The art of field at slips is something not everyone has. One
can be a great fielder on any part of the ground, but fielding at slip is
another thing entirely and even best of outfield fielders fail to make an
impact at slips.
This is why Sri Lanka made a comeback against India in the
third Test after a couple of mishaps in the slips by Indian fielders. With the
South Africa series up ahead, there are talks to Indian team hiring a slip
fielding coach to tune the players for the art—and according to Matthew Hayden,
there is none better than Ricky Ponting.
"The cricket world hasn't thought about a slip fielding
coach, but if they need one, then it has to be Ricky Ponting. He was
outstanding," Hayden told mid-day recently.
The big Aussie also insisted that shuffling the fielders constantly
by changing their fielding positions is something that would only hurt the
team.
"One should not change fielders from their allotted
positions. If Mr X stands regularly in the first slip area, he should be
allowed to remain there only because in the process he will feels comfortable
to stand in the same spot.
Haydos believes that making a fielder field in one spot
allows that person to adjust his movements in such a way that he fine-tunes himself
into a specialist.
"Ultimately, he will do personal adjustments to his
fielding when he gets the opportunity to stand in the same position again."
The former Australia opener himself was a specialist
close-in fielder during his time with the Kangaroos. Every member of that great
Australian team had players that were specialists in their zones, which made
them a formidable unit in all three fronts of the game.
