Cricket fielding positions

Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, to limit the number of runs that the batsman scores and/or to get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or by running the batsman out. There are a number of recognised fielding positions, and they can be categorised into the offside and leg side of the field.

A fielder or fieldsman may field the ball with any part of his body. However, if while the ball is in play he wilfully fields it otherwise (e.g. by using his hat), the ball becomes dead and five 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.

In the early days of Test cricket, fielding was not a priority and many players were sloppy when it came to fielding. Fielding later became more professional, and much later, with the advent of One Day International matches, saving runs became even more important.

There are 11 players in a team: one of them is the bowler and another is the wicket-keeper, so only nine other fielding positions can be occupied at any time. Where fielders are positioned is a tactical decision made by the captain of the fielding team. The captain (usually in consultation with the bowler and sometimes other members of the team) may move players between fielding positions at any time except when a bowler is in the act of bowling to a batsman.

There are a number of named basic fielding positions, some of which are employed very commonly and others that are used less often. However, these positions are neither fixed nor precisely defined, and fielders can be placed in positions that differ from the basic positions. The nomenclature of the positions is somewhat esoteric, but roughly follow a system of polar coordinates – one word (leg, cover, mid-wicket) specifies the angle from the batsman, and is sometimes preceded by an adjective describing the distance from the batsman (silly, short, deep or long). Words such as "backward", "forward", or "square" can further indicate the angle.

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