English cricketer Jonny Bairstow breaks all-time wicketkeeping record

Jonny Bairstow is making all kinds of headlines for the incredible year he is having as a core member of the English Test squad with his stellar performances with the bat. While England have played the most number of Tests this year, an astonishing 15 so far, he has bettered the likes of Alastair Cook and Joe Root to have scored the most number of runs this year.

At this stage, he sits pretty at the top for the highest run-scorers in Test cricket with 1355 runs at an average of 64.52, only bettered by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock who has an average of 65.44. Bairstow has notched up 3 centuries and 7 half-centuries batting in England’s middle-order with a best score of 167*.

While he has let his bat do the talking, his work behind the stumps hasn’t gone unnoticed either. Until this point, while there was a widespread acknowledgment that he was doing a good job behind the stumps, he has just started making headlines. After the second innings during the 3^rd Test at Mohali, he broke the all-time record for most dismissals in a calendar year with 68.

At the start of the second innings, he was 2 behind the all-time record of 67 dismissals and after he pocketed an edge from Umesh Yadav off Ben Stokes, he stood alone at the top.

After 15 Test matches this year, he has 68 dismissals which include 65 catches and 3 stumpings.

What makes his year even more special is the fact that he has taken more than double the number of dismissals when compared to the next best keeper, Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed, who has 31.

In 2016

Player	Matches	Catches	Stumpings	Total
Jonny Bairstow	15	65	3	68
Sarfraz Ahmed	9	31	0	31
BJ Watling	11	28	1	29
Quinton de Kock	7	28	0	28

Quinton de Kock is the only player who has a comparable record, in terms of dismissals per matches played, and that too is a stretch.

Bairstow broke the all-time record that was held by another South African keeper, Mark Boucher, and Australian Ian Healy, who had 67 in 1998 and 1993 respectively.