As soon as the season ends (not long now) I'll be creating the official WAT England 'A' team thread, but in the interim it seems sensible to try and get clearer on the candidates: to that end I'm creating threads on potential openers, potential middle order batsmen, potential wicket-keepers, potential seamers and potential spinners.

In all these discussions I'm going to presume Yardy, Joyce, Clarke, Dalrymple, Broad and Tremlett (and possibly Davies) will be automatic selections: that's not definitive as every place is up for debate.... but given that the above are early favourites I'd like to see arguments as to why any of these should NOT be included as well as arguments as to why others should play alongside / instead of them.

Anyway... this thread is for wicket-keepers...

Note: if you haven't already registered an interest in being a co-selector then please vote in this poll." >potemtial openers, potential middle order batsmen and potential seamers.

Well for me when the time comes - I think the 2 obvious choices are Prior and Foster.

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Ern

See here: http://world-a-team.com/showthread.p...008#post111008

Rachael we are not talking about one day cricket (I hope) but Foster v Prior has the same spice as Read/Jones.

Foster I would probably go for, but not long ago Prior was everyones darling - can't go on just a few matches.

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Ern

Davies, Guy and Alleyne are three names that spring to mind other than Prior or Foster. I'd say Foster was the leading candidate.

Davies by a street for me even though i am a fan of Foster.

I'd agree on Davies and Foster being the leading candidates: the former has form and promise in abundance, the latter should arguably have been England's wicket-keeper throughout the GO Jones era and is now the experienced guy who could slot right in and be relied upon to deliver.

Foster appeals as much as anything for the way he bats: his solidity and ability to offer stern resistance in the lower-middle order strike me as far more worthy than Prior's potential for a quickfire, bang-and-gone impact that could frequently leave a senior partner stranded even when the runs are added.

At least Foster and Davies know what the gloves are for: the evidence to date is that "Prior" and "wicket-keeping" shouldn't really be used in the same sentence without a key term or phrase such as "dreadful", "to be avoided" or "a joke": not for nothing did Rod Marsh suggest his future lay as an explosive specialist ODI batsman and outfielder!

Not for the first time, I agree 100% with everything that Rachael just said. In the past, I have always been in favour of selecting Foster as he offers a great blend of youth and experience coupled with solid technique with both bat and gloves. Davies looks to have more raw ability with the bat, and is equally solid with the gloves - but lacks the experience. I could happily go with either.

I struggle to see any other candidates who can match Foster or Davies. Mustard is too ideosyncratic, and although I'm a big fan of Steve Adshead as a keeper/batsman, he is only reliable (lacking the spectacular) with the gloves, and only equally as good as Foster or Davies with the bat.

Luke Sutton has been good for Lancs when fit with bat and gloves (and I picked him last year when he probably did less so inkeeping with the cosistency which is being pushed I may well do so again). Gareth Cross can certainly bat, I have only seen him keep twice though so I cant really give much of an opinion on his keeping. He was very tidy both times.

Main Candidates
Name, Matches, Runs, Ave - - Ct, St, Tot Team
P Mustard 11 552 29.05 - - 49 1 50 DURHAM
MJ Prior 10 731 45.68 - - 25 6 31 SUSSEX
LD Sutton 9 401 44.55 - - 30 2 32 LANCS
MA Wallace 12 579 32.16 - - 31 1 32 GLAM
SJ Adshead 12 557 32.76 - - 38 1 39 GLOUCS
DJ Pipe 12 500 33.33 - - 39 6 45 DERBY
JS Foster 12 464 33.14 - - 47 2 49 ESSEX
SM Davies 12 693 36.47 - - 43 3 46 WORCS