December 2, 2024 • 10 mins
Former Black Caps wicket-keeper Reece Young joined Piney to discuss the importance of having an experienced wicket-keeper - and how it can save a test team.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So let's mentioned wanted to drill down tonight into the
importance of specialist wicket keepers in red ball cricket, in
particular in Test cricket. Rhys Young was one of our
best domestic wicket keeper batsman across all formats for fifteen years,
mainly with Auckland. He also had a couple of summers
with Canterbury. He made his Test debut against Pakistan and
(00:34):
Hamilton in twenty eleven and played the last of his
five Test matches against Australia in Hobart at the back
end of that same year. In a fairly famous Test.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Match deliveries once bobom New Zealand win the Tests they
haven't won since nineteen eighty five eighty six and Doug Braswell,
with six wickets for forty has inspired New Zealand's second
innings bowling effort to a victory by seven runs over Australia.
(01:04):
David Warner goes along to console the line. He's down
on his knees.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, Reshung was behind the stumps in that Test and
one hundred and twenty six first class matches. He took
three hundred and twenty one catches and affected five stumpings
while scoring over four thousand, six hundred runs at an
average of over thirty, including eight centuries and twenty six fifties.
No one has more first class dismissals for Auckland than
he does. He's in the province's top ten all time
(01:31):
first class run scorers, and only to Macintosh has played
more first class games for Auckland than rees Young's ninety
two raishung.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Is with us.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thanks for joining us mate in general terms. First of all,
and I expect a wicket keeper's answer to this question.
How important is the wicket keeper in a game of
red ball cricket?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Hey, pony, how are you mate? Thanks for the intro.
I didn't realize i'd played that in any gawns. It's
a lot of plots over the true Yeah, I'm kieling
it now. The old bones are definitely catching up. But yeah, no,
thanks for that. But yeah, so, I guess it's an
interesting conversation that's been had at the moment. Obviously, I'm
(02:15):
heavily in favor for you're needing your work keeper to
be a specialist for test cricket first and foremost. It's
probab one of the hardest positions in the park and
to do it, you know, I ball after ball over
for days on the end. Yeah, you definitely don't want
someone who's sort of finding the way or a bit
of a part time of death, thanks for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So there's been the suggestion, and I'm sure we've heard
this surround and not just this year, but a lot
of conversation comes up a lot. We can beef up
our batting a bit if we give the wicket keeping
role to a non specialist apart time as someone who
can back but can also do a job behind the stumps.
You don't subscribe to that theory in test matches.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Well, I'd would say that most of the keepers coming
through now are batters. And so you know, you look
at someone like Tom Blundle at the moment, I mean
his stats and his career is out ending for a
week keeper better, So you know to throw who you're
going to throw in like a you know, if you
if you chucked an opener or a Tommy Latham for example.
(03:16):
He you know that the network takes away from what
their core specialty is. And so I think it's too
hard if you you're going to play your keeper up
the order to be able to do the job properly
after you know, being in a field for one hundred
and fifty overs and then expecting them to go out
to bat in the top three or fourth. So I
(03:36):
just feel that it's unrealistic these days, you know. And
you might get your odd guy like your Abe Devillias
or your Quinton the Cocks and all that, but I
think over time you see that they end up dropping
onto your seven and eight just to give them that
breathing space between emings. And like I said, we've got
plenty of talent floating around that more than handy batters.
(03:58):
You know, Tom Tom Lundle for example of Class Act
and you know, I think his record speaks for himself
in terms.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Of the speceization of a wicket keeper. How much more
would you work on your wicket keeping than a fieldsman
would work on their field and compared to say they're
batting all their bowling.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Uh, hard to quantify. I know kind of what I did,
and you know, like I always enjoyed training, and so
that that was wicket keeping, catching balls, taking throws from
the boundary, whatever it might be. You know, you just
I loved being I love training, and I love catching balls.
So you know, first and foremost, I feel like once
(04:38):
you get to an elite level, you're you're probably doing
that anyway. And and I guess as a keeper, just
like all rounders, you've got to train and balance your
batting with your keeping. But first and foremost, you know
you're there as a keeper. It's a specialist position. And
then you know you're to make sure that you're doing
enough with the bat as well and contributing, particularly at
(04:59):
number seven where you know you're expected if you're scoring
hundreds and that end of the tail, and you know
you might have the listed tempo of the game in
around that position or you might have to be grinding
it out depending on the situation of the game. So yeah,
really crucial for a risk keeper, particularly in Test cricket,
and I think we've seen that through the years with
(05:21):
some of the keepers that you know New Zealand the Pads,
but also around the world.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
What about the position that you batted rees, I remember,
you know, neither sort of the middle or the back
end of your career, you were batting sort of three
four five for Auckland. So after a long innings in
the field and all those squats that you talked about,
how challenging was it then to take off the wicket
keeping pads, put the batting pads on and be you know,
sometimes out there quite quickly.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Yeah, I guess, yeah, first class cricket, you know, you've
got you got four days as opposed to the five.
