All text content on this website is the copyright of Channel 4 unless stated or indicated. All photographs are reproduced courtesy of Getty Images UK Ltd unless otherwise stated.

CRICKET ROADSHOWS

Week 13 Review - 4 Aug, Trent Bridge Glovemen the talk of the Roadshow

Attention turned to England's future on Saturday's Cricket Roadshow as discussion centred on the possible replacements for Alec Stewart behind the stumps.

Thirty-eight-year-old Stewart has hinted this series could be his last in England colours and had a few suggestions himself as to who could be his eventual successor.

"I think James Foster from Essex has copped a lot of publicity recently and he's one of those keepers who I certainly didn't notice which is a good sign. People tell me he bats well, so he's obviously one that comes into the frame.

"There's also Paul Nixon, who was the second keeper or back-up keeper to me in the winter just gone, and someone who has impressed me although he hasn't played much first-class cricket yet is Tobin Bailey at Northampton. He's someone I think is a good glove man and a good middle order batsman, and if he keeps improving than I think he'll be challenging along with the others," said Stewart.

Bailey, 24, has had to bide his time behind Northants regular David Ripley but has impressed during his limited exposure to date should become a county regular next season when Ripley retires.

"You just keep working hard at your game," he explained. "I've got into the side as a batsman, which is one of the things I wanted to do at the start of the season and I've done it. When I've played as a wicket-keeper I've performed well and that's really all you can do."

Another youngster tipped for the top is rising Essex star Jamie Foster. He appreciates the need for the wicketkeeper to be a contributing batsman as well.

"The wicketkeeper now has to be an all-rounder, has to be able to bat in the six or seven. There's no point being a superb wicketkeeper, you have to be an all-rounder. Alec Stewart is a phenomenal batsman and a phenomenal keeper as is Adam Gilchrist. That's the benchmark now, you have to be an all-rounder to get into the side," he said.

It was that aspect of his game that led to Chris Read departing from the scene as soon as he arrived as a budding 20-year-old, but the Notts stumper was left distinctly unimpressed by both his treatment and the lack of specialist coaching he received within the England set-up.

"I'm much more equipped now than when I was first selected," said Read. "But on the other hand if you take someone like Mark Boucher for South Africa he had a bad start to his Test career – certainly with the gloves – and probably the few runs he scored kept him in side in that early stage. But they kept faith with him and he's just getting better by the day as he gets older. I think if you're going to pick a young keeper you've got to keep faith with him and go for it."

He added: "Jack (Russell) mentioned that he had Alan Knott all the time while he was playing and it would have been nice to have had someone there to help and coach, to point out where I was going wrong at the time as opposed to working it for yourself."

Channel 4 commentator and former New Zealand keeper Ian Smith said England had to be careful not to strive for the impossible, dismissing Adam Gilchrist as a one-off "freak" and saying Stewart had taken unfair critiscism during the summer.

"I don't think his glove work has been that bad in this series, I don't think he's let England down. He didn't have a great first Test match at Edgbaston, but neither did Adam Gilchrist either," said Smith.

"But you're clutching at straws if you think you're going to find an Adam Gilchrist overnight because the man is a freak. We've seen him in three Test matches so far turn the tide with the bat and do his job with the gloves."

Other contenders discussed included Lancashire's Warren Hegg and Warwickshire's Keith Piper, with Smith adding his weight to the argument that runs were a crucial factor to consider in the modern game.

"I think you've got to be averaging over 30," he said, highlighting Zimbabwe's Andy Flower as another outstanding performer in both disciplines. "You've got to take nine out of 10 on the field and back it up with runs."

Elsewhere on the show there was a plethora of features and interviews with the likes of Shane Warne, Alex Tudor, Jason Gallian, Marcus Trescothick and Tim Boon, while 60 seconds with Slats focused on Jason Gillespie.

The 6ft 5in opening bowler, who took his 100th Test wicket during the Trent Bridge Test, revealed he had a taste for speed – driving a Toyota Camri – noise (his favourite music is Metallica) and money – he would like to have been a real estate mogul (or module, as he put it) if not a cricketer.

He also confessed to Dumb & Dumber being his favourite film and displayed a contempt for the theory batsmen outshone bowlers in the brains department.

"Batsmen get out and then spend all night having throw downs for no reason, so I think you're not smarter than us," he told Slater.

Earlier he had also given the thumbs up for England's recent appointment of Rod Marsh to run the soon-to-be-built National Cricket Academy.

"Naturally we're a bit disappointed that we're losing someone of Rod's calibre but I think English people and the ECB will be absolutely stoked," he said.

Mail the Cricket Show team at cricketshow@cricket4.com

Click to return to C4 cricket shows