1. Practice your wicket keeping with goals and purpose.
Work on keeping in the nets, focusing on specific drills with a coach, footwork with cones and glovework standing up and back to polish your skills.
2. Know when to stand up.
For many wicket keepers it has become an ego thing standing up to every bowler, but you need to know when to do it.
If the ball is moving around then you want to be back to a have better chance of taking the edge.
Practice standing up to seam bowlers as much as possible so that your consistently improve your judgement.
Is it a bird, is it a plane ? Heino keeping for the Titans
3. Practice and train for catching the edge:
Whether you are standing up or back, aim to take the ball in a way that your eyes and body are aligned and ready for an outside edge.
Some keepers like taking the ball on the inside, meaning you catch with your body to the side of the ball rather than right in front of you.
I like to take the ball right in front of me, this helps me to glove the ball cleanly when the ball is swinging around a lot.
If you are standing up the wicket the trick is to try and catch the outside edge of the ball with as a wide a catching area as possible, giving you a little bit more chance of catching the adge.
4.The Wicket Keeper needs to be the focus in the field:
While the captain is the general in the field, you are second in command.
It’s your job to keep troops going, with plenty of team and individual encouragement.
You need to bring players back into focus when you sense individuals or the team drifting or getting disheartened.
Praise any good cricket you see, be it bowling or fielding. Anything that relaxes the team and keeps them working together is good.
5. Talk to the captain.
You are in a unique position to see things others can’t.
Speak to the captain about the ball swinging or seaming, batsman’s technique and state of mind and the pace or spin on the ball.
Be confident to get involved with strategy and tactical discussions.
6. The Wicket Keeper needs to be super fit.
Wicket Keeping is the most physically demanding position in cricket.
It’s true that the fitter you are the better you will be.
You need good work capacity, power in your legs to jump and dive, quick reactions and quick feet.
7. Take returns in front of the stumps.
Get in front of the stumps in a side ways on position.
This will allow you to get to throws that don’t reach the stumps and carry your hands through in an arc to take the bails off.
To do this you need to plant your leg by the stump closest to you to act as a guide because you can’t see them.
8.Use One Glove.
If you take returns from the field with only one glove on it will allow you to throw the ball to the bowlers end more quickly.
This also helps with throwing a glove off if you are required to field a ball on the ground to stop a quick single.
9. Be Creative.
Use different kinds of balls to train with (tennis balls for soft hands and golfballs for more bounce etc),even putting obstacles infront of you to distract you. Be inventive.
10. BE PASSIONATE AND LOVE KEEPING!!
Back From Wicket Keeping : Heino Kuhn To Cricket Tips
About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.