Is BJ Watling among the elite class of Test match wicket-keepers?

BJ Watling is perhaps the most underrated Test wicket-keeper ever. Having always been a wingman in memorable performances by his colleagues, Watling has often escaped the spotlight despite thoroughly deserving it. At Galle, he walked in with his side effectively at 64/4 and put on a resilient stand with Tim Southee to take New Zealand to a massive lead.

Watling faced 173 balls to make 77 and take New Zealand to a lead pretty much in their comfort zone on a deteriorating Galle wicket. This isn’t the first instance of Watling’s prowess with the tail. In his maiden Test ton at Chittagong, Watling was on 28 when New Zealand lost their ninth wicket. He went on to make a century with Trent Boult giving him company in a 127-run partnership.

Last year, he came in at 64/6 (against Sri Lanka) and 36/5 (against England) at Christchurch and made defiant knocks of 46 and 85. He was the partner in crime in two of New Zealand’s best individual knocks ever – a Brendon McCullum triple hundred against India and a Kane Williamson double-century against Sri Lanka. Watling made centuries and shared 300-plus run stands in these matches but that remains forgotten.

With his 77, Watling is now within touching distance of going past Brendon McCullum as New Zealand’s highest run-scoring wicket-keeper in Tests. Watling’s 2782 career runs have come as keeper while McCullum has 21 runs more.

A firefighter from the lower middle-order, Watling has been a mainstay in New Zealand’s Test team for a while. His most defining quality is an ability to absorb pressure and score runs with the tail. This involves consuming a lot of balls and warding off threats with the second new ball.

It is, therefore, no surprise that no keeper has faced more balls in Test cricket than Watling since his debut. This is surprising because several others including MS Dhoni, Matt Prior and Sarfaraz Ahmed have played almost the same number of innings as Watling if not more.

As a keeper too, Watling has shone through. Only six wicket-keepers in the history of Test cricket (min 100 dismissals as a keeper) has a dismissal/innings rate of two or more. Watling is fifth in the elite list that includes Adam Gilchrist, Quinton de Kock and Brad Haddin.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Ishara K. Kodikara