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The Cricket Interview/Kiran More

'I believe no player should play more than a dozen Tests and at best 30 one-dayers in any given year'

Which do you rate as your own most memorable moment as a Test stumper?

Without doubt, Madras against the West Indies in 1987-1988. It was the Test in which Narendra Hirwani took 16 wickets on debut, and I effected 6 stumpings -- one in the first and five in the second innings. For both Hirwani and me, it was a memorable moment, and my six stumpings in a Test remains a world record. We won the Test and drew the series, after having lost the first Test.

And which catch gave you the most technical satisfaction?

That is very difficult to say, because there are many of those. But off hand, I would think the one I took of Robin Smith in the first innings in the Bombay Test against England in 1993 was pretty good. Then there was this catch offered by Graham Gooch, off Prabhakar's bowling, in the Old Trafford Test in 1990 which was pretty satisfying for me.

And what was your most satisfying stumping?

The one off Malcolm Marshall in the Trinidad Test, 1989. He had gone down the track to Arshad Ayub, the ball shot through between his legs. It was a difficult take, and one of the best stumpings I've made.

I thought you would have mentioned your stumping of Gooch in the Calcutta Test, 1993, off Anil Kumble...?

Yes, that was a good stumping but nothing extraordinary about it, really. The thing is, as a keeper, you have to be alert to what the batsman is doing, how he moves in the crease, and so on. You can't go off to sleep, mentally, for even a second -- if you do, that is when you miss chances. That day, I was all there, my mental edge was keen, so I could make that stumping. I noticed that Gooch was tending to be out of his crease sometimes, when playing Kumble -- so the next time he missed, I took and whipped off the bails.

You are a very 'vocal' keeper, always yelling encouragement to your bowlers. Opposing batsmen have in fact found that an annoying trait...

Nowadays times have changed, all keepers gee up their bowlers with yells of encouragement. People say I shout a lot, but I am not alone in this. In fact, in my early days in international cricket I never used to say a word, then people began telling me I should involve myself in the game more, encourage the bowlers. Which is how I started doing this. Now, if I stop, I lose my concentration and my involvement in the game.

But doesn't your yelling affect the batsman's concentration?

I don't think so, frankly. When a bowler bowls a bad ball or he bowls a full-toss, I tell him: "Come on, you can bowl a better ball next time." Why should this distract the batsman?

There was the famous incident when Javed Miandad aped you during the Benson and Hedges World Cup match in Australia in 1992

We had some arguments. It was all part of the game. The match was crucial, the atmosphere was tense, his wicket was very important. But I respect Javedbhai. He is a great cricketer, a great fighter, and one of the best players I've seen. On the pitch we had a couple of problems, but after the game was over, we were good friends again.

What's your definition of a good wicketkeeper?

He should be technically sound, he should be comfortable when he collects the ball. The job is tough, and thankless -- he is the only one on the field who has to concentrate all the time, because the slightest lapse could mean a missed chance.

Is it true that shorter men make better wicketkeepers?

There are definite advantages to being short if you are a keeper -- most of the taller guys who have kept wickets tend to have back problems in the later life, because you have to do a lot of bending. Shorter keepers thus have an advantage, we are not bending quite as much as the taller guys.

What types of bowlers are difficult to keep to?

There is no hard and fast rule to that one, it all depends on the day. If you are having a bad day, you'll miss sitters, if you are on song you produce brilliant takes even on bad wickets/ Personally, I feel spinners are difficult to keep wickets to, because you are always very close to the stumps. Often the ball comes off the pad, the fielders yell at you to catch it, the crowd thinks you missed it - and no one realises you only have a fraction of a second to take the chance, or effect the stumping. It is even more difficult to keep on a turning track.

You've kept for both Hirwani and Kumble. How do you find keeping wickets to leg-spinners?

Kumble is dangerous because he bowls a lot of sharp balls. His flippers especially -- very sharp, very straight and fast. He is very very dangerous on a nasty wicket, and keeping to him on a pitch where the odd ball bounces or skids through is even physically risky at times. I have never had a problem keeping to Hirwani, though.

I guess you would have loved to have kept when the famed spin quartet of Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Venkatraghavan were around?

Oh, very much so. Of course, I have kept to Venkat, but not to the other three. I've kept wickets to Padmakar Shivalkar also, and I would rate him as one of the greatest left-arm spinners the country has ever produced.

