Until Brian Taber arrived, Australian wicket keepers might have been best in the world, but by no stretch of the imagination were they pretty.
His predecessors mostly had been short and squat, some balding, and often quite rotund practitioners, disinterested in how they looked - think Don Tallon, Gil Langley, Wally Grout, Barry Jarman. My goodness they were good - and when he joined their company, Brian Taber was every bit as good. Known as "Herby" to a select few, he beat many renowned keepers to be named in the NSW team of the Millennium.
Yet without being showy, Tabbsy brought style and grace to the art of wicket-keeping. What he added to that dark art was that he personified Australia of the swinging sixties.
