What must be done to improve fielding?

[Desi_Joker]

Ok guys, let's be honest. Fielding (catches, to be more precise) played a major role in us not being able to bowl Sri Lanka out earlier in this test match.

What can we do to improve this?

I saw Hafeez giving an interview to Geo super where he said that he puts tape on his fingers to avoid injury in practice but can't do it in matches because it's banned.

The management should ban this in practice as well! He was hopeless out there!

Secondly, I think we should hire a former player by the name of Shoaib Akhtar as our fielding coach who would just stand there with a cricket bat in his hand during practice and whenever anybody drops a sitter, start swinging. :akhtar

Your suggestions?

[CORNERED-TIGER]

easy ban them for 5 months if they drop a catch per match... if the catches were simple.... like we saw in this match.. abt 3 were dead donkeys..

[Mohsin]

Instead of being like old bhudda's in the (so-called) pre-match 'warm-up'...


...look at what England do and follow suit.
Simples

[Markhor]

Fines for every dropped catch. This has gone on for too long now.

[mastermind_quad]

Bring naturally good fielders ...like Fawad/Umar Akmal /Malik etc

[DeadlyVenom]

Fines for every dropped catch. This has gone on for too long now.

Or bullets :109:

[kamz]

People are anticipating death of cricket in pakistan already.......... getting fines or bullets for dropped catches will end pakistan cricket straight away and take out any doubts or assumptions hehe :)

[Desi_Joker]

People are anticipating death of cricket in pakistan already.......... getting fines or bullets for dropped catches will end pakistan cricket straight away and take out any doubts or assumptions hehe :)

How about a good old thappar from the fielding coach then?

[Noman]

I think fine for 30% match feee.. Believe me we will see improvement in the field... Believe me... PCB need to do something,, this has gone one for too long. God knows how many matches if havent won because of dropped catches..

[Noman]

People are anticipating death of cricket in pakistan already.......... getting fines or bullets for dropped catches will end pakistan cricket straight away and take out any doubts or assumptions hehe :)

Cricket cant die in Pakistan, its the only sport.. Yes , Hockey has died..
Pakistan is too talented a country to let cricket die..

Fielding has to improve

[90MPH]

Fielding is something you should want to do yourself - not necessarily kept being told by others or your coach/captain to improve. This is how fielders become good because you want the ball to come to you - anticipating and ready every ball delivered. Unfortunately with Most Pakistani players it seems the other way round - they love their batting and bowling but fielding has to be forced down their throat otherwise I doubt hardly any would do fielding drills in their spare time.
This problem is a long term one, it can't be changed overnight. It has to start from the grass roots till then it will be constant problem for some time yet.

[sachin_]

hire a mental conditioning expert who can interact in urdu...

[sachin_]

easy ban them for 5 months if they drop a catch per match... if the catches were simple.... like we saw in this match.. abt 3 were dead donkeys..

how about hanging them if they drop a high catch ??:akhtar

[Desi_Joker]

hire a mental conditioning expert who can interact in urdu...

Do you think our players are mentally retarded? :inti

But I agree with those saying that players have to want to improve on their own instead of having a coach shoving drills down their throat.

[sarmadsl]

Ok guys, let's be honest. Fielding (catches, to be more precise) played a major role in us not being able to bowl Sri Lanka out earlier in this test match.

What can we do to improve this?

I saw Hafeez giving an interview to Geo super where he said that he puts tape on his fingers to avoid injury in practice but can't do it in matches because it's banned.

The management should ban this in practice as well! He was hopeless out there!

Secondly, I think we should hire a former player by the name of Shoaib Akhtar as our fielding coach who would just stand there with a cricket bat in his hand during practice and whenever anybody drops a sitter, start swinging. :akhtar

Your suggestions?
i 100% agree
will all u guys come out of this that we lost or drawn match due to shafiqs batting..>>thats wrong.....what hafeex n other did u can't belive that that in reality allowed sanga to score more than 150 runs....
if our fielding was 90% we would have won that match ........................
n hats off to misbah for such defiensive approach ..he must be asked by admn to change his this crap approach or they should name another young captain...............
now its a 1 way to gat our fielding right that after this series all should be called to NCA and asked topractice fielding more that 3 hours daily and whan anyone drops>>>>>>straight away punished
by this they can improve

[saad1024]

:133:

[sachin_]

Do you think our players are mentally retarded? :inti

But I agree with those saying that players have to want to improve on their own instead of having a coach shoving drills down their throat.

ye retarded kahan se aagaya bhai :misbah

i guess some players are more laidback and taking things granted than they should be...conditioning coach should be able to make them refocus on the job...

