One thing I don't get about cricket

[Prince EWS]

Was the one I was thinking of for a big fast bowler in the slips.
Any others in recent times?

Anderson fields in the slips a bit. Copeland too although he was mentioned here already; he was a wicket keeper though so it's not really surprising.

 

[Riggins]

Trent Copeland fielded in the slips, and he's a pretty tall bloke. I think it has more to do with the taller guys normally being bowlers and thus having less time to spend on close-in catching than the batsmen. If you had a tall guy who also had good hands then I'm sure he'd be in slips. It has more to do with other things than just height I think, and a shorter guy can make up for it by having a good leap etc.

Spent what, 20 years? as a keeper, so obviously had a pretty strong background in catching.

 

[Lostman]

Pace bowlers in slips is a terrible idea most of the time. More often then not, they're also the tallest guys in your team.

Height may be an advantage when jumping up but for low catches it can be a disadvantage as well. It's also hardly a prerequisite, there are much more important factors that make up a good slip fielder.

would also be real stiff after they bowl to even go for the low ones.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Spent what, 20 years? as a keeper, so obviously had a pretty strong background in catching.

Thus, as I said before, if you spend the time practicing the skill you can be pretty good at it. As I also said, most bowlers won't get the time to spend practicing their catching in close.

 

[Furball]

Was the one I was thinking of for a big fast bowler in the slips.
Any others in recent times?

Anderson is England's best slip fielder to Swann, and would be in my cordon if I was Strauss.

 

[Cabinet96]

Tall players are often not the most athletic people in the world and as Spark said often batsmen (who are usually smaller than the bowlers) have better hand eye. Another thing is the tall people are often bowlers. Them being in the slips can really disrupt things because they aren''t permanently in the slips and someone else has to go there when they're bowling. You want consistency in your slip cordon. Low edges are also a long way down for a guy at 6'6.

Pietersen is a pretty tall man at gully.

Anderson is England's best slip fielder to Swann, and would be in my cordon if I was Strauss.

Am I right in saying he fields at 3rd slip (obviously not when he's bowling) which is arguably the hardest place to field in the slips. Collingwood used to field there, de Villiers fields there, think Raina or Kohli were there for India and I remember Steve Smith being in 3rd slip when he was playing for Australia.

 

[NasserFan207]

Its a conspiracy which has been prevalent in cricket for over a hundred years my friend.

Basically, the batsmen (of whom for some strange reason one is always the captain) are the 'upper class' of the cricket team and therefore get the cushy fielding roles in the slips where they can drink tea and chortle at the working class fellas charging round the outfield.

Don't listen to any of this 'hand eye coordination' or 'catching is a technical skill' bull****, its nothing but pro-batsmen propaganda by people looking for excuses to maintain the system.

Revolution is coming though my friends.

 

[Debris]

Anderson fields in the slips a bit. Copeland too although he was mentioned here already; he was a wicket keeper though so it's not really surprising.

Terry Alderman spent most of his time in slips after he stuffed his shoulder.

 

[nightprowler10]

Not a fast bowler obviously but as big guys go, Inzi spent a lot of time in the slip cordon.

 

[Howe_zat]

I think the main reason slippers are often top order bats is because the baseline skill is the same - hand-eye coordination. Not so much for fast bowlers.

That, and the fact that it's a specialist position means that ideally you'd rather not have bowlers switching in and out of the slip cordon every over.

 

[uvelocity]

Its a conspiracy which has been prevalent in cricket for over a hundred years my friend.

Basically, the batsmen (of whom for some strange reason one is always the captain) are the 'upper class' of the cricket team and therefore get the cushy fielding roles in the slips where they can drink tea and chortle at the working class fellas charging round the outfield.

Don't listen to any of this 'hand eye coordination' or 'catching is a technical skill' bull****, its nothing but pro-batsmen propaganda by people looking for excuses to maintain the system.

Revolution is coming though my friends.

this

 

[kyear2]

Because slips fielding is an incredibly unique skill not really comparable to any other fielding position on the park. Put random blokes in there - even good fieldsmen in there but non-specialist slippers - and the results will likely be disastrous.

+ 1

Slip fielding is a very specialised catching position which can win or loose a match for a team. The last two great teams in history and most of the greatest bowlers has the support of some of the greatest slip fielders of all time. It's not a position one leaves to chance and as such the best slip fielders go there regardless of height, it requires amazing hand eye co-ordination which is why some of the best batsmen are also some of the best slippers.
Another overlooked position is that a key to slip fielding is staying down and keeping low, more slip cathes stay low (Ponting's huge catch off Sachin in the last test for example) and that is harder (not impossible, but harder) for taller players who just bolwed six overs on a trot, it also calls for great concentration and continuity, one dent want to keep switching up the cordon depending on who is bowling.
Of course they are multiple exemptions, Botham, Flintoff, Warne, Sobers and Greig were all either tall or were bolwers and even Big Bird Joel Garner was known as a great gully fielder. But that goes back to my original point, its about having that unique skill set regardless of height or any thing else. Having a great cordon is almost as important as a great bowling attack and it cannot be left to chance by trying to fit square pegs into round holes.
Finally, if you are the captain in the slips and keep dropping catches you would have to remove yourself or face a mini revolt.

 

[zaremba]

Interesting to think about the exceptions.

Tony Greig is a great call.

Some others:

Stephen Fleming is a tall guy as well isn't he? Great slip.
Frank Woolley was very tall and took an enormous number of catches at slip.
The tallest regular slip surely must be Will Jefferson, who, as any fule kno, is 6'10"

 

[fredfertang]

Bob Willis wasn't the worst slipper in his time

On the other hand they do say, certainly in Yorkshire, that Keith Fletcher was the world's worst, despite being a gnome

 

[stumpski]

Probably not what you'd call recent, but Mike Hendrick was one of England's best slip catchers of the late '70s, and Bob Willis took some good ones around 3rd slip or gully.

 

[SteveNZ]

You get quick bowlers with good hand eye co-ordination though...the more time you spend taking reflex catches the better you get at them. Taking a tennis ball to the beach and taking diving catches in the water improves things no-end.

You do, but those quick bowlers are probably decent batsmen too.

I'd struggle to come up with any borderline bunny who is a good slipper.

 

[zaremba]

You do, but those quick bowlers are probably decent batsmen too.

I'd struggle to come up with any borderline bunny who is a good slipper.

Jimmy Anderson maybe.

 

[kyear2]

You do, but those quick bowlers are probably decent batsmen too.

I'd struggle to come up with any borderline bunny who is a good slipper.

Excellent point as well.Was just reading how Holding was a more than decent slip fielder, but he also was a more than handy bat as well. Same goes for Warne, Botham, Greig, Flintoff. All Rounders all

 

[FBU]

Anderson is England's best slip fielder to Swann, and would be in my cordon if I was Strauss.

But is it fair for him to be up and down after every ball and has no time to relax in the outfield like the other bowlers, especially when we play two spinners. It must put stress on the knees and back.

 

[Daemon]

But is it fair for him to be up and down after every ball and has no time to relax in the outfield like the other bowlers, especially when we play two spinners. It must put stress on the knees and back.

Exactly. He has to be concentrating hard every single ball, someone has to fill in when he's bowling (and also a while after he finishes his spell because he'll be too tired), he doesn't have the luxury of drinks whenever he wants since he's not at the boundary, has to keep squatting and standing over and over again, etc. Really don't find the idea of pace bowlers in the slip cordon appealing.