The value of good fielding
England were tenacious in the field against Pakistan, with Paul Collingwood in particular snaffling a couple of sharp chances at slip
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
England were tenacious in the field against Pakistan, with Paul Collingwood in particular snaffling a couple of sharp chances at slip. Angus Fraser, who wasn’t the most brilliant fielder himself, explains why good fielding is so important in the Independent.
Good teams are vibrant, energetic and athletic in the field. They focus on their job and like an anaconda they constrict their prey, squeezing the life out of it by ruthlessly exploiting every mistake it makes.
Poor teams are the opposite. They tend to be lethargic, lonely and lost. They drift aimlessly around a field like lost goats that are solely interested in themselves. When a wicket falls they force themselves to join their team-mates, it is not instinctive.
In the same paper, Stephen Brenkley describes how England came to be the best fielding side in the world.
This was the sort of stuff that England have been promising to provide for a while. It is two years since they hired the specialist fielding coach, Richard Halsall, and no area of their game has improved so markedly and collectively.
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo