Catching Tips

[HARPSichord]

I always catch it fingers pointing down and I have only ever dropped one catch in my career, which was a sharp dive to my right in gully.

 

[ThomasR]

Some good tips here, one I'd like to add is to keep your hands ready for the impact. Doing a lot of practice will help this obviously, but before you go out to field and during the game if you are haven't touched the ball for a while, throw it hard from hand to hand (over the distance of around a foot) a dozen times to maintain a feel for it. Always found the ball stuck a lot better when I did this.

 

[budge27]

Agree that concentration is the key. So many seem surprised when the ball comes to them.

This is the key. I hardly drop a ball at training but in a game i'm probably a 50-50 chance. I put it down to a lack of concentration...especially when you have been in the field all day and hardly had a ball come to you and then bang it comes to you and down it goes...when you think about it, how many catches go down at the end of a long day in the field in the middle of summer??

Agree also that i'd rather score a duck than drop a catch - as you let the bowler and team down dropping a catch but usually just yourself with a duck.

 

[Wallaby]

Use a tennis ball - one hand only - in training. This will teach you soft hands - a tennis ball bounces of your plam very easily. You have to let it come to you without snatching.

You will learn to gently cradle the ball in one hand as you catch it.

This will help enormously when you take 2-handed catches.

 

[Rocket23]

My old man gave me one of the best tips ever in regards to high outfield catching. He said always try to take the catch in front of your face. That way if you stuff it up it will smash you in the nose and thats what you deserve for dropping it. He is old school.

In terms of tips I think the best one I ever received as a young bloke (also from the old man) is to watch the ball into your hands. It was invaluable as a young keeper and I took it into my normal fielding when I stopped keeping.

 

[kinzamalik01]

wow these are very very nice and useful tips for all and thanks you share them with us in this forum

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

IMO, Gully is the hardest position to field in cricket.

I found everywhere difficult, but gully and point the hardest by a long way. The ball does strange things in the air, and tends to spin more off the ground, than any other positions. Gully, in particular, is generally regarded as a true specialise position - in my personal view it is probably more so than short leg or first slip.
Square leg is possibly one of the easier place to field, a lot of the time it allows for some anticipation of how the ball will come your way.

 

[HARPSichord]

Short cover is hard to field at too, imo.

 

[Ill Chicken]

The toughest catch in the game is caught & bowleds.

 

[eddiesmith]

Most important tip I can give is that you have to want to catch it. If you're uncertain, you will drop it...

Most definately, for years I could never take a skied catch because I was always uncertain, always misjudged them but now i take them all because I want to catch it

IMO, Gully is the hardest position to field in cricket.

I agree, the ball can fly around you so quickly and always seems to go 1m either side

1st slip is my favourite, keeper on 1 side, 2nd on the other just worry about the catches coming straight to you

In terms of easiest catches, I reckon mid on and mid off get them, but you do alot more work in the field than any other position

 

[HARPSichord]

The toughest catch in the game is caught & bowleds.

That they are.

In our first game yesterday, the captain got a ripper c & b, without looking at the ball.