List of England Test wicket-keepers

This is a chronological list of England Test wicket-keepers. The list comprises players who were the designated wicket-keeper at the toss, so the number of matches does not include times when a player has acted as a stand-in keeper, or appeared as a batsman only.

Jos Buttler, current England Test wicket-keeper

Les Ames, England wicket-keeper of the 1930s

Alan Knott kept wicket in 95 Test matches for England, and is currently the record-holder, both in terms of caps as wicket keeper, and dismissals.[1] Godfrey Evans is the record-holder for stumpings.[1] A number of the players listed have played a large number of Test matches as specialist batsmen, for example Jonny Bairstow has played 70 Tests in total, as of January 2021.[2]

On occasions, another player has stepped in to relieve the primary wicket-keeper due to injury or illness. Unless the relief player was himself a recognised Test wicket-keeper, he is not included here. The list also does not include Billy Murdoch, who kept in the second innings of his only Test for England,[3] having previously appeared as wicket-keeper in one of his 18 Tests for Australia. He and Jonny Bairstow are the only replacement keepers to make a stumping for England. Eight stand-in keepers have taken a total of ten catches as replacements,[4] including two by Jonny Bairstow.

On one occasion in 1986, two replacement wicket-keepers were called on, neither of whom were members of the side, and one was a member of the crowd. Former England keeper, Bob Taylor, aged 45 and retired from professional cricket, stepped in at a Test match to replace Bruce French, with the permission of the New Zealand captain, after French had been hit in the head while batting.[5] Later, Hampshire's Bobby Parks, (son of former England wicket keeper Jim Parks) who did not otherwise make a Test appearance in his career, took over from Taylor for the rest of the match.[5]

Statistics are correct as of 25 August 2020.

No.	Player	County/counties	Span	Tests	Catches	Stumpings	Total dismissals
1	John Selby^[A]	Nottinghamshire	1877	2	1	0	1
2	Leland Hone	MCC	1879	1	2	0	2
3	Alfred Lyttelton	Middlesex	1880–1884	4	2	0	2
4	Dick Pilling	Lancashire	1881–1888	8	10	4	14
5	Edmund Tylecote	Kent	1882–1886	6	5	5	10
6	Joe Hunter	Yorkshire	1884–1885	5	8	3	11
7	Mordecai Sherwin	Nottinghamshire	1887–1888	3	5	2	7
8	Henry Wood	Kent and Surrey	1888–1892	4	2	1	3
9	Gregor MacGregor^[B]	Middlesex	1890–1893	7	14	3	17
10	Punch Philipson	Middlesex	1892–1895	5	8	3	11
11	Leslie Gay	Hampshire and Somerset	1894	1	3	1	4
12	Harry Butt	Sussex	1896	3	1	1	2
13	Dick Lilley	Warwickshire	1896–1909	35	70	22	92
14	Bill Storer	Derbyshire	1897–1899	6	11	0	11
15	Jack Board	Gloucestershire	1899–1906	6	8	3	11
16	Leonard Moon^[C]	Middlesex	1906	1	1	0	1
17	Dick Young	Sussex	1907–1908	2	6	0	6
18	Joe Humphries	Derbyshire	1908	3	7	0	7
19	Bert Strudwick^[D]	Surrey	1910–1926	27	61	12	73
20	Neville Tufnell	Surrey	1910	1	0	1	1
21	Tiger Smith^[E]	Warwickshire	1911–1912	10	16	3	19
22	Arthur Dolphin	Yorkshire	1921	1	1	0	1
23	George Brown	Hampshire	1921–1923	7	9	3	12
24	George Street	Sussex	1923	1	0	1	1
25	George Wood	Kent	1924	3	5	1	6
26	George Duckworth	Lancashire	1924–1936	24	45	15	60
27	Rony Stanyforth	Yorkshire	1927–1928	4	7	2	9
28	Harry Elliott	Derbyshire	1928–1934	4	8	3	11
29	Harry Smith	Gloucestershire	1928	1	1	0	1
30	Les Ames^[F]	Kent	1929–1939	44	72	23	95
31	Tich Cornford	Sussex	1930	4	5	3	8
32	Bill Farrimond	Lancashire	1931–1935	4	5	2	7
33	Hopper Levett	Kent	1934	1	3	0	3
34	Fred Price	Middlesex	1938	1	2	0	2
35	Arthur Wood	Yorkshire	1938–1939	4	10	1	11
36	Paul Gibb^[G]	Essex and Yorkshire	1946	3	3	1	4
37	Godfrey Evans	Kent	1946–1959	91	173	46	219
38	Billy Griffith^[H]	Surrey and Sussex	1949	2	5	0	5
39	Arthur McIntyre^[I]	Surrey	1950–1955	2	7	0	7
40	Don Brennan	Yorkshire	1951	2	0	1	1
41	Dick Spooner	Warwickshire	1951–1955	7	10	2	12
42	Keith Andrew	Northamptonshire	1954–1963	2	1	0	1
43	Roy Swetman	Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey	1959–1960	11	24	2	26
44	Jim Parks^[J]	Sussex and Somerset	1960–1968	43	101	11	112
45	John Murray^[K]	Middlesex	1961–1967	20	52	3	55
46	Geoff Millman	Nottinghamshire	1961–1962	6	13	2	15
47	Alan Smith	Warwickshire	1962–1963	6	20	0	20
48	Jimmy Binks	Yorkshire	1964	2	8	0	8
49	Alan Knott	Kent	1967–1981	95	250	19	269
50	Bob Taylor	Derbyshire	1971–1984	57	167	7	174
51	David Bairstow	Yorkshire	1979–1981	4	12	1	13
52	Paul Downton	Kent and Middlesex	1981–1988	30	70	5	75
53	Bruce French	Nottinghamshire	1986–1988	16	38	1	39
54	Jack Richards	Surrey	1986–1988	8	20	1	21
55	Jack Russell	Gloucestershire	1988–1998	54	153	12	165
56	Alec Stewart^[L]	Surrey	1991–2003	82	227	14	241
57	Richard Blakey	Yorkshire	1993	2	2	0	2
58	Steve Rhodes	Worcestershire	1994–1995	11	46	3	49
59	Warren Hegg	Lancashire	1998–1999	2	8	0	8
60	Chris Read	Nottinghamshire	1999–2007	15	48	6	54
61	James Foster	Essex	2001–2002	7	17	1	18
62	Geraint Jones	Kent	2004–2006	34	128	5	133
63	Matt Prior	Sussex	2007–2014	79	243	13	256
64	Tim Ambrose	Warwickshire	2008–2009	11	31	0	31
65	Jonny Bairstow^[M]	Yorkshire	2013–2019	48	169	12	181
66	Jos Buttler^[N]	Lancashire	2014–present	27	86	0	86
67	Ben Foakes	Surrey	2018–2019	5	10	2	12
68	Ollie Pope^[O]	Surrey	2019	1	1	0	1

