Alan Knott

The 'collar up' style of wearing a shirt was synonymous with Alan Knott, considered by many to be the finest wicket-keeper to have played for England. He was an incredibly fit man too and very rarely missed a game due to injury. He was equally adept to keeping to spinners as well as the pace bowlers.

As a batsman, Knott took some time to blossom but thereafter he went on to make 5 Test hundreds. Both styles suited him, attack or defense and he went along with the situation. The ease with which he kept wickets on the most difficult of tracks earned him plenty of admirers. His International career went on a down-slide after he joined the World Series of Cricket but ended his career in style with a fifty in his last innings at the Oval in the Ashes Test. He also had the curious tendency to warm his hands with hot water before putting on the gloves for keeping.

Knott was inducted into the ICC hall of fame in 2009.

By Ganesh Chandrasekaran