[Saj]

Its not what happens during the match that is hurting Pakistan it is what happens during practice.

I said this last year during the tour of England and I'll say it again, whilst the England fielders were using hi-tech equipment to practice their catching, the Pakistanis were using the old fashioned smashing the ball at the fielders method.

Its the same in UAE, Ijaz was sat there hitting the ball at the fielders !

[kamz]

^^ why am i not surprised.....

and how do they practice slip catching, is it still the old school that one of the batsmen starts giving slips/edge catches to fielders................. then when he himself goes to bat in the match, he has got that habit of guiding the ball to slips lol

[The Muppets XI]

^^ but hi tech equipment would mean the PCB would have to spend money.

[Momo]

"It is as difficult to solve the fielding problem as it is to solve the Kashmir problem (or something to that effect)." :afridi

[Abdullah22]

Our fielders lack concentration and anticipation so when the opportunity comes they get surprised and drop the catch.

Catching practice isn't really helpful because there you are aware that the ball will come towards you and that you have to catch it.

[Markhor]

Its not what happens during the match that is hurting Pakistan it is what happens during practice.

I said this last year during the tour of England and I'll say it again, whilst the England fielders were using hi-tech equipment to practice their catching, the Pakistanis were using the old fashioned smashing the ball at the fielders method.

Its the same in UAE, Ijaz was sat there hitting the ball at the fielders !

Pakistan team management are stuck in 1990s approach. Doubt if the PCB are willing to spend money on such equipment and drag the team into the 21st century.

[nish_mate]

Easy and cost effective way to get Nass to dub and record "donkey tune" and have it played over the loudspeakers whilst doing the fielding drills :D

Did wonders for the Indian team post donkeygate....

[asifp]

stop doing high school coaching drills and get a proper professional.

England has machines that dar 90-95MPH balls as slip fielding catching for its players.

We have guys like Mohsin and Inti getting everyone in a semi circle and hitting balls to them

[SwingNSeam]

This is one area that should be easily rectified. Why doesn't the board invest in proper fielding coaches? It is a vital part of the game. We dropped lolli pops and caused a match that was almost won into a draw.

[Badsha]

Fine 15-20 % their match fees.


Might get them to concentrate more.

[Watsupdoc]

A good chittar parade would set things straight! :akhtar

[akamaka]

make them do 10 pushups and a lap around the ground every time they drop a catch. :akhtar

[SWERVE_uk]

Stop doing club cricket fielding practice they need to be innovative, Mohsin, Inti and Waqar make them do the same fielding practice they used to do in their playing days.

They spend like a fraction of the team in practice doing fielding and the rest is spent on bowling and battting. Fielding should be given equivalent importance.

Fielding standards are a problem from grassroot cricket they need to invest in sorting the problem out from the root. Eng or Aussie players before they play for their national team are already good fielders and therefore its natural they progress.

They need fielding coaches and clinics, just like bowling & batting ones around the country and maybe have a competition at grassroot levels.

The problem is our players technique is incorrect when the field i.e. body in the wrong position, diving incorrectly etc these things then become a habbit the more they play and its difficult to eradicate once a habbit. Just like batting or bowling technique its very difficult to change someone once they have got used to something for years.

[mastermind_quad]

make them do 10 pushups and a lap around the ground every time they drop a catch. :akhtar

Haha ....then they will not be able to stand in the field properly ....;-)

[Desi_Joker]

Haha ....then they will not be able to stand in the field properly ....;-)

Dude... that's absolutely nothing. They wouldn't even mind it, that's how easy that is.

[ads101]

Bring naturally good fielders ...like Fawad/Umar Akmal /Malik etc
honestly this is the truth.

