The more skilled the keeper, the faster the bowling to which he is able to "stand up", for instance Godfrey Evans often stood up to Alec Bedser.
At elite levels, wicket-keepers are generally expected to be proficient batters averaging considerably more than specialist bowlers.
Healy averaged 27.39 and 4,356 runs total from his 119 Test matches, and is viewed as a specialist wicket-keeper who had improved his marginally effective batting toward the end of his career.
Gilchrist's success effectively forced the specialist wicket-keeper into extinction at the top levels of the sport as teams could no long afford to pick a mediocre or poor batsman in the position as long as the player who was chosen could perform up to basic standards of the wicket-keeper position when fielding.
[8] Their keeper, Ben Cox, became an extra fielder at fly slip while spinner Moeen Ali bowled.