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How Kieswetter got in shape fo

CRAIG Kieswetter, pictured, has revealed how he took to the streets last winter in his quest to make the grade as a wicketkeeper.

Renowned as a batsman who kept wicket for Somerset, the South African-born Body Jewelry Cheap prodigy quickly realised something had to change if he was to challenge Matt Prior for a place in the England squad.

And that was where England and Wales Cricket Board wicketkeeper coach Bruce French came in.

Having monitored Kieswetter's progress at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough and discovered that his glovework left a good deal to be desired, French recommended an exercise regime designed to improve the 22-year-old's flexibility and sharpen his reflexes.

Kieswetter donned his training shoes and pounded the streets during the dark winter nights and spent a majority of his days working out in the gym, motivated by a burning ambition to play for England in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Afforded his big break on the tour to Bangladesh, he made the most of his opportunity, registering a maiden one-day international hundred in only his third match to book his place on the plane to West Indies.

And he cemented his burgeoning reputation when he hammered 63 to win the man-of-the-match accolade as England trounced Australia in the World Twenty20 final in Barbados in the spring.

Proving that selection is based on merit these days, Geoff Miller, Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss retained the emerging Kieswetter at the expense of Prior for the five-match ODI series against Australia.

Kieswetter recalled: "I had to Gemstone Rings do a lot of work over the winter and I could not have achieved what I have without Bruce French.

"I was definitely a batsman who could keep when he got hold of me and he had to put up with a lot of stick from me whenever I became frustrated, which was quite often.

"More than anything, I had to get myself right physically, and we did a lot of work on that. I worked tirelessly in the gym, did a lot more running than before and lost quite a bit of weight. I'm now five or six kilos slighter and I'm really feeling the benefit."

By his own admission, Kieswetter was among the poorest performers when it came to skills tests at Loughborough and French ordered a return to basics in an attempt to transform his protege into a genuine all-rounder.

Kieswetter said: "We broke my keeping down, stripped it bare and took it back to basics, as though I had never kept before. It was difficult to begin with, but we chucked out everything that I had learned previously and all the things that had become routine or habit while I was growing up.

"We started with a blank canvas and rebuilt me from nothing."

. Somerset are hoping Kieswetter will play for them against Middlesex on Sunday.

Stainless Steel Bracelets He is on England duty in the final two one-day internationals against Australia - at the Oval today and at Lord's on Saturday.

After Lord's, England have four days off before they begin a three-match rubber against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge next Thursday. So Kieswetter may be grateful for an innings at Taunton in the Friends Provident t20.