THE IMPORTANCE OF FIELDING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 61

THE IMPORTANCE OF FIELDING.

(By L. C. Braund, member of Somerset anr England Elevens )

Fielding is as important a department of cricket as either bowling or batting, and I am sorry that at present in England-, even in first-class cricket, it is a long; way from being perfect or as good as it ovght to be. There are comparatively few fine fieldsmen, and fielding is a department (unlike batting or bowling, which are gifted to some extent) that can be learnt. The ' secret of fielding well is keenness and practice. With these one can train as good! a fieldsman as any in the country, one who for this alone would become a member of a county team and keep his place.

— More Practice. —

Pla-yers go into the nets to take their batting and bowling practice, but how many, do you see go into the field for fielding; practice? It is indeed a rare eight to see a team practising fielding, but the. practice is equally required. - When one chances to see players practising fielding 1 it is found quite as interesting to the spectator as watching plaj'ers bat or bowl. The average playe> - thinks fielding quite' a. minor part of the game; he believes he learnt his fielding at school, and will for ever retain it. But what a mistake! He can lo=e hte fielding- as quickly as his batting or bowling, and can get into such a bad state in this department that he can neither slop nor catch a ball, and becomes a nuisance- to his team.

— The Bowler's Complaint.—'

These out-of-practice players as a rules ar-e not bowlers, or they would know what it means missing such players as C. B. Fry, K. S. Ranjitsinhji, A. C. Maclaren, and others ; to have to bowl all one day, and perhaps the better part of the second, without dislodging them — all because of the missed catch. I remember well a test match in Australia when, had George Hirst been, caught almost nr3fc ball by Layer at short leg, we should without doubt have lost. George, profiting by the mistake, stayedi with Tom Hayward, and was not out 60 when we won the game by five wickets ; / thus you see we won at the last moment by a piece of i-oor fielding. It being the first test game, it went a long way wifehi us in winning the rubber. Take, for example, the Yorkshire team of a year or two ago— what made them invincible? It was not only their batting and bowling, but their magnificent fielding. When th« ball was hit to a fielder it was indeed rare to see it misled, consequently they took nearly everything before them. This only goes to show that fielding is of aa much importance in the game of cricket - as any other department. Good fieldsmen and fielding invigorate the bowlers and team generally, and inferior work has' exactly the opposite effect— makes the side lack energy, and the result is deplorable. • Bowlors, say, "What is the use of my pitching tho ball in a spot for a catch, jwhen you don't hold it?"— for it is nob much use bowling nowadays to hit the sticks on a plumb wicket, so we bowlers hare to devise other means of taking them, and- ' rely almost exclusively upon our fieldsmen. • When, they fail to do the mechanical part . of holding the catches, then the team is in a bad way.

—The Slack Field.—

Many a fine young bowler has been ios'. sight of owing to bad fielding. On his trial-day fieldsmen missed catches off him,and he had never been put on again. . We see many games thrown away by inferior fielding, yet clubs as well as countiei do not insist on members taking a certain - timet for fielding. The reason we do not,, get our first-class county games through, or rather why there are so many drawn _ games, is bad fielding. Men stand ir. the field like images; tfere is no energy or life about your players as there was nine or ten years ago. Two fieldsmen— or players so called — are placed near together^ theball is driven between them; they leave it for another— yell "Yours!" "Yours!' The consequence is neither of them goes for it and this results in a boundary hii — four. This is not an exceptional occur* rence; I am sorry to say it is only too' common. Of course there aro teams -wlucH form exceptions to this rule, but after you have taken the crack Lancashire and Yorkshire elevens, I have seen local 'fielding - equal to county.

—Fine Individual Fieldsmen.—

There are individual fields who are, grand to watch. Take, for instance, David Dentou, unequalled in the long field; how often do yon ccc him miss a catch or - misfield a ball? Scarcely ever, although - the fortune favoured me once at Bradford. Playing on a sticky wicket against Rhodes's bowling, 1 sent" the ball straight in. a direct; ' line, but high up, to David. I did not, wait to see the result, but started for the pavilion. -When well away from my wicket, however, I heard a yell from the crowd. Denton the safe had missed H! Had the ball not dropped out of his hand nsar the boundary, I was so far away from my picket I should certainly have been run. out. That is the only catch I have seen Denton miss. Look again at A. C. Maelaren at slip: did anyone ever see a finer? He is the ossence of keenness. A snick off the bat from a fast bowler, one hand thrown out by Maclaren at slip, result, a juggler's catch. I have seen him catch batsmen out. jumping high in the. air I have seen him do the same when lying on his side and in many other strange attitudes He is so full of nerves he can scarcely stand still — ever on the alert.

