Inspirational fielding will redeem Bangladesh

[fwullah]

· Slip Fielding needs to be improved in Bangladesh. In this position we have seen Rafique and Bashar regularly. It is the most important fielding position in the game where a quick dismissal can be effected through the determination of a mentally agile fielder. The acquired wisdom is that the opening batsmen with his superior powers of concentration (an invaluable trait) make good ‘slippers’. It is especially crucial in test matches and needs to be addressed because few overs are bowled in a Test match without at least one man in the slips. Without one, a batsman will feel much more at liberty to have a go at good balls outside the off stump, knowing, if he gets a thickish edge, there’s no one there to catch it. A decisive factor is the bounce, which would inform slip positions accordingly. Due to this, in Australia, where the bounce was consistently higher, their slip fielders adopt a more upright stance. Slip fielders can stand as close as they dare to the bat. Daily practice will determine who goes for what in the slip cordon when the ball flies between two of them (like tennis doubles), but sometimes plain instinct rules the day.

Habibul Bashar fields in this position - ODIs or tests.

Boundary fielding is usually left to the bowlers or less-agile movers dispatched to outfield. It was traditionally an area to recuperate after delivering a tiring over; or to let off steam if they’ve been hammered; or it may be to hide them for awful fielding with slow reflexes. But in all seriousness, these bowlers need pretty good throwing arms as a rule, and even the tallest ones will put in a dive these days to stop the four, rather than the age-old tactic of sticking out a leg. Again, it pays to be alert on the boundary too, since the odd dynamic acrobatics can lift the team. Darren Gough of England’s stunning full-length catch at third man to catch Sherwin Campbell at Lord’s in 2000 turned the match and the series. We also recall how Ash, very close to the ropes, came dangerously close to get Youhana out in the last tour to Pakistan.

Mohammad Rafique fields in this position in the ODIs.

[fwullah]

Bashar has dropped more than 20 catches at the slip region over the last one year.

The opposition runs for 2 runs to the 3rd man area when Rafique fields in the 3rd man.

[fwullah]

We have seen Hannan Sarkar thumbles to pick up on the long on/long off region in the last 2 overs of a 50 over game in a close game in Pakistan recently.

Alok Kapali fields in the point or gully position, he is strikingly a good fielder - possibly follows Jonty Rhodes while ground-fielding, but he has also dropped too many catches. Sometimes batsman steals away a single off Kapali and gets away with it.

This is true for most of the young Bangladeshi fielders. It is very easy for the opposition batsman to steal singles off them from very close positions, the opposition take the singles with some big risk, but the risk becomes a non-risk as our close-in fielders cannot pick up and throw a direct hit at the stumps in a flash. Khaled Mashud has broken the bails on a numerous occassions, but it was for lost cause as the batsman always reach their home by the time Pilot breaks the bails from the stumps.

[oracle]

FW: I was lookingin vain for some info, specifically on the heights of the BD players, but could not find them. As for Sumon dropping those catches, just indicative of lack of concentration. Wonder who in the team will ever have the mental stability to keep those catches regularly.

[fwullah]

I think average height of Bangladeshis (male) is from 5'4'' to 5'8''?