Source: [1]

Notes

• ^A Selby appeared in four further Tests as a fielder, taking no catches.
• ^B MacGregor appeared in one further Test as a fielder, taking no catches.
• ^C Moon appeared in three further Tests as a fielder, taking three catches.
• ^B Strudwick appeared in one further Test as a fielder, taking no catches.
• ^E Smith appeared in one further Test as a fielder, taking one catch.
• ^F Ames appeared in three further Tests as a fielder, taking two catches.
• ^G Gibb appeared in five further Tests as a fielder, taking no catches.
• ^H Griffith appeared in one further Test as a fielder, taking no catches.
• ^I McIntyre appeared in one further Test as a fielder, taking one catch.
• ^J Parks appeared in three further Tests as a fielder, taking two catches.
• ^K Murray appeared in one further Test as a fielder, taking no catches.
• ^L Stewart appeared in 51 further Tests as a fielder, taking 36 catches.
• ^M Bairstow has appeared in 22 further Tests as a fielder, taking 10 catches. He stood in as wicket-keeper for Foakes and Buttler in two of these games, taking two catches and one stumping; and two catches respectively.[6][7]
• ^N Buttler has appeared in 16 further Tests as a fielder, taking 20 catches. He stood in as wicket-keeper for Bairstow in one of these games.[8]
• ^O Pope has appeared in 12 further Tests as a fielder, taking 13 catches.

See also

• List of English Test cricketers

References

1. https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;keeper=1;orderby=matches;team=1;template=results;type=fielding
2. https://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/297433.html
3. "Only Test, England tour of South Africa at Cape Town, Mar 19-22 1892 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
4. "Fielding records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
5. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/25/bob-taylor-unexpected-england-comeback
6. "West Indies beat England by 10 wickets - West Indies vs England 2nd Test Match Summary, Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
7. "South Africa end Test drought as new ball shreds England's bid for more miracles". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
8. "3rd Test, India tour of Ireland and England at Nottingham, Aug 18-22 2018 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2018-10-05.

• England wicket-keepers