Wicket-Keeping Tips – Extract

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This is a free extract from Wicket-Keeping Tips, a book by First-Class cricketer Nicholas Northcote.

The extract covers the following topics:

Diving and Rolling (one-handed catches)

Stumpings

Taking the Ball (standing up)

Edged Catches Standing Up - one of the many drills

These are only a few of the many topics that Nic covers in his book on how to be a great wicket keeper.

For the most up to date and complete guide on all aspects of wicket-keeping – get your full copy of
Wicket-Keeping Tips at www.wicketkeepingtips.com.

Please feel free to distribute this extract to your cricket friends!

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Diving and Rolling

When making a fully-extended one-handed diving catch, the wicket-keeper should lead with his
head and ensure that his body is parallel to the ground. The keeper must attempt to land on - and
roll over - the shoulder of his catching arm in order to prevent the elbow from making contact with
the ground, the impact of which could cause the ball to “pop” out of his glove (Figure 2.7).

Figure 2.7: One-Handed Diving Catch Roll

Often, when diving, the keeper will not need to be fully extended, and he will be able to catch the
ball with two-hands. In this case, the wicket-keeper moves from a stance position where his chest
and shoulders are perpendicular to the path of the ball, to a diving position where his chest and
shoulders rotate to an angle that is close to parallel to the path of the ball. The keeper must then
land on - and roll over - the front (leading) arm and shoulder, protecting the ball which is normally
caught in the trailing hand (Figure 2.8).

Figure 2.8: Two-Handed Diving Catch Roll

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Stumping
The wicket-keeper can attempt a stumping if the batsman is out of the crease. Unless the ball has
made contact with batsman or his bat, the keeper must wait until the ball has passed the wickets to
catch it. Once he has taken the ball, he must move his body weight in the direction of the wickets
and remove the bails.

The keeper should always attempt to take the bails off with his inside hand as it is the closest to the
wickets and will enable him to effect a stumping quicker than by using both gloves simultaneously
(Figure 4.7). Having used the technique described in the section above, the ball should already be
lodged in the keeper’s inside glove. However, should he not have managed to take the ball in his
inside glove he can quickly transfer the ball into this glove and then remove the bails with his inside
hand. It is a useful exercise to practice taking the ball in one glove and then seamlessly transferring it
into the other in order to effect a stumping.

Figure 4.7: Stumping Action

MCC LAW OF CRICKET: “The striker is out Stumped if:

a he is out of his ground;
b he is receiving a ball which is not a No Ball;
a he is not attempting a run; and
b his wicket is fairly put down by the wicket-keeper without the intervention of another
member of the fielding side.
If the wicket is put down by the ball, it shall be regarded as having been put down by the wicket-
keeper if the ball if:
a it rebounds on to the wickets from any part of his person or equipment, other than a
protective helmet; or
b has been kicked or thrown on to the wickets by the wicket-keeper.
If the ball touches a helmet worn by the wicket-keeper, the ball is still in play but the striker shall
not be out Stumped. He will, however, be liable to be Run Out in these circumstances if there is
subsequent contact between the ball and any member of the fielding side.”

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Even if the batsman has not left the crease, the keeper should always move his glove back towards
the wickets as if to effect a stumping. This will ensure that, if the batsman does lift his foot even for
a split second the keeper is in the perfect position to whip the bails off immediately without first
having to respond by moving his glove towards the wickets. The keeper should avoid actually
removing the bails after each ball however, as this might just drive the umpire nutty!

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Taking the Ball

When standing up to the wickets, the wicket-keeper must anticipate that each and every delivery will
miss the batsman’s bat and that he will have to take it. He must take the ball with both gloves
together and fingers pointing towards the ground. The keeper must line up his inside glove (the glove
closest to the wickets) with the path of the ball (or anticipated path of the ball if the spinner is
bowling and the ball is turning). Lining up his inside glove with the path of the ball will ensure that
should the ball not be edged by the batsman, the keeper will take catch the ball in his inside glove.
However, should the ball strike the outside edged of the batsman’s bat and be deflected from its
original path, the keeper’s glove position will provide the greatest possible glove area to take the
catch (Figures 4.5 and 4.6).

Figure 4.5: Taking the Ball on the Inside Glove

Outside Glove Inside Glove

R L

Wickets

Right-handed batsman’s bat

Path of the
ball if edged

Path of the ball if not edged

Figure 4.6: Taking the Ball on the Inside Glove (2)

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Practice Drill 11: Edged Catches Standing Up

This drill is similar to Practice Drill 7 but instead simulates an edged catch to the keeper who is
standing up to the wickets. It requires a batsman and a thrower. The batsman should rest on one
knee as shown in Figure 6.11 and attempt to run the ball (which is thrown underarm towards his
bat by the thrower) off the face of the bat and towards the wicket keeper. The wicket-keeper should
stand no further than 1 meter away from the bat in order to accurately simulate an edge when
standing up to the wickets.

Figure 6.11: Practice Drill 11 - Edged Catches Standing Up Using a Bat

As a variation, this drill can be performed with a beacon rather than a bat (Figure 6.12).

Figure 6.12: Practice Drill 11 - Edged Catches Standing Up Using a Beacon

© 2010 Nicholas M. Northcote. All rights reserved worldwide.

www.wicketkeepingtips.com