You can improve fielding with a good coach, but really the guys who are good fielders are the guys who've placed importance and worked on their fielding all their life. If you've got lazy fielders (razzaq springs to mind), they aren't usually going to become great fielders.

What we need is a domestic system that places importance on fielding. Like South Africa. You don't even worry about fielding, you know that if they're in the team, they can field.

Hafeez is a good fielder, just had a bad day. Younis is too. Misbah's a good fielder (more of a good catcher). Taufeeq's good. It's unfortunate in that test our best fielders really had a bad day and let us down.

Bringing in fawad or umar for asad should improve the fielding more. Both are perhaps the best fielders in pakistan at the moment (along with maybe Nazir. They're perhaps better than Malik and Younis currently).

[mastermind_quad]

Dude... that's absolutely nothing. They wouldn't even mind it, that's how easy that is.

yeah ....but what amuses me that even the young ones are not trying harder ....frankly no competition in this particular department to prove the metal ...there must be a competition type of feeling between them ...

look at us after Yuvraj and Kaif (their initial days when they had a very good competition @ cover and point..i love to watch those clips)....
now almost all the upcoming youngster have this competitive feeling to show better to produce better in the field in result we got many young good fielders..

bring on Fawad's, U.Akmal's ,Malik's etc ......other will learn from their energy.

note : not talking just about catching....:)

[mastermind_quad]

honestly this is the truth.

You can improve fielding with a good coach, but really the guys who are good fielders are the guys who've placed importance and worked on their fielding all their life. If you've got lazy fielders (razzaq springs to mind), they aren't usually going to become great fielders.

What we need is a domestic system that places importance on fielding. Like South Africa. You don't even worry about fielding, you know that if they're in the team, they can field.

Hafeez is a good fielder, just had a bad day. Younis is too. Misbah's a good fielder (more of a good catcher). Taufeeq's good. It's unfortunate in that test our best fielders really had a bad day and let us down.

Bringing in fawad or umar for asad should improve the fielding more. Both are perhaps the best fielders in pakistan at the moment (along with maybe Nazir. They're perhaps better than Malik and Younis currently).

spot on ...:)

[AamchiMumbaikar]

bhai IND kaa fielding bhi kuh saal pehle bahut bura tha.... :(

Raina, UV n Kohli made some difference after that now almost every new player who gets selected to the team is good fielding wise....

It is told that domestic matches main fielding was improved few years back hence getting the results now. Same with PAK, domestic main improve karo, 4/5 yrs down the line sab ache fielders hi milenge.

Also keep some awards for most runs saved/ best catch in every match as incentives... :)

[Fireworks11]

Fielding and Pakistan have never been best friends. The bottom line is, you've got to enjoy your fielding and take it seriously. Practise more and use the equipment Eng/Aus use to really test your limits.

[kkmix]

5 thousand catches daily, no leeway, even if you are egoistic Akhtar.

[cricpak]

fielders struggled in hot conditions, and they did not enjoy it and therefore i think thats one of the excuses which could have been for the dropped catches.

Personally i think its the teams mentality for when they go out there because they were down because of the physical pressure being put on them in tough conditions.
And Mohsin khan did talk about mental toughness, and thats what we needed in the field, because i dont remember even one good catch taken besides younis khan which i personally though was actually a catch.

Adnan akmal did keep well, but there were times were he dropped stupid simple takes, and that why i say its the mentality of the team, they were pretty lazy in the field.

[VolcanicAsh]

Its not what happens during the match that is hurting Pakistan it is what happens during practice.

I said this last year during the tour of England and I'll say it again, whilst the England fielders were using hi-tech equipment to practice their catching, the Pakistanis were using the old fashioned smashing the ball at the fielders method.

Its the same in UAE, Ijaz was sat there hitting the ball at the fielders !

It has very little to do with equipment used in the practices, if you are good at catching the ball you are good irrespective of high tech or low tech technology. In the years passed all the teams used the same methods to practice and we were still as bad as we are today and teams like Eng, Aus, SA were as good as they are today.

The coaching staff need to put the right personal in the slips, people with high level of concentration, our slips should consist of Azhar Ali, Misbah, YK, Shafiq/Taufeeq. We won't have as many blunders as we do now.