I never saw him play in his prime, but I do have a memory of him playing in an Ashes match after his retirement because the England keeper (Paul Downton, maybe?) was injured and Allan Border, (I assume), allowed England to use him as a replacement.
I never saw him play in his prime, but I do have a memory of him playing in an Ashes match after his retirement because the England keeper (Paul Downton, maybe?) was injured and Allan Border, (I assume), allowed England to use him as a replacement.
I never saw him play in his prime, but I do have a memory of him playing in an Ashes match after his retirement because the England keeper (Paul Downton, maybe?) was injured and Allan Border, (I assume), allowed England to use him as a replacement.
Have I remembered this right or did I dream it?
I think it was Bruce French
Lol. He was my second guess. So this did happen, right?
I never saw him play in his prime, but I do have a memory of him playing in an Ashes match after his retirement because the England keeper (Paul Downton, maybe?) was injured and Allan Border, (I assume), allowed England to use him as a replacement.
Have I remembered this right or did I dream it?
I think it was Bruce French
Lol. He was my second guess. So this did happen, right?
Taylor would have appeared a lot more for England, but for the brilliant Alan Knott
Thanks @killerandflash Funny, I think I assumed it was the Aussies because Border had that matey relationship with the England players. Fair play to NZ skipper Jeremy Coney for giving permission.
Taylor would have appeared a lot more for England, but for the brilliant Alan Knott
Thanks @killerandflash Funny, I think I assumed it was the Aussies because Border had that matey relationship with the England players. Fair play to NZ skipper Jeremy Coney for giving permission.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
Hope Bob recovers as soon as possible.
It was Knott and the Aussie Rodney Marsh were the first Wicket Keeper batsmen.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
Hope Bob recovers as soon as possible.
It was Knott and the Aussie Rodney Marsh were the first Wicket Keeper batsmen.
Nope, Kent have a long history of wicket keeper/batsmen. Godfrey Evans and Les Ames for example. Knotty kept up that tradition and maybe moved it up a level.
Alan Knott was a very fine keeper, as good as anyone including Taylor. His keeping to Deadly on a drying uncovered pitch was remarkable. He suffered from snobbery in the game from the posh side of the media in the same way, but for different reasons as Rob Andrew did versus Stuart Barnes. He was an unorthodox but very effective batsmen and an eccentric. His personal appearance was often shabby and scruffy unlike the immaculate Taylor. Jack Russell copied many of Knotts traits. As for Marsh you could argue he was the first Aussie WK/Bat as he was not a very good keeper when he started, known as Iron Gloves. He was an aggressive batsmen and the first Aussie keeper to score a ton. Of course his keeping improved and he was a fine player and the leading WK in the history of Test cricket when he retired. The likes of Bob Taylor are not even wanted in club cricket anymore, personally I think it is a shame that the art of keeping has gone this way.
Taylor would have appeared a lot more for England, but for the brilliant Alan Knott
Taylor had two reasons to be grateful to Kerry Packer; taking Knott out of the way for a few years (which meant he got to play in an Ashes winning team in Australia, The Golden Jubilee Test v India and in the Headingley & Edgbaston miracles of 1981) and for providing the big jump up in wages that he and dozens of other dedicated pros richly deserved. Fine keeper and very dogged lower-order bat.
Alan Knott was a very fine keeper, as good as anyone including Taylor. His keeping to Deadly on a drying uncovered pitch was remarkable. He suffered from snobbery in the game from the posh side of the media in the same way, but for different reasons as Rob Andrew did versus Stuart Barnes. He was an unorthodox but very effective batsmen and an eccentric. His personal appearance was often shabby and scruffy unlike the immaculate Taylor. Jack Russell copied many of Knotts traits. As for Marsh you could argue he was the first Aussie WK/Bat as he was not a very good keeper when he started, known as Iron Gloves. He was an aggressive batsmen and the first Aussie keeper to score a ton. Of course his keeping improved and he was a fine player and the leading WK in the history of Test cricket when he retired. The likes of Bob Taylor are not even wanted in club cricket anymore, personally I think it is a shame that the art of keeping has gone this way.
