28 October 1998
Jack Russell: Praise for 'one of the greatest'
By Julian Guyer
JACK Russell's decision to quit international cricket was met
with sadness by some of his predecessors as England wicketkeeper.
His mentor, Alan Knott, paid a glowing tribute. The former Kent
and England wicketkeeper, whose exploits in the Seventies
inspired the young Russell to take up the gloves, was unstinting
in his praise for his Gloucestershire successor.
"It's sad because he was a wonderful player. But he'll still be
playing county cricket so he could come back.
"International cricket will miss his talents. He was one of the
greatest keepers I've ever seen, both as a pure keeper and a
wicketkeeperbatsman. What separates the top keepers from the
rest is cat-like reactions. Jack was brilliant," said Knott, who
has worked with Russell as a coaching advisor to the England
Cricket Board.
"When he had that wonderful series in South Africa and broke Bob
Taylor's record for most dismissals in a Test match there were
two great moments - a brilliant catch diving way to his right to
get rid of Jonty Rhodes off Angus Fraser and his speed in
stumping Darryl Cullinan was phenomenal.
"He had great determination, great patience and controlled
aggression which you saw in that same match where he battled away
with the bat with Mike Atherton."
Knott felt his ECB post prevented him from commenting on the
state of wicketkeeping in England which, in the light of
Russell's decision, is bound to be seen as a less specialist task
than it once was.
But Kent and England predecessor Godfrey Evans was under no such
constraint. Evans, who kept in 91 Tests from 1946 to 1958 while
setting a world record of 219 dismissals that stood for 18 years
before Knott broke it in 1976, said Russell had been a victim of
muddled thinking on the part of the selectors.
"Jack was very unlucky. When he came into the England side he was
far and away the best keeper. For him then to be subsequently
dropped and replaced by a part-timer in Alec Stewart must have
been a terrible sleight.
"He was discarded not because of anything he'd done but because
Alec was a better bat and they were trying to cover for the lack
of a proper all-rounder.
"There was a terrible irony about all this: we were the worst
Test team in the world and our one player of undeniable world
class couldn't get into the side."
Evans, a resourceful batsman who made two Test centuries, was
clear on where the balance of priorities lay for wicketkeepers.
"The present situation worries me greatly. We must get our
keepers keeping and treat any good batting on their part as a
bonus."
There is nothing new about wicketkeepers being overlooked for
Tests because of batting weaknesses. Keith Andrew, of Northants,
was one of the most correct and unobtrusive keepers of the
Fifties and Sixties yet he played in only two Tests because of
his rivals' superior run-scoring.
A former director of coaching at the National Cricket
Association, Andrew said: "I've always been a great fan of Jack's
because he's a real pro, a wicketkeeper of the old school. He was
in the team when I was running the England Under-19 side and it
was obvious he was in a different class.
"He's flown the flag for real wicketkeeping in recent years
though Alec Stewart is a better keeper than he's given credit
for. It's amazing, though, how many selectors talk about
wicketkeeping as if they know something about it."
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)