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Bert Oldfield
Oldfield kept to Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O'Reilly, two of the great leg-spinners, and his 52 Test stumpings remain the most by any keeper. Reading wrist spin from close up, without the help of modern footage, required anticipation as much as hands. He also kept through the Bodyline series, taking pace bowling and spin in the same summer.
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Godfrey Evans
Born
Evans kept for England through the 1940s and 1950s and was famous for standing up to Alec Bedser's fast-medium bowling, which let Bedser bowl leg-cutters with the batter pinned to the crease. His agility and energy lifted fielding sides, and he was the first keeper to 200 Test dismissals. Standing up to seamers is the skill to watch: almost nobody does it now.
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Alan Knott
Born
Knott kept to Derek Underwood's quick left-arm spin on helpful pitches, one of the hardest jobs in cricket, and did it with fastidious footwork and stretching routines that were unusual at the time. He also kept to England's fast bowlers through the 1970s. Many players of his era regarded him as the best pure keeper they had seen.
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Bob Taylor (cricketer)
Born
Bob Taylor spent years as Knott's understudy and only became England's regular keeper in his mid-thirties, yet he holds the record for most first-class dismissals. His ten catches in a Test against India at Bombay in 1980 was a world record at the time. His neat, undemonstrative style is exactly the kind of keeping that passes unnoticed until it is missing.
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Rod Marsh
Born
Iron Gloves was a nickname given in mockery early in his career, when Marsh dropped catches. He turned it around, standing back to Lillee and Thomson at their fastest and diving across the cordon for edges, and retired with what was then the world record for Test dismissals. Caught Marsh bowled Lillee became the most common dismissal in Test history at the time.
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Syed Kirmani
Born
Kirmani kept to India's famous spin quartet, Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan, on turning pitches where the ball spun and bounced unpredictably. Standing up to Chandrasekhar's fast googlies was a test few keepers would have passed. He was also the keeper in India's 1983 World Cup win and was recognised as the best wicketkeeper of that tournament.
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Jeff Dujon
Born
Dujon kept to the great West Indies pace attack of the 1980s, Holding, Marshall, Garner and Walsh, standing a long way back and diving athletically for edges that flew at extraordinary speed and bounce. Few keepers have faced such a volume of genuinely fast bowling. His graceful, acrobatic style made difficult catches look simple, which is why they are rarely remembered.
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Ian Healy
Born
Ian Healy's stumpings off Shane Warne, often from deliveries pitched outside leg stump that spun across a batter's pads, are the textbook for keeping to wrist spin. He also took McGrath and Gillespie standing back and retired with a then-record number of Test dismissals. Watch him rise with the ball rather than snatch at it; that is why he rarely fumbled Warne.
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Jack Russell (cricketer, born 1963)
Born
Jack Russell was often dropped by England for a better batter, but his keeping, especially standing up to spin and medium pace for Gloucestershire, was widely rated the best in the country in the 1990s. He set a world record of 11 catches in a Test against South Africa in 1995. His case is a reminder of how selection often penalised pure keeping.
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Mark Boucher
Born
Boucher holds the record for most Test dismissals, 555, keeping to Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn on bouncy South African pitches for 15 years. His consistency standing back to pace bowling was the foundation. His career ended in 2012 when a bail struck his eye while keeping, a stark reminder of the risks of the job.
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Sarah Taylor (cricketer)
Born
Sarah Taylor is often called the best wicketkeeper of her generation, men included, for lightning stumpings standing up to medium pacers and spinners. She was part of England's 2009 and 2017 World Cup wins, and her speed of hands drew praise from leading men's keepers. She also kept in men's grade cricket in Australia, rare evidence of how good her glovework was.
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MS Dhoni
Born
Dhoni's batting and captaincy overshadow his glovework, which was unorthodox and extraordinarily quick. He often collected the ball and broke the stumps in one motion, or deflected throws onto them without gathering, and he holds the record for most stumpings in international cricket. Keeping to India's spinners in white-ball cricket, his speed turned half-chances into wickets.
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Alyssa Healy
Born
Alyssa Healy, Ian Healy's niece, is better known for explosive opening batting, but her keeping has been just as important to Australia's dominance: sharp standing up to spinners such as Jess Jonassen and Alana King and agile standing back to Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt. She held the record for most dismissals in women's T20 internationals. Watch the stumpings, not just the sixes.
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Ben Foakes
Born
Foakes has repeatedly been called the best wicketkeeper in the world by team-mates and opponents, especially standing up to spin on turning pitches in Asia, yet he has spent long spells out of England's side because others offered more runs. His soft hands and stillness make difficult chances look routine. He is the modern example of how selection undervalues pure keeping.
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