There is a difference between the best and the Greatest.The Greatest is largely based on statistics.When one considers the changing role of wicketkeepers over the years, it brings this distinction into sharp focus.It is my opinion that the standard of wicketkeeping has declined sharply in contemporary cricket.There are many reasons for this but one of the most obvious reasons is the rise in the importance of the wicketkeeper having the ability to make a lot of runs.This was brought into sharp focus just a couple days ago when Jonny Bairstow replaced Foakes in the England test line-up!!!!Another reason is the reduction in importance of spin bowling which requires increased level of wicketkeeping skills since you are right behind the stumps and have no time to sight the ball.
I will list the 3 best wicketkeepers in World Cricket,3 best WI wicketkeepers,3 best Guyanese wicketkeepers.
WORLD CRICKET
1.Jack Russell
2.Alan Knott
3.Wasim Bari
WEST INDIES
1.Jackie Hendriks
2.David Murray
3.Michael Findlay
GUYANA
1.Geoffrey "REDS" Murray
2.Milton Pydanna
3.Lonsdale Skinner
Message Board Archives
Best Wicketkeepers I have seen
In reply to Dukes
How do you rate Sarah Taylor?
In reply to Dukes
Nice post and I agree the role of the gloveman has changed considerably over the years for the bias in batting.
For me, Dereck Murray and Wasim Bari was in the top 3 in the world.
Btw, both Murray and Bari was also competent batters.
In reply to WIForever
Never saw that wicketkeeper.
1. Deryck Murray
2. Jeff Dujon
3. The King of Cocaine 
The real captain
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——- are our problem. Always trying to bring others down
I remember
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Hetmeyer never puts his hand up…. He hates the West Indies…
Always belittling others
That is why he will never play again
You think you smart…
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In reply to Dukes
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One of the best I have ever seen. Unreal how good she is up to the stumps.
Arguably, none of Hendricks, David Murray, or Mike Findlay could have done a better job than Jeffrey Dujon to the various 4 prongs he kept to.
Also….the best overall WI keeper (adept to pace and spin) I have seen to date is Denesh Ramdin.
In reply to Dukes
Russell was special
for Windies. Hendricks followed by Deryck
In reply to imusic
You are profoundly wrong my friend.Dujon was extremely athletic.That allowed him to make up for his poor footwork and anticipation.He was more a soccer goalkeeper than a wicketkeeper was a comment rather uncharitably made by a former WI cricketer.
The greatest test of a wicketkeeper is keeping up at the wicket to the spinners or as has been done by the best of the best, keeping up at the stumps to medium pacers.
The dropping of Foakes who is not a bad batsman signals the complete disregard that most selection teams have for specialist wicketkeepers.
It is only when people like Brown drop Waugh and Inzamam who then go on to score match winning tons do we realize the value of a good wicketkeeper.
The other aspect I have problems with is assessing wicketkeepers by the amount of catches they take rather than the amount they drop.Those statistics are never kept.I remember Wes Hall making a quip about a certain wicketkeeper who took 20 catches in a series and saying yeh, but he probably dropped another 20.
In reply to Dukes
One of the most underrated wicket keepers is Ian "Stealy" Healy. He kept very well against the best leg spinner (for most of his career) of all time.
In reply to Dukes
Best Wicket-keeper -
What about Bamfield
In reply to Dukes
I heard him with my 2 ears making this statement at my school, he was funny as hell. He said Murray broke the world record for the most catches and set a world record for the most drop catches.
Ramdin for me rates highly.
There another guy who kept for Windwards name Ignatius Cadet.
In reply to InHindsight
I agree. Ramdin was a good keeper.So was Junior Murray who was indeed a brilliant stumper.Ignatius Cadet was highly spoken of, but I never saw him keep.
In reply to Dukes
Must have been Hendricks?
In reply to Trex
Whist Warne was undoubtedly the best leg-spinner ever, he was not the most difficult to wicketkeeper to since he did not have a google that was as well disguised as Abdul Qadir who was my idol when it came to leg-spin/googlies.
Wasim Bari was masterful keeping to Qadir.
Contemporaries described Hendriks as being equally proficient against pace and spin. As a measure of his excellence, statisticians record that on three occasions when the opposition amassed over 500 runs in Tests, Hendriks kept wicket without conceding a bye.
As a batsman, he averaged 18.62 and is the first to concede that he underachieved.
Hendriks, who was captain of Jamaica in the 1960s, later went on to lead the Jamaica Cricket Board as well as serve the West Indies Cricket Board in various capacities and the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a match referee.
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If ah laugh ah fart Sh!tmeyer
In reply to Dukes
Bob Tylor was one of the best
[b]In reply to bird[/b
Dukes/Emir-how good a keeper was Farokh Engineer?
I consider him the 1st of those keepers who were picked
equally if not mostly for his batting too.
