Former Lancashire ace Luke Sutton witnessed first-hand the changing role of a wicketkeeper

Former Lancashire wicketkeeper Luke Sutton often pinches himself when he reflects on his 15-year career as a professional cricketer.

A gloveman from the very first moment he was introduced to the sport at the tender age of nine, Sutton went on to enjoy a fine career – keeping wicket to some of the finest bowlers to have ever graced the game.

Murali sits alone at the top of the leading Test wicket-takers of all-time with 800 victims, while Anderson is the most prolific fast bowler on the international stage with 657 victims – and counting.

Preston lad Flintoff, of course, is among the greatest all-rounders the game has ever seen.

Sutton often had the best seat in the house, watching these great players strut their stuff at Old Trafford and across the county circuit at close quarters.

"I was fortunate enough to keep wicket at Lancashire to Muralitharan for about a season and a half I think,” Sutton said.

"Standing up to him was a massive challenge, but also a massive privilege too.

"I got to see this magician at work at close hand and when I was keeping well to him, that felt amazing.

"It felt like you were ‘in’ on the magic tricks which the batsmen didn’t know. That was just an incredible feeling.

"But at the same time, standing back to somebody like Jimmy Anderson – and someone like Glen Chapple for that matter, he was a magnificent bowler at Lancashire; I got to see high-class, highly-skilled seam and fast bowling.

"As a bowler and wicketkeeper, you would definitely work as a partnership. Particularly with a spinner you would develop a really close relationship in terms of what they were trying to do, what lines, what pace.

"Spinners would be constantly asking you for feedback. You do become a double act.

"But it is the same with a seamer. You look at their wrist position and see what they maybe trying to do with their action. Thinking back, there were times when I kept to Murali and he was absolutely unplayable; he would just run through teams in a way normal bowlers just couldn’t.

"Keeping to Jimmy was a pleasure. It really was like watching a master craftsman in action.

"The other person I would mention is Flintoff. I remember one spell he bowled against Somerset at Old Trafford.

"Opening the batting for Somerset was the Aussie Justin Langer and former England opener Marcus Trescothick.

"It was just after the 2005 Ashes series and Flintoff just fancied a contest and I think Langer fancied it as well. The pace and skill from Flintoff and the skill as a batsman from Langer was just on another level.

"He could bowl 90mph, hostile and when he had the bit between his teeth, coupled with the size of him as a man, he was magnificent.”

Having begun his career in the 1990s, Sutton has witnessed first-hand the shift in focus when it comes to the role of a wicketkeeper.

Traditionally, the men behind the stumps had to be highly skilled behind the stumps – and if they could bat a bit that would be a bonus.

But over the past two decades, the emphasis on being a seventh specialist batsman has often taken precedence.

The prevalence of Twenty20 cricket has certainly change the game – and the role of the wicketkeeper

Sutton was an experienced county player with many First Class matches under his belt when the format of T20 cricket was first introduced in 2003.

Sutton readily admits that he and his colleagues viewed format at the time with a slight air of suspicion.

But 20 years later the format has become a huge – and serious – part of the game and has heralded the invention of new strokes – such as the ramp shot – which have now infiltrated into the Test game.

"I will be totally honest, when T20 came in, we all just thought it was a bit of a mess-around really,” said Sutton, who scored nearly 10,000 runs across his career with 11 First Class centuries.

"It soon quickly evolved into what it is now which is a very serious format of the sport.

"I think the role of the wicketkeeper has never been more called out than it is now.

"The game wants wicketkeepers to be able to catch everything and score runs, but not only do we want them to bat, we want them to hit sixes.

"In one form of the game, captains and coaches want this type of wicketkeeper-batsman but in another form, they want a different type.

"The role of a wicketkeeper is evolving all the time. The size of a wicketkeeper is changing in my eyes.

"You go back to the days of Alan Knott, Bob Taylor – even Warren Hegg. They were all small men, agile.

"But those types of wicketkeepers are a lot less nowadays. There is more of an emphasis for big wicketkeepers who can hit the ball hard.”

Luke Sutton discusses his life and times as a stump man in a new book he has authored called “Welcome to the Wonderful World of Wicketkeepers”.

In it he lifts the lid on what it’s really like to be the fielder with pads and gloves.

He has gained insights from other wicketkeepers – both past and present – such as Jos Buttler, Jack Russell, Sarah Taylor, Alec Stewart, Chris Read, Amy Jones and Geraint Jones who have offered their own personal view of what it’s like to undertake the specialist role.

"A wicketkeeper is the only person who turns up for a day’s play, trying to be perfect,” said Sutton, who took more than 650 catches and completed 63 stumpings in all formats of the game during his career.

"A batsman won’t go out and expect to hit every ball perfectly. A bowler won’t go out and think he’s going to bowl every ball in the right spot, but a wicketkeeper will walk onto the field thinking that they are going to catch every single ball perfectly.

"That’s the mindset of a wicketkeeper – the search for perfection.

"As a wicketkeeper you have to go through a process of how you’re going to recover from a mistake because every single keeper will drop catches.

"You always remember the mistakes. I think the former England keeper Matt Prior said when he retired that he doesn’t remember all the great catches he may have taken but he remembers the ones he dropped.

"It was interesting when doing the book talking to people like Jack Russell and Alex Stewart.

"Jack was driven by that fear of not making a mistake whereas Alec was driven by wanting to show everybody how good he was. Two very different emotions but ultimately driving them to the same place of not wanting to make a mistake.”