicketkeeper

Since Adam Gilchrist burst onto the Test scene in 1999, the cricket world has been obsessed with the all-rounder wicketkeeper-batsman – unfortunately, their batting can often come at the expense of their wicketkeeping skills.

Despite the large amount of wicketkeepers available to Australia, Ben Dunk was selected as wicketkeeper for the upcoming Twenty20 match.

Dunk did not playing as wicketkeeper in his latest set of domestic one-day matches and for most of the Champions League tournament for the Hobart Hurricanes.

In choosing Dunk, Australia could be compromising their wicketkeeping in order to strengthen their batting. While it is worth noting Dunk was the leading run-scorer last year in Australia’s domestic T20 tournament, this may hinder their fielding.

In cricket’s age of professionalism it is interesting that the skill of wicketkeepers have not been quantified. While batting can be easily quantifiable, wicketkeeping is not. If this was available we would be able to show if a player’s extra batting skills are more beneficial to the team than their skill in keeping wicket.

Look at Kumar Sangakkara. He has played both as Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper and just as a batsman. His batting average is an exceptional 58.76 from 128 Test matches. What is even more remarkable is that his average is somewhere in the 70s when he plays just as a batsman. We are able to show that his benefit to Sri Lanka as a batsman has increased but we are unable to show if this has been at the expense of Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeping.

Gilchrist had a Test batting average of 47.60, while Ian Healy’s average was only 27.39. Healy’s class in wicketkeeping is well known, but the question arises as to who was more valuable to the Australian Test team.

Was Healy’s skill in wicketkeeping worth the 20.21 runs he gave away in batting?

The latest Test wicketkeeper batting averages are as follows (country, wicketkeeper – batting average):
Australia, Brad Haddin – 34.71
Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim – 34.35
England, Jos Buttler – 66.66
India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni – 38.46
New Zealand, BJ Watling – 37.11
Pakistan, Sarfraz Ahmed – 38.25
South Africa, Quinton de Kock – 35.14
Sri Lanka, Niroshan Dickwella – 27.60
West Indies, Denesh Ramdin – 27.17
Zimbabwe, Regis Chakabva – 17.75

The batting average of all these wicketkeepers is 35.72 and is just a small sample. In terms of batting averages, this should be looked at in terms of the average of all Test players to show what the general standard of batting is. My hypothesis is that this average shows a trend towards players with a higher batting average.

It would be hard to measure exactly how to quantify wicketkeeping into runs. First it would be necessary to look at the amount of dismissals undertaken by a wicketkeeper compared with regular fielders. Secondly, a person would need to look at the amount of byes given away per match. Another statistic would be dropped catches, missed stumpings and missed run-outs, and accumulate this as to the average runs cost per innings.

To advance the accuracy of the statistics, this may also include fielding placements, such as whether any fielders were fielding in the slips or how far away they are from the wicketkeeper.

It would be hard to portray a clear set of statistics to show whether what is best for the team. But it would be interesting to see whether the extra batting prowess at the expense of skills in wicketkeeping is a benefit or actually a hindrance to a team.