WATCHING Jonny Bairstow keep wicket for England the other day, it is striking how different his physique was to the England keepers of my era such as Alan Knott, Bob Taylor, Jack Russell and Paul Downton.
While they were slight of build and lithe and balletic in their footwork, Bairstow is a bruiser who causes minor earth tremors whenever he hits the deck.
But is the change in body shape due to the changing role of the wicket-keeper, from neat and efficient catcher of edges and stumper of careless batsmen to one where top-order runs are required, often very quickly?
Batsmen in white-ball for...