In reply to bird
Taylor to me was equal to or better than Knotty. Softest glove I ever saw.
He understudied Knott who was by far the better batsman.
Interesting thread..a subjective one in which no one can be wrong 
Maybe I will give an opinion when I have some time.
In reply to Dukes
jackie Hendriks was the best, the records show that i believe
against both spin and pace
In reply to hubert
He understudied Knott who was by far the better batsman.
I have been told something similar, but never saw him wicketkeep.
In reply to Barry
May David RIP
I met David when we were about 10 years old, a cricket clinic at Wesley Hall Primary schooI, had two parents that were in my life, David did not.
In reply to hubert
I was part of a group that had a 10-15 minutes clinic from Knotts, when he visited Calgary with the MCC team in the 70's.
That clinic opened my eyes to the art of keeping.
In reply to openning
I applaud your empathy- teach Dukes some…
Former Australia captain Lisa Sthalekar is the ninth woman cricketer to reach ICC Hall of Fame. She was only 3 weeks old when her parents adopted her from an orphanage in Pune.
In reply to Dukes
This is what I wrote
You responded with
To be clear….I said he arguably did a better job keeping to the various 4 prongs than the ones you mentioned likely would have had they kept to those 4 prongs.
The so called “soccer goalkeeper” got to balls and turned them Into catches that the others simply would not have been able to. Those chances would have ended up in boundaries.
You’re caught up in traditionalism and norms. Dujon definitely wasn’t that…..which was precisely what that bowling attack needed behind the stumps
In reply to Dukes
Ian Healy....Warne+ Fast bowler+ contributions with bat
Sangakkara..Murli + Swing bowlers + excellent batter
Dujon....Fast bowlers+ contributions with bat
Kirmani...kept wicket with several world class spinners..
At present, Sarfaraz is technically very good keeper...also good batter
As someone who enjoyed the art and have spoken about Dujon in real time, having not see him keep to spinners, I cannot rate him.
I have not seen enough of my buddy David Murray at the International level to rate him also, by as a youth he was among the best young talents in Barbados.
I was not surprise hearing he made the Barbados and West Indies teams.
In reply to openning
Dujon did not have to keep to spinners so why should he be exempt from a rating over something which he has no control?
Allyuh traditionalists is something else. So blasted rigid 
In reply to openning
How you could rate David Murray at youth level when Barbados has and never had any spinners?
Hi;
Has anyone here ever seen Darnley Boxill keep wicket?
In reply to imusic
You ever played this game or was coached?
If David played for Spartan he had David Holford and Tony Howard to keep to, but among our peers, he was the best.
My nickname was Jimmy Binks, google you will find out my nickname.
BTW, the only money I made from cricket, is for stumping a batsman off a fast bowler down the legside
Thats a classic.
In reply to imusic
In reply to ychs67
I cannot remember seeing him, but I know the name.
In reply to openning
Dem so is what does pass for spinners in Bim
Ashley Nurse and Roston Chase exhibits A & B
No Rod Marsh
In reply to imusic
You may not like their cricket, but they are two International cricketers.
In reply to imusic
Barbados best spinner could not make the West Indies team, because of the 4-prong.
Come in guys help me with his name, he maybe the longest regional spinner from the rock, has now heard of him, for years.
The last couple of days, I had to remain indoors, cloudy and smokey.
What about Wally Grout?
He had to keep to the likes of Graham McKenzie and Neil Hawke.
In reply to Drapsey
Did Wally Grout kept in the 1960 series? that a name I heard as a youth.
In reply to openning
Yes.
I'll never forget the first time I ever saw television.
Oops, sorry. That was 1965.
Best WI glove men I saw Ramdin, Findlay and David Murray in that order.
In reply to imusic
Please note David Murray also kept wicket to various four prongs particularly in Australia ...in addition David Murray kept right up to the wicket to Marshall Garner Holding and Walsh.
And it is right there on YouTube for all to see.
David Murray equal to or even better keeping against pace ( Murray kept in the Barbados 1981 team against Garner Marshall Clarke and Daniel ) than Dujon and definitely better against spin.
I'm sorry we couldn't hear a fellow Jamaican Michael Holding ( or Viv) comments on Murray vs Dujon as a keeper....you all would be surprised!
I respect Reds Perreira and Reds said the best WI wicketkeeper he ever saw was Jackie Hendricks.
In reply to analyst-kid
Ever time I hear of David, I ask myself, why did I not say to him, I am the bowler, you the keeper.
He said to me in my last match at Yorkshire, that I was going to keep and he bowl.
I have no bragging rights now, to tell this mb, that David Murray kept to my bowling, I can say I wicketkeep to David Murray's bowling.
I can say he had a good memory, for now seeing me for over 20 years and to remember my name at Buster eatery after playing for the West Indies, I was proud to show off to my sister that I a West Indies player knew my name.
