Phil Mustard

[Howsie]

What ever happend to this guy, I remeber when England was in NZ and he actually looked half-decent trying to score fast at the top of the order for England. I know he only averaged 23.3 but he had a strike-rate of 92. Why did he only get ten games, and how far is he down in the pecking order these days.

 

[Richard]

Mustard should never, ever have come remotely close to ODI selection. He was picked because his 2007 in one-day cricket was a good one. When he did play it was patently obvious that he wasn't good enough (his only score of note came on a rank runway with the shortest square boundaries around) and thus he was dropped. He's never done anything of note in one-day cricket outside 2007. Nor has he ever done anything much in the longer game.

Hopefully he'll never play again. England have wasted enough time on inadequate wicketkeeper-openers as it is.

 

[Pothas]

Ugly, just Horrid to watch. This view may partially come from the fact that i had to watch him make 50 against Hampshire in the Friends provident trophy final which we lost horribly but it was one of the most luck filled vomit inducing innings I have ever seen. If edging it over the infield and somehow not getting away with it is what you want then he is your man. Of course most of the time he wont get away with it.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Mustard is one of the best options of a bad lot. For those who actually have a clue what they're talking about Mustard has a pretty good record since he moved to opening the batting in limited over cricket.

It is beyond stupid to prefer someone like Prior as your keeper opening the innings to Mustard.

 

[Pothas]

and it is not like he plays for Durham or anything....
In truth you are right he is no worse an option that Prior, certainly if England insist on oppening with a keeper. Still he looks god awful and will never be intentational class.

 

[Bonnie Prince C]

I would agree that Mustard is not good enough for international cricket. However I would say he has improved his batting in both forms and is a handy pinch hitter at the top of the order. He is no Gilchrist but lets be honest will there ever be another quite like Gilly.

He was unlucky in the match against Yorkshire currently where he was left stranded on 94*.

 

[Scaly piscine]

and it is not like he plays for Durham or anything....
In truth you are right he is no worse an option that Prior, certainly if England insist on oppening with a keeper. Still he looks god awful and will never be intentational class.

He's a miles better option than Prior. Better with bat and gloves.

In his international career he mostly batted on bowler friendly wickets and still has a decent record. I couldn't give a toss what people think of him aesthetically, particularly when it influences their judgement of him.

 

[Pothas]

Well no it shouldn't really matter as to whether someone is going to be in the side but when it come to actuall watching someone it is always going to affect my judgment. Still regardless of style I don't really think he is worthy of a place in the side. IF England insist (wrongly) on having a keeper oppening that he is an option.

 

[Richard]

For those who actually have a clue what they're talking about Mustard has a pretty good record since he moved to opening the batting in limited over cricket.

Actually he doesn't - he just had one good season in 2007.

 

[oitoitoi]

I think he's a much better keeper than Prior, hell Mike Gatting probably would have been a better keeper......

I think his batting has potential, basically he's different to anyone else in the England set up in that he looks to go arial with unorthodox shots. In ODI cricket I still think he's England's best option (although Foster's been very good recently), Prior's keeping is just too awful, Davies looks like nothing more than county standard and his keeping is mediocre.

 

[rivera213]

Prior is a hack, Mustard is less of a hack- it's obvious who is better. Lol.

Our wicketkeeping situation is a joke. We literally don't have anyone good enough with both bat and gloves to fill the role in all forms of cricket.

I think it's too early for Steven Davies, we could ruin his development.

We should cut our losses, realise we don't have an allround WK so go for the best gloveman who is James Foster (by miles).

Prior, Mustard, Ambrose and G.Jones are all crap. Sorry, no other word for them.

I do think it's unfair to compare with Gilchrist who is a freak. No-one comes close to his level with either bat or gloves, yet alone the combination of the 2.

 

[FBU]

I like Mustard opening rather than Bell hitting it to the fielders as we progress to 10 overs for 30 with one wicket down. It does take time to settle in and McCullum wasn't very good when he started.

His scores were 5, 37, 0, 29 and he moved down the order to return 4 years later with
10, 32, 22, 17, 5, 16, and moved back down the order for a year before returning. Mustard comes in and has 10 games and is dropped. In his 10 games he hit 5 sixes same as McCullum.

 

[Furball]

In ODIs, if you're insistent on opening with a wicketkeeper, he's a far better option than Prior.

Both have a similarly miserable average, but the difference with Mustard is that he won't waste 35-40 deliveries getting to 20.

edit: in terms of batting average, Prior is the 15th worst non-minnow player who has opened in at least 25 ODI innings.