Agree, as an old bowler I used to hate it when our regular keeper wasn't around, good keepers make hard catches look easy because they anticipate so well.
Even as good as Prior made himself he missed a lot of crucial stumpings that the likes of Taylor would have taken every time.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
I hope he recovers .I enjoyed cricket in that era.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
And some would argue that Taylor was actually a better glove man than Knotty. But such has the game moved on, he wouldn't even have been given a county contract nowadays as a keeper now has to be capable of batting in the top six or seven. Michael Bates has become a victim of this as he is one of the best keepers around but struggles to average 20 with the bat.
Hope Bob recovers as soon as possible.
It was Knott and the Aussie Rodney Marsh were the first Wicket Keeper batsmen.
Nope, Kent have a long history of wicket keeper/batsmen. Godfrey Evans and Les Ames for example. Knotty kept up that tradition and maybe moved it up a level.
Yes you are right . I was aware of Ames and Evans , there was also the India and Lancashire keeper Farokh Engineer. My point was that needing the keeper to be an all rounder wasn't commonplace in the way it is now .
I think maybe it is the rise of one day and 20 / 20 Cricket which has led to the specialist wicket keepers demise.
Alan Knott was a very fine keeper, as good as anyone including Taylor. His keeping to Deadly on a drying uncovered pitch was remarkable. He suffered from snobbery in the game from the posh side of the media in the same way, but for different reasons as Rob Andrew did versus Stuart Barnes. He was an unorthodox but very effective batsmen and an eccentric. His personal appearance was often shabby and scruffy unlike the immaculate Taylor. Jack Russell copied many of Knotts traits. As for Marsh you could argue he was the first Aussie WK/Bat as he was not a very good keeper when he started, known as Iron Gloves. He was an aggressive batsmen and the first Aussie keeper to score a ton. Of course his keeping improved and he was a fine player and the leading WK in the history of Test cricket when he retired. The likes of Bob Taylor are not even wanted in club cricket anymore, personally I think it is a shame that the art of keeping has gone this way.
Agree, as an old bowler I used to hate it when our regular keeper wasn't around, good keepers make hard catches look easy because they anticipate so well.
Even as good as Prior made himself he missed a lot of crucial stumpings that the likes of Taylor would have taken every time.
Bob Taylor himself has said (in this great interview) that it's how you deal with standing up to spinners that shows your ability to keep wicket. If you have a seam attack with an Ashley Giles type 'holding' spinner, then it's isn't so much of an issue, whereas if you have attacking spinners then you could potentially miss out out on crucial wickets which might cost you more than the extra runs the Wk/Batsmans might score
Comments
Have I remembered this right or did I dream it?
It was against New Zealand
Taylor would have appeared a lot more for England, but for the brilliant Alan Knott
Funny, I think I assumed it was the Aussies because Border had that matey relationship with the England players. Fair play to NZ skipper Jeremy Coney for giving permission.
Taylor was of a similar standard to Belvedere's finest behind the stumps but it was Alan Knott's superior skills as a batsman that gave him the nod. At his best he almost justified a place in the team for his batting alone
Hope Bob recovers as soon as possible.
As for Marsh you could argue he was the first Aussie WK/Bat as he was not a very good keeper when he started, known as Iron Gloves. He was an aggressive batsmen and the first Aussie keeper to score a ton. Of course his keeping improved and he was a fine player and the leading WK in the history of Test cricket when he retired.
The likes of Bob Taylor are not even wanted in club cricket anymore, personally I think it is a shame that the art of keeping has gone this way.
Even as good as Prior made himself he missed a lot of crucial stumpings that the likes of Taylor would have taken every time.
I think maybe it is the rise of one day and 20 / 20 Cricket which has led to the specialist wicket keepers demise.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/691805.html