In reply to openning
I am shock that you did not made Bim or the WI team, judging from your stories.you were one hell of a cricketer.
In reply to openning
You mean Reid?
Can’t remember his first name
In reply to tc1
You mean best gully cricketer
In reply to analyst-kid
he is senile
In reply to analyst-kid
Not only Reds. You can add Lance Gibbs,Clive Lloyd, the late Umpire Cecil Kippins and Rohan Kanhai.
The thing is at least 2 of them told me,IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE.
In reply to openning
That’s a statement of partial truce and rife with privilege
Whoever that was couldn’t make the West Indies team because of the 4 prong too. Technically correct
More correct is whoever that was couldn’t make the WI team because spinners like Nanan, Butts, and Parry and others were all better bowlers.
In reply to sudden
In reply to imusic
Jumadeen was a more successful bowler than Nanan Butts and Parry...he actually was picked in the squad with the great fast bowlers and played in many tour matches
In reply to Dukes
Now that you mentioned Rohan Kanhai, shouldn't he be on the list of great(est) wicketkeepers?
Well, maybe not. As a young man I read a cricket book that described Rohan Kanhai as "Fieldsman with gloves on".
In reply to tc1
I always knew my limitations, that did not stop me from, going to cricket every Saturday after lessons, with 10 cents for bus far and 5 cents for anything I want to eat, and watched cricket
In reply to openning
You really ole no ass yes
In reply to sudden
I moved from the Gully to Friendship about 1960, we still played in the road or Cart road, but them guys from Bridgefield used to stone us.
He never played Test Cricket but honorable mention to Renford "Pinny" Pinnock, who kept wicket for JA when Hendriks was not available
In reply to imusic
Inherited good genes, my mom died at 102 years.
Take note I did not say my dad, he and my brother after me died in their fifties, I believe they both lied to the many women they were seeing.
In reply to openning
So who tell you you inherited her genes unless you mean wrangler or Jesse jeans
In reply to CWWeekes
What a knock he played against Barbados, with Wes, Charlie, Prof and Sir Gary bowling to him.
In reply to openning
Did you see Derek Sealy too?
In reply to openning
TMI!!
In reply to sudden
Heard of him.
I know you are joking but my first match was Spartan vs Empire after the 1957 English series, I went the first day, could not see because of the crowd, and so short.
I have walked from Pinfold Street to Dayrell's Road, The Park, The Mecca, HC, Bank Hall every Saturday for about 3 years, just to watch cricket.
In reply to sudden
Maybe,as well as Herman Griffith
Holding sheer pace, Roberts variation, I say Deryck . . .
In reply to tc1
De man ole as de Old Work Hill
I thought Dukes was of a certain vintage but Openning takes the cake
In reply to sudden
I am 76 years old, the smoke is keeping me indoors, that's why I am on my computer.
I would be on a golf course if it was not smokey.
In reply to openning
Smokey in Alberta?
Ganja or fires?
In reply to openning
Dukes clipped you by a year or two
In reply to sudden
A provincial state of emergency has been declared.
Imusic wrote about it last week.
In reply to sudden
Having a mother that liv to 102 years, 5 sisters and a bother in their eighties and another brother who will 80 in October, I feel young.
Seeing people on a daily basis, whose are suffering with dementia, make me enjoy life.
In reply to openning
7 siblings in the 80s?
Your ole man was a hammer, wasn’t he
In reply to sudden
My brother that died was similar, he only had two boys, but was married three times.
Two of our sisters was in Florida before the plug was pull, he had suffered a brain aneurysm, his son, his ex-wife and his girl friend was at his bedside, when the doctor asked for the documents, who had power of attorney, his ex wife shouted he has none, by his son is here with us.
His girl friend took out their marriage licence and gave it to the doctor.
That was dad, god took them from making a mess with women lives.
Bro my dad had two children that was almost 20 years older than me, and 40 years older that our youngest brother. My mom oldest daughter is 20 years older than my our brother.
If that not bad his brother had 17 children from his wife, my dad had thirteen with three from two sisters.
Thank god for the pill
Three of best I ever saw were:
1. Darnley Boxhill
2. Michael Edghill
3. Mike Worrell
Unfortunately all specialist and would bat variously just before the roller.
what is the exact difficulty when keeping to fast bowlers?
In reply to doosra
Agility, pain
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When a fast bowler operates with a semi new-ball in these normal conditions, the keeper should stand two yards further up, i.e. 18 yards. When the ball gets older, the keeper should move two yards closer. But then, conditions are not always normal. How should a keeper adjust to different kinds of wickets?
On a bouncy, fast strip, it would be wise for a keeper to crouch 22 yards from the stumps.
