'I'm as good a keeper as anyone'

Honours ... Chris Hartley still dreams of a baggy green. Source: Mark Calleja / News Limited

CHRIS Hartley is confident he is the best wicketkeeper in Australia - and so is most of Queensland.

The only problem is the national selectors haven't been on the same page.

Hartley has often watched in frustration as he has been passed over for Aussie selection as glovemen such as Brad Haddin, Tim Paine and Matthew Wade have got the nod ahead of him.

Hartley, 31, insists his first-class record and reputation compares favourably to all of them and he has no doubt he has what it takes to play Test cricket.

And he is hoping it is an era of opportunity for glovemen with the Test position hardly settled with both Haddin and Wade getting a go in recent times.

Haddin will be 36 this month and while Wade is seen as a long-term one-day gloveman, it may not be a good sign for his Test prospects that he had to step aside for Haddin in the Ashes.

That leaves Paine, a wicketkeeper of promise but who seems to be injured more often than not.

And while Paine's batting is often hyped up, the Tasmanian has just one century from 63 first-class games while Hartley has seven centuries from 93 matches.

Hartley is coming off some of his best seasons and has no doubt he can outperform any 'keeper in the land.

"Every player looks at the stats of their rivals for positions and looks at what their performances are and what your own performances are," Hartley told The Courier-Mail.

"If you are performing better than those guys, at some stage you should get rewarded. I know that I am as good a keeper as anyone.

"I definitely think I'm good enough to play Test cricket for Australia and that is still one of my goals.

"Looking at the wicketkeeping position in the Australian team over the last 12-18 months, I don't think it is a settled position.

"And, as such, you have faith in selectors rewarding performance. If at some stage if I was to be rewarded with a selection, it would be deserved."

Ironically, Hartley feels it may be the sheer consistency of his performances that could be counting against him at the national selection table.

"I have got frustrated there has been opportunities with Australia A sides, or Australian squads with a reserve keeper, where I felt that my performances leading up to those opportunities warranted selection, but it didn't come," Hartley says.

"I think one of my strengths is I am on top of my game a lot of the time.

"I am very consistent behind the stumps and I think sometimes that might be to me detriment. I sort of set the standard at a certain level and that becomes the norm and the expectation.

"I'm very happy with the way I've been playing for Queensland, I've been scoring runs and taking all the catches that come."

The Brisbane Heat played their last Champions League game against the Hyderabad Sunrisers in the early hours of Tuesday and will fly home to prepare for the Ryobi Cup competition.

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