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.

Restrictions on field placement

Fielders may be placed anywhere on the field, subject to the following rules. At the time the ball is bowled:

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• No fielder may be standing on or with any part of his body over the pitch.
• There may be no more than two fielders, other than possibly the wicket-keeper, standing in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. See Bodyline for details on why this rule exists.
• In some one-day matches:
• During the first overs of an innings (usually between eight and twenty, depending on the length of the match) there may be no more than two fielders standing outside an oval line marked on the field, being semi-circles centred on the middle stump of each wicket of radius 30 metres, joined by straight lines parallel to the pitch. This is known as the fielding circle. In addition, during these overs there must be two fielders (other than the wicketkeeper) in designated "close catching" positions.
• For the remainder of the innings there may be no more than five fielders standing outside the fielding circle.

The restriction for one-day cricket is designed to prevent the fielding team from setting extremely defensive fields and concentrating solely on preventing the batting team from scoring runs, which many consider leads to boring play.

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If any of these rules is violated, an umpire will call the delivery a no ball. Additionally a player may not make any significant movement after the ball comes into play and before the ball reaches the striker. If this happens, an umpire will call and signal 'dead ball'. For close fielders anything other than minor adjustments to stance or position in relation to the striker is significant. In the outfield, fielders may move in towards the striker or striker's wicket, indeed, they usually do. However, anything other than slight movement off line or away from the striker is to be considered significant.

Related Topics:
Umpire - No ball

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