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Ponting: Amongst the Top 5 Fielders?

wfdu_ben91

wfdu_ben91

International 12th Man
From what I've seen...

Best close-in reflex catch: AB de Villiers, Australia vs South Africa 2009 - Batsman was Phillip Hughes in the second innings when he scored 74
Best run-out: AB de Villiers running out Simon Katich in early 2006 in a ODI
Best running in the wrong direction catch: Younis Khan when playing for South Australia in a Ford Ranger Cup game against NSW - Batsman was David Warner
Best Catch on the Boundry: Steve Smith vs Victoria in KFC big bash last season
 
andyc

andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Am still yet to see a catch that tops Adam Dale's effort vs NSW (the second one here). There used to be a better video from Nine News that day where pretty much the whole thing was talking about the catch. Amazing.
 
Stapel

Stapel

International Regular
Ponting top 5 fielder? That's an idea I would never have come up with!

Sure, he's a fine fielder, but I've seen him miss out on a few chances.
 
Burgey

Burgey

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Avada Kedavra said:
Jonty,Mahanama,AB,Collingwood,Gibbs are better than Ponting.
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Nah they're not.

People have a rose-coloured recollection of Rhodes' fielding, like he never dropped a catch or fumbled a ball. He did, I saw him do it.

He was brilliant though, no question, in the point-cover region.

But, how many of the blokes you named have fielded regularly through their career at each of slip, gully, cover, cover-point, short mid-wicket and silly point, and did all of it as well as Ponting does or has done?

One of them may have done it was well as he has, and if they have, please say. I don't say I've seen a hell of a lot of some of the guys you've named. But I'd be astonished if any of them could do all of that as well as Ponting has in his career.

As to whether he's in the top five fielders of all time, who knows really? But he's a brilliantly diverse fieldsman, rather than a specialist in one spot.
 
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wfdu_ben91

wfdu_ben91

International 12th Man
AB de Villiers is a better allround fieldsmen then Ponting and probably any other fielder that's ever played the game.
 
Stapel

Stapel

International Regular
Burgey said:
Nah they're not.

People have a rose-coloured recollection of Rhodes' fielding, like he never dropped a catch or fumbled a ball. He did, I saw him do it.

He was brilliant though, no question, in the point-cover region.

But, how many of the blokes you named have fielded regularly through their career at each of slip, gully, cover, cover-point, short mid-wicket and silly point, and did all of it as well as Ponting does or has done?

One of them may have done it was well as he has, and if they have, please say. I don't say I've seen a hell of a lot of some of the guys you've named. But I'd be astonished if any of them could do all of that as well as Ponting has in his career.

As to whether he's in the top five fielders of all time, who knows really? But he's a brilliantly diverse fieldsman, rather than a specialist in one spot.
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One might argue the reason that Ponting has so much fielding experience, is simply because he was always there, based on his batting...

Ponting is a very good fielder. Simple as that. And he has been in field 100s of times. So yes, he has 100s of good actions in the field. I still don't think that makes him a top 5 fielder.
 
Spark

Spark

Global Moderator
wfdu_ben91 said:
AB de Villiers is a better allround fieldsmen then Ponting and probably any other fielder that's ever played the game.
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It's a bit early to call him the very best... but at the same time not exactly a stretch either

YouTube - AB De Villiers freakish reflex catch

He is an amazing fielder. I think it was the Perth test match where he took like 4 superb catches - it was as if there was a 2m zone around him and anything in the air in that zone got caught.

EDIT: seriously, look at that. The ball is basically behind him when he just grabs it out of the air - and he himself is airborne!
 
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Riggins

Riggins

International Captain
Burgey said:
Nah they're not.

People have a rose-coloured recollection of Rhodes' fielding, like he never dropped a catch or fumbled a ball. He did, I saw him do it.

He was brilliant though, no question, in the point-cover region.

But, how many of the blokes you named have fielded regularly through their career at each of slip, gully, cover, cover-point, short mid-wicket and silly point, and did all of it as well as Ponting does or has done?

One of them may have done it was well as he has, and if they have, please say. I don't say I've seen a hell of a lot of some of the guys you've named. But I'd be astonished if any of them could do all of that as well as Ponting has in his career.

As to whether he's in the top five fielders of all time, who knows really? But he's a brilliantly diverse fieldsman, rather than a specialist in one spot.
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AWTA.

Also I would agree Ponting isn't one of the best slippers ever, but still the best in the current Australian team.

What puts him on a level above everyone else IMO is his ability to create so many chances. Noone else creates the runouts he does, I would love to see his hit % as I think it would be off the charts compared to everyone else.

ABdV in the next 10 years could turn out to be a better all round fieldsman, but at this stage whilst he does pull off outrageous catches I don't think he's that level yet
 
wfdu_ben91

wfdu_ben91

International 12th Man
Spark said:
It's a bit early to call him the very best... but at the same time not exactly a stretch either

YouTube - AB De Villiers freakish reflex catch

He is an amazing fielder. I think it was the Perth test match where he took like 4 superb catches - it was as if there was a 2m zone around him and anything in the air in that zone got caught.

EDIT: seriously, look at that. The ball is basically behind him when he just grabs it out of the air - and he himself is airborne!
Click to expand...
Yeah that was one of the catches that I was talking about. Easily the best reflex catch that I've seen - because he was also at leg slip which prob made it harder. Hughes was robbed - would've scored a 100 if it wasn't for de Villiers.
 
GGG

GGG

State Captain
zinzan12 said:
Interesting extract from Nathan Astle's book....

"At his peak, I'd rate Harry (Chris Harris) as the best fielder I ever played with. People talk a lot about Jonty Rhodes, and what a good fielder he was, and that's true. But if you watch the two, Harry was more of an athlete as far as catching & picking a ball up cleanly. Jonty was a great stopper of a cricket ball, but if you put videos of the two side by side, I believe you'd find Harry was not only a great stopper, but nine times out of ten times would pick it up cleanly, which made him more dangerous to the batting side."
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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.
 
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