Bari lays down the fielding law

In a sign of how much of an issue fielding has become in Pakistan cricket - and it's not as if the malaise is a new one - Wasim Bari, chairman of selectors, has said that cricketers intending to break into the national set-up will be considered only if their fielding is up to the mark.

Speaking to the Karachi-based The News Bari said, "In modern day cricket, a player's fielding ability has become a very important aspect and that is going to show in our selection process in the future.

"Gone are the days when players could force their way into the national team entirely through batting and bowling performances."

After dispiriting performances in the field against India in the ODI series earlier this year, the seriousness of the issue has finally been acknowledged by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Bari's comments are the latest recognition of how embedded the problem is.

Jonty Rhodes, widely regarded as one of the best fielders of all time, is due to arrive in Pakistan in June for a two-week stint to work with the national team as well as coaches in the National Cricket Academy. Critics, though, have questioned the value a stint as short as this has for a problem that begins, essentially, at the grassroots.

But Bari added that along with his selection committee, stricter guidelines would be adhered to when judging a player's fielding skills when picking the national team. "I would like to tell our young cricketers that they should not expect a chance to play at the international level if they can't field well. It is that important.

"The whole concept of how you play cricket has changed in recent times. And it is not just the one-day version of the game. A team's fielding performance is becoming a decisive factor in Test matches as well. Look at England, they failed to win against Sri Lanka because they fielded badly."

Though Bari tactfully refused to point out specific players in the team who were poor fielders, he pointed to the improvement in standards of almost every team in cricket as proof that even Pakistan can change. "Even teams like Bangladesh have achieved enormous improvement in this department of the game and that has really impressed me.

"I am not saying this as a chief selector but as an ex-Test cricketer that one of the Pakistan team's biggest flaws lay in it is fielding. Pakistan can become one of the world's best fielding sides but that needs a lot of hard work."