Fielders

Fielding (cricket)

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A wicket-keeper (bending down) and three slips wait for the next ball. The batsman - out of shot - is a left-hander

Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out. A fielder or fieldsman may field the ball with any part of his person. However, if while the ball is in play he wilfully fields it otherwise (e.g. by using his hat), the ball becomes dead and 5 penalty runs are awarded to the batting side unless the ball previously struck a batsman not attempting to hit or avoid the ball. Most of the rules covering fielders are in Law 41 of the Laws of cricket.
In the early days of Test cricket, fielding was not a priority and many players were sloppy when it came to fielding.^{[citation needed]} With the advent of One Day International matches, fielding became more professional as saving runs became more important. A good fielding side can often save 30+ runs in the course of an ODI innings.^{[citation needed]}

Contents [hide] 1 Fielding position names and locations 1.1 Catching positions 1.2 Other positions 1.3 Modifiers 2 Restrictions on field placement 3 Tactics of field placement 3.1 Attacking and defending 3.2 Off and leg side fields 4 Protective equipment 5 Fielding specialities 6 Throwing the cricket ball 7 Specialist Fielding Coaches 8 Notes 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Fielding position names and locations

Fielding positions

Since there are only 11 players on a team, one of whom is the bowler, and usually another as the wicket-keeper, at most nine other fielding positions can be used at any given time. Which positions are filled by players and which remain vacant is a tactical decision made by the captain of the fielding team. The captain (usually in consultation with the bowler and sometimes other members of the team) may move players between fielding positions at any time except when a bowler is in the act of bowling to a batsman.
There are a number of named basic fielding positions, some of which are employed very commonly and others that are used less often. However, fielding positions are not fixed, and fielders can be placed in positions that differ from the basic positions. Most of the positions are named roughly according to a system of polar coordinates - one word (leg, cover, mid-wicket) specifies the angle from the batsman, and is optionally preceded by an adjective describing the distance from the batsman (silly, short, deep or long). Words such as "backward", "forward", or "square" can further indicate the angle.
The image shows the location of most of the named fielding positions. This image assumes the batsman is right-handed. The area to the left of a right-handed batsman (from the batsman's point of view) is called the leg side or on side, while that to the right is the off side. If the batsman is left-handed, the leg and off sides are reversed and the fielding positions are a mirror image of those shown.

[edit] Catching positions

Some fielding positions are used offensively. That is, players are put there with the main aim being to catch out the batsman rather than to stop or slow down the scoring of runs. These positions include Slip (often there are multiple slips next to each other, designated First slip, Second slip, Third slip, etc., numbered outwards from the wicket-keeper) meant to catch balls that just edge off the bat; Fly slip; Gully; Leg slip; Leg gully; the short and silly positions. Bat pad is a position specifically intended to catch balls that unintentionally strike the bat and leg pad, and thus end up only a metre or two to the leg side

[edit] Other positions

Other positions worth noting include:

• Wicket-keeper
• Long stop, who stands behind the wicket-keeper towards the boundary (usually when a wicket-keeper is believed to be inept and almost never seen in professional cricket). This position is sometimes euphemistically referred to as very fine leg.^[1]
• Sweeper, an alternative name for deep cover, deep extra cover or deep midwicket (that is, near the boundary on the off side or the on side), usually defensive and intended to prevent a four being scored.
• Cow corner, an informal jocular term for the position on the boundary between deep midwicket and long on.
• 45 on the 1. A position on the leg side 45° behind square, defending the single. An alternative description for backward short leg.

Also the bowler, after delivering the ball, must avoid running on the pitch so usually ends up fielding near silly mid on or silly mid off, but somewhat closer to the pitch.

[edit] Modifiers

Alastair Cook of the England cricket team standing in a catching stance typical of a fieldsman in a silly catching position

Deep, long 

Farther away from the batsman.

Short 

Closer to the batsman.

Silly 

Very close to the batsman.

Square 

Somewhere along an imaginary extension of the popping crease.

Fine 

Closer to an extension of an imaginary line along the middle of the pitch bisecting the stumps, when describing a fielder behind square.

Straight 

Closer to an extension of an imaginary line along the middle of the pitch bisecting the stumps, when describing a fielder in front of square.

Wide 

Further from an extension of an imaginary line along the middle of the pitch bisecting the stumps.

Forward 

In front of square; further towards the end occupied by the bowler and further away from the end occupied by the batsman on strike.

Backward 

Behind square; further towards the end occupied by the batsman on strike and further away from the end occupied by the bowler.

Additionally, commentators or spectators discussing the details of field placement will often use descriptive phrases such as "gully is a bit wider than normal" or "mid off is standing too deep, he should come in shorter".

[edit] Restrictions on field placement

Main article: Fielding restrictions (cricket)

Fielders may be placed anywhere on the field, subject to the following rules. At the time the ball is bowled:

• No fielder may be standing on or with any part of his body over the pitch (the central strip of the playing area between the wickets). If his body casts a shadow over the pitch the shadow must not move until after the batsman has played (or had the opportunity to play) at the ball.
• There may be no more than two fielders, other than possibly the wicket-keeper, standing in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. See Bodyline for details on one reason this rule exists.
• In some one-day matches:
  • During designated overs of an innings (see Powerplay (cricket)), there may be no more than two fielders standing outside an oval line marked on the field, being semicircles centred on the middle stump of each wicket of radius 30 yards, joined by straight lines parallel to the pitch. This is known as the fielding circle. In addition, during these overs there must be two fielders (other than the wicket-keeper) in designated "close catching" positions.
  • For the remainder of the innings there may be no more than five fielders standing outside the fielding circle.
  • In addition no fielder may stand behind directly behind the wicketkeeper. Fielders may be placed anywhere on the field other than the pitch or behind the wicketkeeper.

The restriction for one-day cricket is designed to prevent the fielding team from setting extremely defensive fields and concentrating solely on preventing the batting team from scoring runs, which many consider leads to boring play.

If any of these rules is violated, an umpire will call the delivery a no ball. Additionally a player may not make any significant movement after the ball comes into play and before the ball reaches the striker. If this happens, an umpire will call and signal 'dead ball'. For close fielders anything other than minor adjustments to stance or position in relation to the striker is significant. In the outfield, fielders may move in towards the striker or striker's wicket; indeed, they usually do. However, anything other than slight movement off line or away from the striker is to be considered significant.