And I mean most of the keepers around the traps
will be probably one of the fittest guys in your team,
so you know, I mean everyone will, we'll put their
hand up to do it given the chance. But I
just think realistically, you know, it's probably more the mental
side of things that sort of gets can be quite draining,
(06:10):
like any position in the team. But I feel that,
you know, with the keeper, you're on and off everythingle ball,
and you got to be able to learn to switch
on and then and then be able to switch off,
otherwise you just get mentally drained throughout the day. And yeah,
I don't know, like if I'm putting in a great
argument for this, but I just feel that, you know,
there'll be guys out there that really would want to
(06:31):
do that, but realistically, what's best for the team Uh.
You know, personally, I feel that we've got to write
the right mix in the setup at the moment. And
you know, there's some great support staff around there, and
you know, you've got guys like Luke Wronki who obviously
being a keeper himself, you'll be able to offer some
insights to the playing group at the moment. And I
(06:55):
feel that that would be that's coming from someone who's
a keeper. They can offer those those those inturcases that
you know, perhaps someone who hasn't done it, or has
done it often won't have.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You know, it does keeping also help with batting and
that you're behind the stumps for that whole you know,
let's say let's say you're in the field first, so
you might get eighty one hundred overs watching the ball
come down the track towards you get a read on
the wicket. Is that an advantage when you go out
to bed.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah. Look, I enjoyed that, and that was particularly in
short form Quickert. I enjoyed the fact that you know,
if you've got a chance to keep them and then
you got a chance to bet up the order, that
it did help you get into the game and sort
of read the wicket a little better. But yeah, definitely,
I mean that's for me as why the wicker, because
I was in the game, you could see what was
(07:44):
going on and then it could flow over into your betting.
You get a bit of an idea of what what
the wicket was doing and things like that. But yeah,
I mean, I'm sure you know you asked any any
player or any keeper if they're in the game, it's
going to you tend to sort of flow off each
other if if you're keeping well, you know, that can
(08:05):
come into you adding too, and you can sort of
flow on from that vice OBSSA when things aren't going
so well. It's having the mental strength to be able
to just park that and move on to your next specialty.
And then sometimes you know, if things aren't going too well,
you can also can get tied up.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
So yeah, you often hear as well that the worker
keeper is an important part and non just hear it,
you see this as well as an important part of
keeping the team up in the field, geeing them up,
you know, and during a long partnership sort of keeping
keeping everybody up vibe. I guess is that something that's
harder to do if you know, if maybe you're not
(08:44):
batting well, is that a thing or not? Really?
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I think these days, of course, you know if you've
got if you've got that weighing on you, you know
that you want to obviously contribute to the team, and
you know yourself and you're always harder on yourself that
you know, if you feel like you're not then that
can be weighing on tobya. But you know, at at
elite level you've got to be at a part your
(09:07):
emotions and focus on what's ahead. He So, whether it's
in the field and lifting your team, which is your role,
or doing your job and going unnoticed. Ideally as a keeper,
we used to always try and make sure that you
weren't talked about that much, which meant you were doing
the job. So yeah, I mean, I think these guys
have got a lot of support and it's got a
(09:28):
lot of skills training and guys around the group that
can that can help them with that, and you know
that's just part of the job.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Just while I've got you before you go, is it
true that you've got a first class wicket.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, I'd like a good keeper as bowling leg.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Can you You have to talk us through this. Who
was the unfortunate victim.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
What were we doing? Yeah, I don't remember every single
second of its funny, but you know I could talk
you through.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I bet you good. Go on, just give us the
just give us the placing.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
For for some reason they got the ball in my hand.
I can't remember why. Maybe maybe we needed to sort
of steam the flower around. I think it was then.
But yeah, I managed managed the land one and yeah,
I think I think it was Michael Parlaine might have
picked the wrong way. So yeah, menster, Yeah did a bowl.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I thought it was a boundary catch or something.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
No, Yeah, I am amazing claim to fame, but discussed
so I was eppy with that brilliant stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Hey, thanks for your insight tonight on wicked keeping race.
It's been really instructive. Thanks for taking the time.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Yeah, she's funny.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Good on you mate. That's rash young, former Test wicket
keeper and a long time store walk behind the stumps
for Auckland and a couple of seasons in Canterbury as well.
