Australia's Haddin and Nevill: A Tale of 2 Wicketkeepers

Australia's only real selection conundrum ahead of the forthcoming third Ashes Test at Edgbaston, England, is behind the stumps, with Brad Haddin and Peter Nevill battling for the job.

At the start of the tour, veteran Haddin was one of the first names on the Baggy Green's teamsheet; however, one bad performance and one unfortunate absence later and his international career is on the ropes.

But will Darren Lehman really bring down the axe on one of his most experienced men and keep faith with Nevill who has played just 56 first-class games and, at the age of 29, is far from a spring chicken?

The story so far

So often England's lower-order scourge, Haddin had a nightmare in this summer's opening Ashes encounter at Cardiff, scoring just 29 runs and dropping Joe Root who went on to register an emphatic century.

After missing the second Test at Lord's for personal reasons, his understudy Nevill swept in impressively, contributing a nerveless 45 and taking seven catches in the one-sided victory.

Of course, Haddin will feel a little hard done by missing what was clearly, compared to Wales, a much more impressive team performance, but Nevill looked extremely comfortable at cricket's highest level.

Both players are currently playing in the Baggy Green's tour game against Derbyshire, which is their only fixture before next week's encounter in Birmingham, but rain has heavily impacted the contest.

The Aussies did manage to complete their first innings, with Haddin registering a fluent 32 compared to Nevill's score of just one, but no play was possible on Day 2.

First-class record

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Nevill was just 14 years old when Haddin made his New South Wales first-class debut in 1999, and since then the veteran has racked up 183 appearances, 9,900 runs and 648 dismissals.

Comparatively, the 29-year-old Nevill has only made 56 first-class appearances since beginning his professional career in 2008, but boasts an impressive average of 44.30.

This includes a monumental innings of 235 not out against Tasmania in this year's Sheffield Shield competition where he also won the Steve Waugh medal for being New South Wales' best player.

Interestingly, both men play for the same State, and when Haddin makes a rare domestic appearance, Nevill usually makes way behind the stumps and operates as a pure batsman.

Playing style

On the pitch, the pair have drastically contrasting styles. Haddin is a pugnacious, in-your-face type character who can be fairly outspoken on and off the pitch.

With the bat he can score runs quickly and in an unorthodox fashion, making him a very dangerous late-order customer. He's the sort of player who can have opposition players and fans pulling their hair out.

Boasting a more classical technique, Nevill is a more traditional batsman who likes to play straight, but, as evidenced by his huge Sheffield Shield double century, he is capable of occupying the crease for a very long time.

These days wicketkeepers are judged as much by their batting as they are their glovework, but both of these men, despite Haddin's glaring drop of Root, are world-class stumpers with no obvious weakness.

Summary

So, given that Nevill has been donning the gloves against Derbyshire, it appears Lehman has made his choice as to who will don the gloves against England at Edgbaston, signalling a changing of the guard.

But it wouldn't be a huge surprise if Haddin, who up until recently was the Baggy Green's vice-captain, came back into the side.

Who do you think should get the nod? Let us know by voting in our poll or registering your thoughts in the comments section.