[quote author=pwarbi link=topic=102196.msg674400#msg674400 date=1453209394]
Anybody a fan of Jack Russell? He was an almost legendary wicketkeeping figure for England cricket,
then again that might just have been for his ridiculous name alone!
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As a matter of fact he was recently in the news when Jonny Bairstow caught the 1- 4 batsmen
Jack Russel hold the record for the first 5 top order caches
A patient opening batsman with a sound technique, Cameron Bancroft enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2014-15 when he finished third on the Sheffield Shield run tally with 896 runs at 47.15. The highlight of his summer was a maiden double-century: he batted for more than 13 hours in scoring 211 against New South Wales, proof of the high price he places on his wicket. A call-up for Australia A followed and he used his feet and the sweep to great effect in negating India A's spinners when he made 150 in Chennai. Highly rated by his Western Australia coach Justin Langer, Bancroft debuted for his state in one-day cricket at 18, but had to wait two more years to be given a chance in the Sheffield Shield side. Given his willingness to bat long periods it is against the red ball that is future appears to lie, and Australia's selectors will keep a close eye on Bancroft in the coming years.
Australia's ability to keep churning out great young players is envious. It was touched upon in the retrospective look at South Africa's recent rise and fall, but a large part of the reason why Australia have been so great is their ability to not only produce great young players, but to breed them into the team at a young age.
[quote author=ketchim link=topic=102196.msg674413#msg674413 date=1453215258]
As a matter of fact he was recently in the news when Jonny Bairstow caught the 1- 4 batsmen
Jack Russel hold the record for the first 5 top order caches
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Russell was a fine gloveman for England and he's a player that often gets overlooked. I'm also surprised that he never gets asked his opinion or gets to commentate on the games because when you listen to him speak about cricket, he's a very knowledgeable man.
Jonny Bairstow is going to test the age old question of "how many runs do you need to score in order to ignore defensive inefficiencies". His keeping is a major problem. Dropped catches after dropped catches. The three in this Test allowed Amla, Cook and de Kock the opportunity to press on and score centuries each. By my recollection, Bairstow has now had at least one dropped catch per Test since taking over the gloves, to go with at least 2 missed stumping opportunities. I really hope that he can be improve his glovework, as his bat is so good.
