Why does Australian fielding fail nowadays?

[Spark]

Based on?

 

[Jarquis]

Watching him

 

[Spark]

He minght not be as good as he once was but IMO he's still plenty good.

 

[vcs]

Would still struggle to name five all-round fielders better than him in the circle. AB, McCullum... drawing a blank here.

 

[Jarquis]

He minght not be as good as he once was but IMO he's still plenty good.

Yeah, don't think Uppercut was trying to say he's bad. He's just not incredible anymore.

 

[Spark]

He still can pull off the incredible with reasonable regularity tbf. The number of runouts he has pulled off in the last 18 months or so is staggering.

 

[Uppercut]

I just think if you replaced him in the field with an above-average fielder (say Graeme Swann) you wouldn't really notice any difference. He doesn't stand out the way he did at his peak, or the way Symonds did when he fielded in the ring for Australia.

 

[Howe_zat]

He still can pull off the incredible with reasonable regularity tbf. The number of runouts he has pulled off in the last 18 months or so is staggering.

It weirdly is.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...9;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

 

[Uppercut]

 

[Bloody Hell]

Bobby Simpson.

Another reason why the sooner the two Steve's are in the team the better.

 

[shankar]

I think that sort of fielding is vastly over-rated in Tests cricket. You can have a team full of the most athletic ball-stoppers in the world but they'll still only save about 20-40 runs a Test innings through ground fielding at most (and I think even this is quite exaggerated, but I'll give it to you), and if they dropped one catch it could cost them 200 runs. If you have a team whereby everyone is a good catcher in the position they're fielding in, it's a good Test fielding unit, IMO.

I think nine Laxmans would save more runs in Test cricket than nine Clarkes.

The utility of the 'athletic ball-stoppers' is not merely in the actual runs they save though. Facing a batting line-up like India's filled with 'stroke-makers' who depend on scoring boundaries to get going, they are crucial in building pressure when combined with good bowling. I agree that this still doesn't make them more useful than a solid dependable slips/close-in catcher - But reducing them to simply saving runs underrates their utility IMO.

 

[Tom 1972]

My point about the Indians & Lankans is that they were totally hopeless, say 15 years ago. Nowadays I'd say they're pretty much on par with everyone else.

 

[Howe_zat]

My point about the Indians & Lankans is that they were totally hopeless, say 15 years ago. Nowadays I'd say they're pretty much on par with everyone else.

Sri Lanka yes but the Indian fielding can still leave a lot to be desired, especially in limited overs cricket.

 

[Flem274*]

Gotta disagree with Cribb to an extent. Good catchers are a must but guys like Martin Guptill are almost wicket takers in their own right with their ability to perform crazy acrobatics and produce brilliant run outs.

There is a reason why Jeetan Patel, Martin Guptill, BJ Watling etc often get used as 12th men.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Great ring fielders help build pressure. They cut down on singles, and keep a man off strike, and build frustration when they continually prevent good shots from going for runs. They are a huge asset, and a boon to the side; it lifts teams and keeps them up when someone pulls off a genius save. That's so important when you are fielding for six hours or more.

Taking catches is more important, though. But these ring fielders bring about more catches, especially when the ball goes soft.

 

[Johnners]

Pretty big problem though. It's not like you have numerous chances offered up to square leg.

Wasn't meaning to suggest otherwise tbh. Just don't think there's much of a problem aside from that, despite what a few others were suggesting.

 

[Redbacks]

Maybe because we change the field reactively a lot more now that our bowling has weakened causing players to lose focus?

Also perhaps our great players from the past were also likely to be great fielders due to natural talent + the hard work put in.

 

[Faisal1985]

Go drop 20 catches in a test and then come talk to me about bad fielding.

Don't you try to take that away from us!