Mustard will stand up and be counted

Phil Mustard will stand up and be counted as England's one-day wicketkeeper as he attempts to finally end the debate about who can fill Alec Stewart's role behind the stumps.

Durham wicketkeeper Mustard and Warwickshire's Tim Ambrose are the latest pair to be given a chance as they both compete to establish themselves during the one-day and Test series in New Zealand.

"It's not a question of being brave," he explained. "You have to be relaxed and it's quite a simple job as long as you understand what you want to do. In Twenty20 or one-day cricket, the bowlers know where they want to bowl it and it's my job just to catch it - if it stops a batsman running down the wicket then it's done the job."

He added: "We talk in the dressing room about different batsmen so we know when to do it."

Mustard claims his decision to stand up to the stumps against Jimmy Anderson is not because the Lancashire seamer is slipping in pace, but more to do with the fact he gets less bounce than players like Stuart Broad or Steve Harmison.

He began standing up to Ottis Gibson, now England's bowling coach, last season for Durham in one-day matches but insists he is not daft enough to try to do the same to Harmison.

"There isn't a cat in hell's chance of standing up to Harmy," stressed Mustard. "There is no chance I would ever do it to Harmison.

"Jimmy is quite quick as well, but he's more of a skiddy bowler so it's a little bit easier than standing up to Harmison.

"I love doing my keeping. I've worked hard over the last year and a half and now I've got an opportunity to try to stamp my authority on the position.

"I've had two or three different coaches who chucked different ideas at me and you take in as much as you want to take in and you learn from whatever they give you."