he Wicketkeeper is arguably the most important member of the fielding side. He should look to be the focal point and motivator of the fielding unit. As it is such an important position, I feel it is vital that keepers receive specialist coaching.

Stance

Ensure that weight is slightly forward (on the balls of feet).

Feet should be about shoulder width apart with the left foot (when keeping to a right handed batsman) roughly on the line of off-stump.

The keeper should be in a "crouch" position with backside just below the level of the knees. Any lower and their weight will be forced back, too high and their weight will be too far forward.

It is vital that the keeper keeps their head still with eyes level as the ball is released. This will allow them to remain balanced.

Hands should be together with fingers spread wide to create a wide catching area.

As with any aspect of the game, all players will do things slightly differently. I believe it is important to encourage these basic techniques wherever possible, yet at the same time the most important thing is that the keeper is comfortable in their stance. After all, they may have to be in this position up to 500 times in a day!

Hands

As mentioned above it is important that the keeper presents a wide catching area to the ball. They can achieve this by having their hands together but with fingers and thumbs spread wide. The majority of dropped catches, especially when stood up to the stumps, end up hitting the keeper on the end of the fingers. Creating a wider catching area should go some way to eliminating this.

When taking the ball it is important that the hands are underneath the keepers’ head and eyes as often as possible. This makes it easier to watch the ball all the way into the gloves and will give the keeper a greater consistency in catching the ball. The ball should be taken slightly out in front of the body, allowing room for a slight give of the ball towards the body. This action is often referred to as "using soft hands" and can be easily practised by using tennis balls as if the keeper is going at the ball too hard the tennis ball will bounce straight back out of their hands.

For the majority of takes the keepers’ fingers will be pointing down, however when the ball is higher the keeper will have to "reverse" their hands and have their fingers pointing upwards. Many young keepers struggle with the decision making of when to reverse their hands. As a general rule I would take the keepers’ body as a clock face and work on the guide that any ball from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock would have the keeper with their fingers pointing down and anything in the top half of the clock face would result in the keeper reversing their hands.

Footwork

A keeper with good footwork will allow themselves to take the ball underneath their eyes more consistently.

When the ball is wide (either to the off or leg side), we use a sideways movement. This will allow the keeper to remain facing the ball in a front-on position. If, for example, the ball is down the leg side (to a right handed batsman) the keeper’s head will go first, closely followed by their left leg. The right leg will then move to the leg side and almost "kick" the left leg across again to form a shoulder width, balanced position. The keeper should then be able to take the ball with head, eyes and hands in a straight line.

When making these movements it is important that the keeper’s head remains still with eyes level. This will allow them to remain balanced.

All top keepers have good footwork and practice regularly. Footwork can be improved by doing fast feet drills using ladders and hurdles etc

I’m a strong believer that with hard work and practice anyone with a "decent pair of hands" can turn themselves into a good keeper. Young keepers should aim to catch as many balls as possible in practice to build up confidence as well as technique. If they are unable to receive coaching then they can practice on their own by catching a ball off a wall or receiving throws from a friend, brother, dad etc.