Best Fielder in the World?

[Slats4ever]

ponting's fielding's gone down hill imo since he's become captain and now is only a "good" fielder not an "exceptional" one. Paul Collingwood gets my vote

 

[Eclipse]

ponting's fielding's gone down hill imo since he's become captain and now is only a "good" fielder not an "exceptional" one. Paul Collingwood gets my vote

I dont agree only his catching has gone down but his ground feilding and direct hits have been better than ever in ODI's.

 

[Deja moo]

Ponting , Kaif and Yuvraj .

Collingwood , Gibbs .

 

[Andre]

Andrew Symonds for mine - he's an absolute freak athlete with excellent hands and a big arm.

 

[luckyeddie]

I notice everybody has mentioned someone from their own respective countries

It's always a case of looking favourably on one you've seen a lot of.

Anyway, for all-round fielding, I'll go with Ponting.

 

[luckyeddie]

Brad Hogg would get my vote as the most lively feilder, he's either running around, jumping up and down or licking his lips with his tongue.

Brilliant fielder with his lip

 

[Prince EWS]

Paul Collingwood gets my vote.

But if Penney is still allowed in the rules, I change my vote.

 

[luckyeddie]

Paul Collingwood gets my vote.

But if Penney is still allowed in the rules, I change my vote.

Penney was quite magnificent until a couple of years ago, but Old Father Time gets to us all. I saw him a couple of times recently and he was still good, but not in the 'majestic' class.

 

[Mr. P]

Since captaincy Ponting has been fielding at backward point a lot less, the position he an Jonty owned for a good while.

I reckon one of Pontings best catches was the freak Boeta Dippenaar dismissal. Best reflexes ive seen among others. That ball went like a rocket and wow, did he dive to get it.

 

[Jnr.]

And some of the catches he has pulled off at silly mid off were sensational.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Collingwood is an excellent fielder. Honourable mention of Robin Peterson as well. If nothing else, the man can field.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

As an all-round fielding unit probably Aus, NZ & South Africa are the best.

IMO Kenya's better than NZ and SA these days. Their fielding is amazing.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Got to be Collingwood for me, although Herschelle Gibbs is pretty sharp. Ramprakash was fantastic as well, but I feel age is catching up with him a little now.

Honourable mention to Jamie Dalrymple of Middlesex, who took one of the best backward-point catches I've ever seen in a game against Somerset recently, and I had the fortune to be directly behind him when he did it - think "Collingwood squared", although I'm not sure if he's that good all the time.

 

[masterblaster]

Ponting, Gibbs, Collingwood, Kaif, Yuvraj, Akash Chopra (his short leg work is amazing), Hamish Marshall, Andrew Symonds, VVS Laxman (his slips work is very good), Andrew Flintoff.

Sachin Tendulkar is underrated, but really gives it his 100% every time in the field, he may not be sparkling brilliant but he's very solid in the deep and just about anywhere you put him on the park.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Only one mention of Dwayne Smith in this thread and that was by me. Shocking really. He can match with Collingwood on the infield any day of the week and I don't think there are any better boundary fielders than he is.

 

[Richard]

Personally I'd say Gibbs, Symonds, Collingwood, Dwayne Smith, Yuvraj Singh, Imran Farhat and a few others are equal for-all-intents-and-purposes. Ponting just a fraction behind - 2 years ago he'd have been as good.
There are many, many good slippers - Inzamam, Dravid, Laxman, Warne, Hayden, Flintoff, Fleming, and probably plenty more I can't be bothered to name.

 

[marc71178]

Is it me, or have some of the catches in recent times been brilliant (think back to the Oval on the Friday - not 1 but 2 superb catches)

As time goes on, fielding standards continue to improve.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Andrew Symonds for mine - he's an absolute freak athlete with excellent hands and a big arm.

yeah, Symonds is awesome in the field.

 

[Richard]

Is it me, or have some of the catches in recent times been brilliant (think back to the Oval on the Friday - not 1 but 2 superb catches)

As time goes on, fielding standards continue to improve.

There have been plenty of catches every bit as good as these throughout the last 10 years or so.
IMO fielding standards haven't improved significantly in that time.
I don't think they're likely to get much better, either - there will always be players who're not capable of being that good, and teams who are notoriously poor in the field.

 

[delkap]

Yuvraj, Kaif, Ponting, Symonds, Gibbs, Collingwood well above the rest..

Ponting and Symonds hv an edge though in the sheer number of times they hit the stumps!!

Masterblaster mentioned Sachin for out-fielding, I absolutely agree.. He has one of the best arms, and a very safe catcher and excellent fielder in the deep. There would be others like him, but I can't recall any more.