Some good insight there.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays. Well follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So let's mentioned wanted to drill down tonight into the
importance of specialist wicket keepers in red ball cricket, in
particular in Test cricket. Rhys Young was one of our
best domestic wicket keeper batsman across all formats for fifteen years,
mainly with Auckland. He also had a couple of summers
with Canterbury. He made his Test debut against Pakistan and
(00:34):
Hamilton in twenty eleven and played the last of his
five Test matches against Australia in Hobart at the back
end of that same year. In a fairly famous Test.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Match deliveries once bobom New Zealand win the Tests they
haven't won since nineteen eighty five eighty six and Doug Braswell,
with six wickets for forty has inspired New Zealand's second
innings bowling effort to a victory by seven runs over Australia.
(01:04):
David Warner goes along to console the line. He's down
on his knees.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, Reshung was behind the stumps in that Test and
one hundred and twenty six first class matches. He took
three hundred and twenty one catches and affected five stumpings
while scoring over four thousand, six hundred runs at an
average of over thirty, including eight centuries and twenty six fifties.
No one has more first class dismissals for Auckland than
he does. He's in the province's top ten all time
(01:31):
first class run scorers, and only to Macintosh has played
more first class games for Auckland than rees Young's ninety
two raishung.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Is with us.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thanks for joining us mate in general terms. First of all,
and I expect a wicket keeper's answer to this question.
How important is the wicket keeper in a game of
red ball cricket?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Hey, pony, how are you mate? Thanks for the intro.
I didn't realize i'd played that in any gawns. It's
a lot of plots over the true Yeah, I'm kieling
it now. The old bones are definitely catching up. But yeah, no,
thanks for that. But yeah, so, I guess it's an
interesting conversation that's been had at the moment. Obviously, I'm
(02:15):
heavily in favor for you're needing your work keeper to
be a specialist for test cricket first and foremost. It's
probab one of the hardest positions in the park and
to do it, you know, I ball after ball over
for days on the end. Yeah, you definitely don't want
someone who's sort of finding the way or a bit
of a part time of death, thanks for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So there's been the suggestion, and I'm sure we've heard
this surround and not just this year, but a lot
of conversation comes up a lot. We can beef up
our batting a bit if we give the wicket keeping
role to a non specialist apart time as someone who
can back but can also do a job behind the stumps.
You don't subscribe to that theory in test matches.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Well, I'd would say that most of the keepers coming
through now are batters. And so you know, you look
at someone like Tom Blundle at the moment, I mean
his stats and his career is out ending for a
week keeper better, So you know to throw who you're
going to throw in like a you know, if you
if you chucked an opener or a Tommy Latham for example.
(03:16):
He you know that the network takes away from what
their core specialty is. And so I think it's too
hard if you you're going to play your keeper up
the order to be able to do the job properly
after you know, being in a field for one hundred
and fifty overs and then expecting them to go out
to bat in the top three or fourth. So I
(03:36):
just feel that it's unrealistic these days, you know. And
you might get your odd guy like your Abe Devillias
or your Quinton the Cocks and all that, but I
think over time you see that they end up dropping
onto your seven and eight just to give them that
breathing space between emings. And like I said, we've got
plenty of talent floating around that more than handy batters.
(03:58):
You know, Tom Tom Lundle for example of Class Act
and you know, I think his record speaks for himself
in terms.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Of the speceization of a wicket keeper. How much more
would you work on your wicket keeping than a fieldsman
would work on their field and compared to say they're
batting all their bowling.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Uh, hard to quantify. I know kind of what I did,
and you know, like I always enjoyed training, and so
that that was wicket keeping, catching balls, taking throws from
the boundary, whatever it might be. You know, you just
I loved being I love training, and I love catching balls.
So you know, first and foremost, I feel like once
(04:38):
you get to an elite level, you're you're probably doing
that anyway. And and I guess as a keeper, just
like all rounders, you've got to train and balance your
batting with your keeping. But first and foremost, you know
you're there as a keeper. It's a specialist position. And
then you know you're to make sure that you're doing
enough with the bat as well and contributing, particularly at
(04:59):
number seven where you know you're expected if you're scoring
hundreds and that end of the tail, and you know
you might have the listed tempo of the game in
around that position or you might have to be grinding
it out depending on the situation of the game. So yeah,
really crucial for a risk keeper, particularly in Test cricket,
and I think we've seen that through the years with
(05:21):
some of the keepers that you know New Zealand the Pads,
but also around the world.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
What about the position that you batted rees, I remember,
you know, neither sort of the middle or the back
end of your career, you were batting sort of three
four five for Auckland. So after a long innings in
the field and all those squats that you talked about,
how challenging was it then to take off the wicket
keeping pads, put the batting pads on and be you know,
sometimes out there quite quickly.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Yeah, I guess, yeah, first class cricket, you know, you've
got you got four days as opposed to the five.
