It is often said that the two least talked about people on a Cricket field are umpires and wicketkeepers. And that if you haven’t heard anything said about them, it generally means they’re doing their work flawlessly. A lot goes into the art of wicketkeeping, and competent keepers have the knack of making the job look rather easy. One such keeper, who went silently about his job without making too much of a fuss about it, bid farewell to Test Match Cricket earlier this week.
BJ Watling, the South African born Kiwi Cricketer was an integral part of the Blackcaps Test side in the last decade. A test career that lasts for over 12 years, comprising of 75 games, is commendable to say the least. Watling broke into the side to fill up the big shoes of Brendon McCullum in 2009, competing against the likes of Reece Young and Kruger van Wyk.
Unorthodox yet Tidy is what best describes Watling as a keeper. There was not much conventional about his keeping. In his crouch, his hands would be far apart. While gathering the ball standing back to the seamers, he would often collect it on his outer hip, leaving the risk of not covering ground in case there was a nick. However, just like MSD and a few other unconventional keepers to have played the game, there was method to his madness. He was incredibly good with his hands & feet, and was swift in his sideways movements.
During the WTC Final, Nasser Hussain analyzed Watling’s technique while standing back to the stumps, and pointed out the way he would exaggerate watching the ball into the gloves, thereby taking away any chance of missing the one that swings late. Watling’s technical soundness resulted in him giving away just 4 byes in the entire test – which is a magnificent effort considering how much and how late the ball swings in Southampton.
Despite being so good with the gloves and surpassing Dhoni in the list of most Test dismissals, Watling isn’t well renowned as a Test Cricketer. Jarrod Kimber, an esteemed Cricket writer, describes Watling as someone who is ‘designed in a lab to be invisible’. This is the sad truth of Keepers who couldn’t make it big as batsmen. Most of the glory and glamour in Cricket comes from scoring runs and taking wickets, while some of the toughest arts in our sport are easily forgotten.
The fact that Watling copped one on the finger in the second innings of his last test is so characteristic of what being a Wicketkeeper is about. But as BJ Watling walked back to the dressing room with a dislocated finger for the final time in Test Cricket without any acknowledgement, he would’ve held his head high for having served New Zealand Cricket and World Cricket for 12 years, and known that avid cricket fans as well as his teammates will remember his contribution for a long time to come.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 