FIELDSMEN MUST SHOW KEENNESS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18579, 29 September 1928, Page 7

FIELDSMEN MUST SHOW KEENNESS.

MISSED CATCH MEANS AN EXTRA OPPONENT.

The necessity for improved fielding in New Zealand cricket has been emphasised often, particularly since the tour of England showed there was a great weakness in that department. An alert and sure fieldsman is not only a pleasure to watch, but a real asset to his side. Good fielding strengthens the bowling. It may even make poor bowling seem better than it is. Every catch missed means another batsman added to the opposing side.

“Good fielding deserves more attention than many teams give to it,” declares Patsy Hendren. “In amateur cricket, at least; it is the easy catches that are missed that break hearts. No bowler expects marvellous feats from his ten companions. But when the ball is put into the hands of a fieldsman he certainly does look to him to hold it.

“Many a catch has been missed through trying to make an easy catch look difficult. Why, you ask, should anybody try to make catches more difficult than they are? There you have me. But the fact remains that using one hand to the ball when two are so much safer is a fault to which manj

young players are liable. You 7 should certainly cultivate the art of catching as well with your left hand as you do with your right, but always use both hands to every possible catch. Footwork will help you here, for if the player moves quickly enough into position he can get into line with many balls that would otherwise be travelling past him when he has to take them.” The first thing the young fieldsman must lejtrn is to try hard for every ball. “Good fielding is very largely a matter of watching the batsman, so that you can anticipate the direction of his stroke,” says Hendren. “Then you must start at once and never give up until the ball is dead. Given the keenness to do these things, any player with a good eye and normal strength can acquirq skill at catching and throwing.

“ When awaiting catches behind the wicket, resist the temptation to grab at the ball. If the catch is coming towards you, there is time to take it, so watch it carefully, and do not snatch. In fielding to save runs, however—and this is a very important part of the work—you will often need to be moving inwards as you pick up the ball. You can save valuable time—and that means runs—by cultivating the ability to throw in the ball with the same action as you pick it up. “ Much is heard of natural cricketers, •but I venture to say that this knack of quick throwing in does not come naturally to anybody, though some may be quicker than others. “The whole secret of the quick throwin after the pick-up is in correct body balance. For a ball coming “ straight along the carpet ” towards you, get down to it with the weight on the right

foot, and the left foot slightly in front. As the left hand closes over the ball—which is held in the right hand—the right arm goes naturally back. The act of straightening up the body again, for which purpose you use the right foot as a lever, enables you to use that same foot as a base off which to make your throW with the right arm. I prefer an under-arm throw where it is possible, but throwing under-arm from any distance is by no means easy.

“ The farther the distance from which you can throw in under-arm, however, the better you are likely to become at throwing in, so I should recommend you to cultivate this method. It is quicker, because it keeps the ball lower, and can be done in the same movement as the pick-up. Further, it is more accurate. Most players need the over-arm throw from a position on the boundary. We are not all Australians.” It was W. G. Grace who once said that the man who never missed a catch was no cricketer. The fact is that many mis-hit balls become catches only when there is a first-class fieldsman about to make them so. Few catches come straight to the hands. A brilliant cricketer might make a gallant effort to get a ball that another might leave. It may look as though a catch has been missed when he just fails to hold the ball. It is the man who says, “ I couldn't have reached that one, anyway,” who commits the unforgivable sill in cricket —although he may appear to miss fewer chances than more enterprising players.