The conductor. The sergeant-major. The cheerleader. The Drummer. What is a 'keeper?

England and Kent coach Paul Farbrace tells us wicketkeeper is the drummer in the band: Keeping the beat of the fielding side with tidy glove work and unobtrusive, focused encouragement. Insightful, canny and reliable.

He also says the wicketkeeper is the conductor of the orchestra: Controlling the entire ensemble. Energetic and obvious.

Kumar Sangakkara was a drummer: A keeper who goes about his work in a quiet way. If a bad throw comes in he didn't try and tidy it up, he just went about doing his job.

Former England and Gloucestershire wicketkeeper Jack Russell was a conductor: Standing up to all but the fastest bowlers, encouraging his team mates and keeping the pressure on the batsmen.

Although all keepers are a bit mad (you have to be to want to do the job), whether they conduct or drum is down to personality: It's something that comes naturally one way or the other.

However, you can learn to do either, depending on the situation.

For example, if your seamers are on, but wickets are not coming, the drummer will offer the odd word of advice and encouragement. The conductor will gee up the fielders and try standing up to the stumps to make something happen.

Neither of these methods are wrong, but one might work better than another.

A bowler might prefer a quiet word (drummer) than a public admonishment (conductor). The batsman might have their fear of failure increased with a keeper chirping in their ear (conductor) or they might hate the silent treatment (drummer).

You can recognise when you need to be more conductor and less drummer, and vice versa.

So the question shouldn't be which is best, but which is most suitable?

It can be tough for the keeper to have this flexible personality, because in critial moments we find it hard to control our personalities and revent to type. If you have dropped a catch or missed a stumping you naturally go quiet.

It's hard to try and conduct when you have dropped your baton.

That's why the keeper has to be the most resilient to mistakes in the team, because whether you are drumming or conducting, you can't let up the on the opposition, or allow the team energy drop because you have made a personal error.

And that's really what the good keepers are able to do; put their own personality traits aside and take control of the team, either as a conductor or drummer.

Which one are you and how can you develop some of the traits of the other side?