Ponting: Amongst the Top 5 Fielders?

[Top_Cat]

Have to agree, can't really separate them overall when Ponting was at his peak. Could hit the stumps from anywhere, took screamers in close and in the ring and had the second best long-distance throwing arm in the side behind McGrath. Seems to be when he's tried to be a slipper that his overall standard has dropped a bit.

 

[Uppercut]

De Villiers is fantastic in the slip cordon too though, and because I'm predominantly thinking of tests, that gives him quite a significant edge. I think Ponting matched him in ODIs (where the skills you mention matter most) but I don't remember him ever having the propensity to take the amount of superhuman catches De Villiers does.

 

[Top_Cat]

De Villiers is fantastic in the slip cordon too though, and because I'm predominantly thinking of tests, that gives him quite a significant edge. I think Ponting matched him in ODIs (where the skills you mention matter most) but I don't remember him ever having the propensity to take the amount of superhuman catches De Villiers does.

Maybe not as many in the cordon but remember plenty of screamers by Ponting up to the bat.

I dunno, it's hard to quantify, really. At respective peaks, I can't really think of a genuine point of difference.

 

[Ikki]

Ponting's never been at De Villiers' current level though. I'm not even sure anyone ever has.

Think it's just bad memories to be honest. Ponting has been at such a high level - especially so when he was younger - and did it so often that he made the ridiculous look common place at times.

I'm not a fan of such arguments - and those with regards to wicketkeeping, for that matter - because they tend to be pretty subjective and hard to quantify. What I can say is that Ponting has been at an incredibly high level for a very long time. AB has a way to go.

 

[Avada Kedavra]

Ponting's never been at De Villiers' current level though. I'm not even sure anyone ever has.

Collingwood? Gibbs? Rhodes?

 

[Uppercut]

Collingwood? Gibbs? Rhodes?

Definitely not Collingwood for mine. Gibbs and Rhodes are definitely up there. But again, they're more suited to ODIs. They were great backward point fielders. I associate them predominantly with great stops and run-outs, as well as the terrifying aura previously discussed. When the ball went to Rhodes or Gibbs you just DID NOT run.

I'd actually expect to be more inclined to overestimate their fielding ability in hindsight than underestimate it, glossing over mistakes and remembering all the moments of brilliance. But I can't remember anyone ever taking impossible catches at quite the frequency De Villiers does currently.

The whole thing's hard to quantify of course, far moreso than any other area of cricket.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Always thought that Symonds was the best fielder I've seen, not that that's saying much, since I can only really remember after around 2003. I'd certainly say that Symonds is better than Ponting.

 

[Sir Alex]

AB De Villiers is a Don Bradman version of Dinesh Kartik imho. He takes impossible catches and effects inhuman runouts, but drops sitters as well. It was painful to watch him drop a few RPs in this year's IPL.

 

[Migara]

Definitely not Collingwood for mine. Gibbs and Rhodes are definitely up there. But again, they're more suited to ODIs. They were great backward point fielders. I associate them predominantly with great stops and run-outs, as well as the terrifying aura previously discussed. When the ball went to Rhodes or Gibbs you just DID NOT run.

I'd actually expect to be more inclined to overestimate their fielding ability in hindsight than underestimate it, glossing over mistakes and remembering all the moments of brilliance. But I can't remember anyone ever taking impossible catches at quite the frequency De Villiers does currently.

The whole thing's hard to quantify of course, far moreso than any other area of cricket.

I think Rhodes, Gibbs and Arthurton are right up there too. But talking of catching, I can recall few who were much better than AB. Harper and Arthurton took those blinders and so was Mahanama. If talking of catching per se it's difficult to go past Solkar, Sobers, Mark Waugh and Tillekaratne at shortleg / slip. Virtually never dropped a catch during there long long careers. How ever when all round fielding is considered Ponting is right up there with the absolute best. If some one asked me to name ten best all round fielders in past 30 years I would name Jonty, Arthurton, Harper, Ponting, Mahanama, AB de Villiers, Chris Harris, Gibbs, Dilshan and Collingwood. Symoonds, Chandana, Jayasuriya, Clarke, Pollock, Kallis, Viv, Mark Waugh etc. would define the next tier.

 

[Avada Kedavra]

I think Rhodes, Gibbs and Arthurton are right up there too. But talking of catching, I can recall few who were much better than AB. Harper and Arthurton took those blinders and so was Mahanama. If talking of catching per se it's difficult to go past Solkar, Sobers, Mark Waugh and Tillekaratne at shortleg / slip. Virtually never dropped a catch during there long long careers. How ever when all round fielding is considered Ponting is right up there with the absolute best. If some one asked me to name ten best all round fielders in past 30 years I would name Jonty, Arthurton, Harper, Ponting, Mahanama, AB de Villiers, Chris Harris, Gibbs, Dilshan and Collingwood. Symoonds, Chandana, Jayasuriya, Clarke, Pollock, Kallis, Viv, Mark Waugh etc. would define the next tier.

You have Dilshan and Mahanama in the same class?Dilshan is brilliant,maybe the best Asian fielder today but Mahanama was in a class above,IMO.

 

[zaremba]

Yep as good as anyone I have ever seen, that includes Rhodes, of course if he played for one of the bigger nations with more international exposure he would be on everyones lists.

I'm guilty of not really registering him as a fielder tbh. Are there any video clips of his fielding available, or was he not a "highlights" sort of fielder?