 

[Richard]

Our wicketkeeping situation is a joke. We literally don't have anyone good enough with both bat and gloves to fill the role in all forms of cricket.

Well, in ODIs, we possibly do, in Chris Read, but unfortunately he's taken himself out of the equation due to not-unjustifiable disenchantment at the way he's been treated.

Read is a far better OD batsman than Mustard or anyone else who can keep wicket to an acceptable standard (as well as being far better than Prior who cannot). Foster is a decent First-Class batsman but a very poor OD one - he's too orthodox and doesn't have much power to be much good at the shorter game. England's first priority, however, should be to stop this obsession with having the wicketkeeper open the batting.

 

[King Pietersen]

Surely if we're that desperate to have a keeper opening (which I don't think we are considering Strauss and Bopara are now opening) then Steve Davies would be the best option? Has a better OD record than any of the others and he opens for his county in OD cricket. Well, he opened last season anyway, and did very well, with 689 runs at 49.21 with 2 hundreds. Far better option than Read.

I think that if the keeper is batting down the order, then we might as well go for the best option with the gloves, which is Foster. He's been better than Read with the gloves in the last couple of years and is handy enough with the bat. I think we need to get over the fact we're not going to find a Gilchrist-esque opener in ODi cricket, and should leave opening to the proper batsmen, and pick the best keeper, which for me, is Foster, having seen quite alot of him.

 

[zaremba]

in terms of batting average, Prior is the 15th worst non-minnow player who has opened in at least 25 ODI innings.

How big is that particular pool?

 

[King Pietersen]

Cricinfo Statsguru - One-Day Internationals - Batting records

Here's the list.

 

[zaremba]

Cricinfo Statsguru - One-Day Internationals - Batting records

Here's the list.

Thanks.

By the same token it might also be pointed out that he has

1. The 12th best batting average for a wicketkeeper in ODI history (25 innings qualification)

2. The 2nd highest average of any wicketkeeper in Test history (25 innings qualification).



I think it would be best to take all 3 of these statsguru exercises with a generous pinch of salt.

 

[rivera213]

Well, in ODIs, we possibly do, in Chris Read, but unfortunately he's taken himself out of the equation due to not-unjustifiable disenchantment at the way he's been treated.

Read is a far better OD batsman than Mustard or anyone else who can keep wicket to an acceptable standard (as well as being far better than Prior who cannot). Foster is a decent First-Class batsman but a very poor OD one - he's too orthodox and doesn't have much power to be much good at the shorter game. England's first priority, however, should be to stop this obsession with having the wicketkeeper open the batting.

I'm not too sure. Read hasn't really impressed in his limited international career. I agree he's been treated like **** and would rather him in than any of those since the '05 Ashes (barring Steven Davies who I thnk is our future WK, but not to be rushed into the side).

I wouldn't view Foster as a batting WK, just a WK who can add maybe 18-20 but doesn't put down simple chances. I don't think he's dropped as many catches in his LIFE as Jones, Prior and Ambrose have in the last 4 years.

I agree we should stop this Australia blueprint. If you have a Gilchrist then use him, if not then don't. It's not that difficult. None of our WK's are as good in either aspect yet alone both.

 

[Richard]

Surely if we're that desperate to have a keeper opening (which I don't think we are considering Strauss and Bopara are now opening) then Steve Davies would be the best option? Has a better OD record than any of the others and he opens for his county in OD cricket. Well, he opened last season anyway, and did very well, with 689 runs at 49.21 with 2 hundreds. Far better option than Read.

I think that if the keeper is batting down the order, then we might as well go for the best option with the gloves, which is Foster. He's been better than Read with the gloves in the last couple of years and is handy enough with the bat. I think we need to get over the fact we're not going to find a Gilchrist-esque opener in ODi cricket, and should leave opening to the proper batsmen, and pick the best keeper, which for me, is Foster, having seen quite alot of him.

Read's a better wicketkeeper than Foster for mine, though there's not all that much in it. As for Davies, right now he's exactly what Mustard was in 2007/08 - a one season-wonder. I want to see him do more than one season's worth of opening the batting successfully before he plays. Unlike Mustard he's actually a promising batsman, technically sound and more than just a glorified slogger.

Nonetheless, Read down the order remains a far better OD batsman than Davies at the top. Read has now been doing the job in OD cricket for 6-7 seasons. Davies has done it for 1.

If Read had not gone to the ICL I would still 100% want him playing ODIs right now.