The value of 'third man'
From Ian, United Kingdom I'm continually baffled as to why Test teams refuse to put 'third man' in place
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
From Ian, United Kingdom
I'm continually baffled as to why Test teams refuse to put 'third man' in place. During the two Test series this summer in England, it's been impossible to count the number of boundaries that have been scored from edges, controlled or otherwise, through the slip/gully area. I don't know if it's considered unduly defensive but surely the merits of limiting the batsman's scoring must be a priority. Additionally, there can be very few other fielding positions where the number of runs saved have been greater than the number that have been conceded through not employing a third man. I suspect, although I don't have the means to clarify, that teams could justifiably have fielded without a mid-on throughout the summer and with a third man in place have conceded far fewer runs. I'm not sure whether Statsguru can aggregate scoring in this way but it would be interesting to see. Obviously, there's a large amount of speculation involved but still. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?
I'm continually baffled as to why Test teams refuse to put 'third man' in place. During the two Test series this summer in England, it's been impossible to count the number of boundaries that have been scored from edges, controlled or otherwise, through the slip/gully area. I don't know if it's considered unduly defensive but surely the merits of limiting the batsman's scoring must be a priority. Additionally, there can be very few other fielding positions where the number of runs saved have been greater than the number that have been conceded through not employing a third man. I suspect, although I don't have the means to clarify, that teams could justifiably have fielded without a mid-on throughout the summer and with a third man in place have conceded far fewer runs. I'm not sure whether Statsguru can aggregate scoring in this way but it would be interesting to see. Obviously, there's a large amount of speculation involved but still. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?