All this talk about Matt Prior's 'will he, won't he' situation ahead of the First Ashes Test is wrapped up in glowing praise for his dressing room value and batting prowess. As a wicketkeeper usually batting at seven, Prior's average of 42 is undeniably excellent. Nineties England opener Alec Stewart averaged only 35 when playing as designated 'keeper. Kumar Sangakkara has one of the best Test averages of any player in history (just shy of 57) but in games when he donned the gloves, it's actually below that of Prior. Adam Gilchrist was up in the high 40s, but even he is eclipsed by one man.
So who's the best wicketkeeper-batsman of the past forty years or so? Look no further than the aforementioned England dressing room: it's Andy Flower. Had he represented one of the major cricketing nations, instead of Zimbabwe, he'd have been a true world superstar. Thirteen years ago, he started a 13-month sequence of eleven Tests in which he accumulated a whopping 1,466 runs with a staggering average of 133.27!! Beat that, Tendulkar!
In that run, Zimbabwe won just four - three against Bangladesh - lost three and drew four. However, even in defeat, Andy Flower, often well supported by brother Grant, usually shone brightly, dominating his side's scorecard. In the first match in November 2000, the wicketkeeper struck 183 not out and 70 in Delhi, yet was on the receiving end of a seven wicket drubbing. Thank you, Rahul Dravid, whose unbeaten 200 and 70 eclipsed even the 32 year-old Zimbabwean's stunning performance.
A week later, Dravid compiled another big hundred but Tendulkar's 201 not out took India to 600. Zimbabwe followed on, and Andy Flower's undefeated 232 saved the match. Two more half-centuries followed in New Zealand then against Bangladesh before a feeble 23 in Harare. He passed fifty twice in the defeat by India then his side claimed a rare success against Ganguly's men althiough this time it was brother Grant who top-scored.
In September 2001 Gibbs, Kirsten and Kallis smashed Zimbabwe's attack all over the shop and it was another follow-on situation. Andy F just got on with the job and contributed 341 runs all by himself. Sadly for him, all it achieved was to take the game into a fifth day which became one of the most infamous dates in history: 11th September 2001, aka 9/11. 67, 14 not out and 28 came from the next two fixtures, against SA and Bangladesh, before another unbeaten hundred, in Chittagong, took his sequence to five centuries, 7 fifties and that massive aggregate of runs. Oh, and 30-odd dismissals, too.
Let's not forget Andy Flower is still only 45. If the selectors are really so scared of handing the gloves to Jonny Bairstow they could do no worse than turning to the coach. Like Prior, he was even born in South Africa, always a plus on the CV of an England hopeful! Well, maybe it wouldn't be allowed, but we should place the impressive stats of the incumbent in the context of his coach, possibly the greatest Test 'keeper-batsmen since the Second World War.
