The Prior Problem

Apart from being England wicket-keepers what do Matt Prior and Godfrey Evans have in common? Congratulations if you answered that they’re the only keepers in the history of test cricket to have twice conceded 25 or more byes in an innings. Of course, Evans’s “achievement” came in 91 tests; Prior has done it in just 15. In fact, at the time of writing Prior has the misfortune to rank 3rd and 4th in the list of “most byes conceded in an innings”. The 34 he’s conceded (so far!) in the current test goes along with the 33 he let through against India at the Oval in 2007.

In one sense Evans’s presence on the list demonstrates the weakness of bald numbers. When Evans conceded 30 byes against New Zealand at Wellington in 1951 the Kiwis were batting on a rain-affected wicket and Evans was standing up to Alec Bedser while also keeping to the brilliant-but-erratic leg-spinner Doug Wright.