— Foster, Jones, Jessop. —

Ho and R. E. Foster and A. O. Jonet are in my opinion the three slips of England. In this position one should never for one moment fell slack; theplaye? must always bo alert Short slip is the most difficult position to hold in ire cricket field. Take the value of G. It. Jessop, faupposing he did not get runs or bowl. For his marvellous fielding in front of the wicket alone he is worth, playing for any county. Besides the dozens of rims thafc he saye's for his side, he throws out •twenty to thirty batsmen every season. When tk« ball goes to Jessop, if it appears at first a comfortable run, you always have at th« finish to scramble. His interest in that hit is keen. He fancies he can run you out fiom it. and frequently there is no doubt about it. I have seen him do it on many occasions, and more than onoo I have been the victim. On one occasion when playing at Taunton against Gloucestershire L. C. H Palairet and myself got going well. Every now and the.n we were stealing v. rathe,!

.short run to extra cover and doing it with ease. At last I clayed again in the same direction and called, but before Palairet ihad got half-way his centre stump was flung out of the ground. Jessop had, unknown to us, changed from cover to extra tcover. The result was that his keenness broke up a partnership which till then had defied the bowlers. j — A' Good Return Essential. — ' Thus, you see, catching and ground fieldSng are not all, for returning the ball well is another valuable consideration ' in fielding. tYou- may notice lots of good fielders, so failed on account of their ability to stop "i ball, unable to Teturn well or throw iin. What is the use of placing such men on the long field? Their disability could , easily be rectified by a little practice each J "'day, and a captain would do well to insist ' on -this being carried out. There is also - another bad habit I have been surprised fco find in some excellent players. — Watch the Bowler.— It is an axiom of cricket that all fieldsjnen ehould watch'the bowler, for the latter - often wishes' to shift a man one way or the other unknown. to the batsmen. Often .-when" i you are ' about to signal such an you find that particular man ,%aping*at the crowd, or standing like a iwaxeh image, immravable- to anything but~ '';a shout.- which -would jrat the batsman on gui yive and destroy the value 1 of the ■ -It seems sometimes that nothing . an "this world would wake such '£ player -jto^his duty. 1 have-even- seen far-distant • spectators notice tliei bowler's signallings *o ihe man he wishes to shift,- arid they have shouted to the so-called fielder to "watch the' bowler." The fieldsmen should always" watch' the bowler, and move hnme"diately to the latter' s wish. Nobody but a bowler knows how aggravating it is not to ..have the field at instant command. This is sometimes 3een in the very best t>ricket teams; it happened with our side an Australia. Arnio-ld was bowling. He •received the ball, prepared for delivery. Then he paused fully a minute, the spec"tators hushed in amazement. What was he 'doing in such fashion? He was waiting Ifor his field to £et into position. Arnold was perfectly right, too. for B. J. T. JRosanquet was not noticing where "the bowler wished him to stand. The defects I have named show a lack . af keenness, and should "be overcome, which •is easy if the fieldsman thinks of his importance to the team. There is another *roublesome feature/ quite noticeable with some of our best batsmen. After they :have made a big .score they eeem to think iihey have done their share in the game, and get quite slack in the field. It is a great pity to see this fault, and it takes a, lot of runs . irom _±heir score, besides setting a bad example to the other players. •If the excuse is tiredness surely a place might be found somewhere in the slips ••where they would be almost' free from chasing the leather. Captains, as a rule, are considerate in this matter, but so many gilayers are .reluctant to take the slips, and Jtiry. to get out- of the way of the. ball las much as they possibly can. This proves ./that some, of - our . cricketers are- not- as ikeen as they ought to "be, and consequently xbawn games are frequent. All cricketersknow this, and yet little is done to repair ' 4he state of things. ■ ' .„ 1. _„ * I -expect that many cricketers will object *b-this article on fielding. Of course.rit as impossible'for -to be a Jessop or' a Maclaren, but all can practise and rthus improve their fielding. By so doing 'the number of drawn games would be lessened, would not only be a great - pleasure for your team but a blessing in -the sight of the orieketing public- Few • mew rules would .*hen"' be required in our great, game. , "