Ramdin sets high standards

Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy are helping Denesh Ramdin, the West Indian wicketkeeper, improve his batting and wicketkeeping skills on the tour of Australia. "I've been looking at a few guys over the years, Jeffrey Dujon, Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist, seeing them on television, see them dominating cricket as batsmen at No. 7 and scoring centuries," Ramdin told AFP. "I think that's one of my goals, to bat at seven and score a lot of centuries as well."

Ramdin spoke to Healy during West Indies tour of Sri Lanka in July and was given some technical tips to work on."I think I've developed a bit more with my keeping," he said. "I've come over to Australia and he's done a few more things with me, a couple of tips batting-wise and about the wickets and how to keep on them with the bounce. By talking to him he helped me setting drills that will help me through the Tests and also while I'm at practice."

Ramdin, who was picked for West Indies after only 13 first-class matches, said he would like to achieve the batting standards set by Dujon and Gilchrist and the wicketkeeping levels of Healy. He scored 71 in a 182-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Dwayne Bravo and avoided an innings defeat in the second Test against Australia at Hobart.