Keeping wickets to fast bowlers on a sticky wicket is an art in itself. The ball plays all kinds of tricks on a sticky wicket; it may kick off, keep low or skid after pitching. This creates problems not only for the batsmen, but also the keepers. Here, the keepers will have to use their discretion. Depending upon their experience and confidence, they will have to decide the distance from the stumps where they will be most comfortable.
Wicketkeepers will also have to adjust their position according to the wind conditions, as the pace at which the ball travels in the air and off the pitch is influenced by the velocity and direction of the wind.
In reply to analyst-kid Check those facts again. David Murray (who I knew),did not keep wicket ,standing up, to Courtney Walsh in any WI 4 prong. Walsh made his WI debut in 1984 ,by which time Murray had long been bannished from WI,having toured SA with the rebels.
In reply to alfa1975
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The four prong was Roberts Holding Garner and Croft and it was 1981.
As I said Murray came out the Shell Shield wicketkeeping to Garner Marshall Clarke and Daniel.
In reply to Onionman0
Engineer kept to Bedi, Prassana, Venkat and Chandra and opened the batting at times too
Good enough to be the chosen keeper for Rest of The World. Kept to Saffie Pacers, Sobers,
Gibbs and Co.
In reply to Brerzerk
Rookie was a beloved member of Lancashire Cricket Club where he was extremely popular.Very gregarious fellow who was an excellent wicketkeeper-batsman.Wonderful chap.
I really don't know how to separate wicket keepers. Catches and stampings depend a lot on the bowlers.
Dujon impressed me with his athleticism.
One evening as Barbados chased victory against the combined islands..Findlay came up to the stumps against Roberts Shillingford and Phillips was tidy and whipped the bails off down the legs idea on several occasions.
In reply to Dukes
Just curious why you rank Russel above Knott. I did not see Russel much.
In reply to Baje
Dujon impressed me with his athleticism.
That is sooooo telling.
The reason Dijon had to be diving around is because his footwork was not good.The WI 4 prong was no faster than Brett Lee and Sahib Akhtar,yet the guys who were wicketkeeping to them were not diving around like Dijon or missing catches.
The way to tell a top class wicketkeeper is his footwork and his takes to the slow bowlers down the leg side and of course their stumping.taking catches in front of first clip where the ball is not carrying to first slip is also a good indicator of a good wicketkeeper.I think that dijon did not distribute his weight onto his right foot early necessitating him to have to dive more than usual.
I can distinctly remember Jackie Hendricks stumping Winston English off Lester King at Bourda and he was a brisk medium pacer..
In reply to mkcharles
Erskine Boozer King
Savory
Heath ( Wanderer)
King IMO was
much better than Darney.
In reply to sudden
Openning dad was an openning batsmen,he kock any thing.
In reply to mkcharles
Who Michael Edghill? The accountant?
In reply to sudden
I am not familar with the name. I know of Boxhill and Worrell.
In reply to Dukes
So if Dujon was able to compensate for his shortcoming by diving and taking catches, does that not make him great...even if unorthodox?
In reply to Dukes
Four from ONE leaves nothing. I suspect Holding was faster than everybody else
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In reply to ychs67
H
Has anyone here ever seen Darnley Boxill keep wicket?
I have seen Darley Boxhill up close and he was not as good as 2 other Foundation keepers Savory or the young Boozer King.2 other keepers during Boxhill's time, Tony King and Harley Doyce much better than him.
Darnley was a great 100 yards sprinter, extremely fast out of the blocks.
In reply to openning
Come in guys help me with his name, he maybe the longest regional spinner from the rock, has now heard of him, for years.
Are you referring to George Linton?
In reply to Barry
OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE
In reply to Dukes
I wouldn't trust this site too much.
read the last line
Umran Malik was probably 5 years old in 2007
In reply to Dukes
There is no objective evidence except today- boycott was right, the wicked whisper was holding back- I shudder to think how fast he was
Deryck was the best, holding the fastest, objective evidence in yuh runkatunka
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In reply to brians_da_best
It is documented in several places that 2 men,Brett Lee and Sahib Akhtar bowled at 160Kilometers per hour.
That is not in dispute
In reply to Dukes
Sure, but this link can’t be trusted
Also, back in the day were speed guns as widely used? Was the technology the same?
If you want to be ‘objective’ you need to consider all these things. That’s all
Junior Murray
In reply to brians_da_best
People can say Harold Larwood bowled at greater than 100 miles per hour but.......
I think we all know Boycott doesn't lie even to his detriment. Indeed, when I went back I noted that at that times Holding was holding something back. Maybe he wanted to dukes? 
Berserk,
truce for a second
Listen to Imran Khan
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Dukes is a colonial . . . he feel he know everything like puncheon man . . . I show him
In reply to Dukes
If it isn’t documented, then ‘objectivity’ is not possible. You can ‘believe’ that these two were the fastest but that’s about all
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