Fielding (cricket)

Fielding in the sport of cricket is what fielders do to collect the ball when it is struck by the batsman in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball or running the batsman out. A fielder may field the ball with any part of his person. However, if, while the ball is in play he wilfully fields it otherwise, the ball becomes dead and 5 penalty runs are awarded to the batting side unless the ball previously struck a batsman not attempting to hit or avoid the ball. Most of the rules covering fielders are in Law 41 of the Laws of cricket.

Notable Test cricket fielders

A number of Test cricketers have displayed the highest level of fielding skills, including:

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• Colin Bland (South Africa)
• Ian Botham (England)
• Greg Chappell (Australia)
• Ian Chappell (Australia)
• Brian Close (England)
• Paul Collingwood (England)
• Roger Harper (West Indies)
• Chris Harris (New Zealand)
• Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
• Ricky Ponting (Australia)
• Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka)
• Derek Randall (England)
• Jonty Rhodes (South Africa)
• Viv Richards (West Indies)
• Bob Simpson (Australia)
• Mark Taylor (Australia)
• Mark Waugh (Australia)