The Different Positions of Cricket Fielding

Cricket is not just fighting of bat and ball. It is indeed more than that. People normally ignore the fielding at the cost of batting and bowling on the assumption that fielding is a very easy thing. Let’s see the different fielding positions  in the cricket field.

Check here the different positions

Other than the wicket-keeper and a bowler, a good captain set 9 fielders in the right position.  A good captain sets 9 fielders in different positions in perfect order or according to the need of the game.  Here are the different fielding positions in cricket used by a fielding captain.

Slip position: Next to that of wicket-keeper is the position of the a slip. It is used to bag a wicket of the opposition.

Point fielder: The point is the place where there is the likelihood of reaching balls more than the other positions.  Thus, the best fielder is placed in this position.

Third Man: Most of the time the fast bowlers are placed in third man. With the game becoming aggressive, inclination for removal of the third man position and locating Fly slip position has been used widely.

Fly slip: Fly slip point is laid down usually in defensive field set. Third man or fly slip  is generally set in defensive format of cricket.

Backward point: The backward point position is set in the defensive field to defend boundaries. Normally, point fielder is set on attacking field and backward point is used in defensive field. Sometimes both fielder are set at the same time, when the batsman is found playing in point direction.

 Extra cover: Generally, in any format of attacking field, Cover or the extra cover fielder is usually placed in the cover region.

Deep cover / Deep Extra cover: Deep cover and deep extra cover are placed in the field to defend the boundaries from the shot flung  over the cover and extra cover correspondingly.

Silly point, silly mid off and short leg: These are the closed fielding position only used to take the wicket of the opponent. The positions are set in the spin bowling, but rarely with the fast bowling.

Mid off and log off: Mid off and log off is the straight fielding position offside inside in 30 yard circle and the boundary position in the attacking field set.

Square leg and Deep Square leg: The square leg  or deep square leg is placed in most of the cases in the same line from batting point of the batsman.

Fine Leg / Short fine leg: It is positioned in the defensive field in most of the cases. But with the introduction of T20 cricket, short fine leg instead of fine leg is used.  The defensive field is set as wished by the captain.

Mid on and Log on: Mid on and Log on are quite straight position as there can only be a maximum of 5 fielders in the boundary position, except on the little leg side. In the face of straight ball mid on and log on are mostly active.

These are the basic fielding position some of which are used frequently and others are used less often. However, these positions are not fixed and are different from the basic positions as demanded by the situations.