The field good factor!

The tragic death of Andrew Symonds in a road accident was an untimely reminder of the importance of fielding in the game of cricketWhile playing Symonds never took a bad route to the ball as an excellent Australian infielder Taking the right route doesnrsquot necessarily mean moving in a straight line itrsquos about always putting yourself in the correct position to throw accurately to the vulnerable end Symonds did this every time he fielded the ball and it aided him in ambushing batsmenWhen Symonds came into the Australian side it allowed the versatile Ricky Ponting to move into the slips where his superb handeye coordination helped him enjoy success At the time Ponting along with South Africarsquos agile point fielder Jonty Rhodes were regarded as the hottest fielding duo in the gamePonting an accurate throwerI preferred Ponting on the basis that both were great runsavers and induced a huge amount of uncertainty with their skill but the Australian was a very accurate thrower Ponting was more likely to cause a run out as his throws regularly hit the stumps or at worst just missed the targetRhodes on the other hand could win a sprint to the stumps but was unlikely to hit the target with a throw from an acceptable distanceThis is a crucial aspect of fielding and must be taken into account when assessing the merits of a player In the Australian side I always rated Doug Walters ahead of the athletic Paul Sheahan as our best infielderGreat runsaversBoth were great runsavers and speedy movers but Walters was immaculate with the accuracy of his throw Walters had a countrybased saying about direct hits ldquoThere are no live rabbits where he comes fromrdquo There must have been very few live rabbits around Dungog during Waltersrsquo youthAnother great combination was the English pairing of David Gower and Derek Randall Such was their athletic ability that it allowed the fortunate captain to place one on each side of the fieldAnother Australian who was a brilliant cover fieldsman was Neil Harvey He was revered as someone who ldquonever got grass on his creamsrdquo but saved multiple runs and effected run outs when illadvised runners took on his lightening throw He emphasised his great skill by taking many superb catches when in his later career he moved into the slipsThe West Indies had a number of great cover fielders and high on the list was the early day Clive Lloyd His agility earned him the nickname Super Cat when he prowled the covers and made many spectacular plays with his speed long arms and fast throw Like Lloyd Viv Richards moved into the slips later in his career and performed brilliantly but he was among the best when he patrolled the infield Richards was extremely athletic and possessed a strong accurate throw and like all good fielders he was highly competitiveThe reason Sir Garfield Sobers isnrsquot mentioned more often as a superb infielder is because he spent much time bowling and caught brilliantly in the slip cordon However on the few occasions he moved into the infield if you underestimated his prowess you did so at your own perilPataudi Azhar too goodTwo of Indiarsquos best in the infield were the sneaky quick Mohammed Azharuddin and the Nawab Tiger Pataudi Azharuddin was often underestimated but I rated him one of the best allround fielders with his quickness accuracy and catching abilityTiger didnrsquot say much but he was credited with improving a poor Indian fielding side with his brilliant coverpoint work In an Indian cricket documentary he referred to Indiarsquos poor fielding by saying ldquoThe batsmen used to go into the slips and drop all the catchesrdquoIt created a lot of laughter but Pataudi was recognised as the player who altered the Indian fielding mentalityGood fielding is expected at international level However consistently excellent fielding can help win cricket matches and thatrsquos what most captains dream about