A noble vehicle or purile nonsense?
Martin Johnson in The Daily Telegraph has a few words to say about the habit of wicketkeepers, especially those from England, who seem to enthuse about every delivery sent down, however dreadful.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Martin Johnson in The Daily Telegraph has a few words to say about the habit of wicketkeepers, especially those from England, who seem to enthuse about every delivery sent down, however dreadful.
There was an occasion on Saturday when Harmison bowled two consecutive deliveries, one down the offside, and one down leg, that were fully three cricket pitches apart. The only bonus in all this being that Matt Prior, England's new wicketkeeper, was unable to shout "bowled Harmy!" while hurling himself sideways with the same velocity of a man being shot from a circus cannon . There is something about England wicketkeepers which apparently compels them to shout: "well bowled!" to six deliveries in every over, even if the ball is flying back over the bowler's head en route to the 12th row of the Compton Stand.
It is less irritating watching at the ground than it is on television, where the stump microphones pick up every syllable. It's passed off as a noble vehicle for keeping the fielding side on its toes, but it's actually rather puerile. Had Prior been keeping wicket when Harmison's first ball in Australia last winter flew straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip, we'd have been treated to a cry of "well caught Freddie!".
Martin Williamson is executive editor of ESPNcricinfo and managing editor of ESPN Digital Media in Europe, the Middle East and Africa