And I mean most of the keepers around the traps
will be probably one of the fittest guys in your team,
so you know, I mean everyone will, we'll put their
hand up to do it given the chance. But I
just think realistically, you know, it's probably more the mental
side of things that sort of gets can be quite draining,
(06:10):
like any position in the team. But I feel that,
you know, with the keeper, you're on and off everythingle ball,
and you got to be able to learn to switch
on and then and then be able to switch off,
otherwise you just get mentally drained throughout the day. And yeah,
I don't know, like if I'm putting in a great
argument for this, but I just feel that, you know,
there'll be guys out there that really would want to
(06:31):
do that, but realistically, what's best for the team Uh.
You know, personally, I feel that we've got to write
the right mix in the setup at the moment. And
you know, there's some great support staff around there, and
you know, you've got guys like Luke Wronki who obviously
being a keeper himself, you'll be able to offer some
insights to the playing group at the moment. And I
(06:55):
feel that that would be that's coming from someone who's
a keeper. They can offer those those those inturcases that
you know, perhaps someone who hasn't done it, or has
done it often won't have.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You know, it does keeping also help with batting and
that you're behind the stumps for that whole you know,
let's say let's say you're in the field first, so
you might get eighty one hundred overs watching the ball
come down the track towards you get a read on
the wicket. Is that an advantage when you go out
to bed.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah. Look, I enjoyed that, and that was particularly in
short form Quickert. I enjoyed the fact that you know,
if you've got a chance to keep them and then
you got a chance to bet up the order, that
it did help you get into the game and sort
of read the wicket a little better. But yeah, definitely,
I mean that's for me as why the wicker, because
I was in the game, you could see what was
(07:44):
going on and then it could flow over into your betting.
You get a bit of an idea of what what
the wicket was doing and things like that. But yeah,
I mean, I'm sure you know you asked any any
player or any keeper if they're in the game, it's
going to you tend to sort of flow off each
other if if you're keeping well, you know, that can
(08:05):
come into you adding too, and you can sort of
flow on from that vice OBSSA when things aren't going
so well. It's having the mental strength to be able
to just park that and move on to your next specialty.
And then sometimes you know, if things aren't going too well,
you can also can get tied up.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
So yeah, you often hear as well that the worker
keeper is an important part and non just hear it,
you see this as well as an important part of
keeping the team up in the field, geeing them up,
you know, and during a long partnership sort of keeping
keeping everybody up vibe. I guess is that something that's
harder to do if you know, if maybe you're not
(08:44):
batting well, is that a thing or not? Really?
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I think these days, of course, you know if you've
got if you've got that weighing on you, you know
that you want to obviously contribute to the team, and
you know yourself and you're always harder on yourself that
you know, if you feel like you're not then that
can be weighing on tobya. But you know, at at
elite level you've got to be at a part your
(09:07):
emotions and focus on what's ahead. He So, whether it's
in the field and lifting your team, which is your role,
or doing your job and going unnoticed. Ideally as a keeper,
we used to always try and make sure that you
weren't talked about that much, which meant you were doing
the job. So yeah, I mean, I think these guys
have got a lot of support and it's got a
(09:28):
lot of skills training and guys around the group that
can that can help them with that, and you know
that's just part of the job.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Just while I've got you before you go, is it
true that you've got a first class wicket.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, I'd like a good keeper as bowling leg.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Can you You have to talk us through this. Who
was the unfortunate victim.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
What were we doing? Yeah, I don't remember every single
second of its funny, but you know I could talk
you through.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I bet you good. Go on, just give us the
just give us the placing.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
For for some reason they got the ball in my hand.
I can't remember why. Maybe maybe we needed to sort
of steam the flower around. I think it was then.
But yeah, I managed managed the land one and yeah,
I think I think it was Michael Parlaine might have
picked the wrong way. So yeah, menster, Yeah did a bowl.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I thought it was a boundary catch or something.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
No, Yeah, I am amazing claim to fame, but discussed
so I was eppy with that brilliant stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Hey, thanks for your insight tonight on wicked keeping race.
It's been really instructive. Thanks for taking the time.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Yeah, she's funny.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Good on you mate. That's rash young, former Test wicket
keeper and a long time store walk behind the stumps
for Auckland and a couple of seasons in Canterbury as well.
Some good insight there.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays. Well follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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