And who in your book is the best keeper in the world today?

Ian Healy, without a doubt. I think he has been doing exceptionally well for a long time now.

How about the Caribbean, do you see a decline in standards after the retirement of Jeffrey Dujon?

Yeah, they've been struggling in this department after Dujon's retirement. He did very well for West Indies, came up with some of the greatest catches I have ever seen. The West Indies has never produced someone of his class since then.

And England?

Yes, that is another surprising, and somewhat sad, thing, the way they have been changing their keepers. I rate Jack Russell very high, he is like Alan Knott, I don't know why they drop him so frequently. Russell is a brilliant wicketkeeper. I've played against him, I hold him in high esteem and can't figure out what is happening to his career..

Could you name the most impressive keepers you have ever seen?

I would place Bob Taylor on top of the list -- simply brilliant, so smooth behind the stumps and a pleasure to watch. If you want to be a wicketkeeper, you should study vidoes of Taylor keeping. I would rate, after him, Alan Knott, Rodney Marsh, Syed Kirmani, Ian Smith and Wasim Bari - all were masters of their trade.

Do keepers generally make good batsmen? Why?

Batting ability is a plus for a keeper, it is sort of like being an allrounder. See, if in a Test I take 4 or 5 catches and score 40 or 50 runs, it's a great help to my team, it makes me an all round contributor. As for the 'why', well, keepers have a good eye, they read the bowlers well since that is what they do all the time anyway. Take for example Farokh Engineer, Knott, Marsh, Smith and Kirmani, all of whom have scored many runs in Test cricket. But then I must add that if there is an exceptionally good keeper who is a poor bat, I would still favour him over a keeper who can get runs but is not that sharp behind the stumps.
It is like with bowling, actually. I mean, Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar were not good batsmen, but they were attacking, wicket taking bowlers so the fact that they didn't get runs did not matter. I will always prefer a specialist wicketkeeper to a batsman who can keep wickets. I mean, what is the use of scoring 60 or so, if say you drop a catch off a leading batsman and he goes on to score a hundred? If you drop say a Richards, no matter how good a batsman you are, you will never be able to repair the damage he can cause to your side.

Which reminds me, you had dropped Gooch on 33 at Lord's in 1990 and he went on to score 300 more runs... what were your feelings?

Obviously, it is not one of my fondest memories. That was a bad day, Gooch scored a magnificent 333. I haven't let it bother me, though, because that could have rattled my confidence. I am a keeper who is in action all the time, stands to reason I would have dropped the odd chance. This happened to be a particularly disastrous one because of what Gooch went on to do, is all.

Back to the subject of keepers as batsmen, what do you rate as your own best performance with the bat?

My 50 in the Bridgetown Test, second innings, against the West Indies in 1989. It was a good, satisfying innings. Then there was this knock I played versus South Africa in the Durban Test in 1992 -- the game in which Praveen Amre scored a hundred on debut. I scored some 55 runs in that innings.

Where have you enjoyed playing the most, and why?

In Australia and in the Caribbean. The West Indians and Australians play very hard cricket. The Aussies don't give you anything at all. They don't spare you, their fast bowlers are really very quick, especially on their own wickets. Funnily enough, I have always got runs in Australia and the West Indies, and it is always a satisfying feeling doing well against either of these two countries.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing in a home series and in an away series?

One of the advantages of the home series is that crowds are always behind you. But that also brings pressures -- if you drop a catch or play a bad shot, the crowds and the media combined will slaughter you. Most especially the crowds -- do well and they lionise you but if you fail, they make life miserable for you. I would think on the whole, the pressure is more on you during a home series.

When you are playing away, you are only 16 guys in the squad, you know always have a chance to improve even if you fail.I've enjoyed playing in an away series more. Also, at home, you know your spinners are going to do the job -- in an away series, it is much more difficult since they won't get the kind of wickets they like, and therefore doing well abroad becomes more satisfying.

You've played under Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Mohammed Azharuddin. Which among them would you rate the best captain?
Frankly, I wouldn't want to list them in any particular order. I have enjoyed playing under all of them. I learnt a lot from Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. When I was young and inexperienced, they were always there to guide and help me. I've even shared a room with Gavaskar, and learnt much from him.