James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1882

O N F I E L D I N G , 3 1 think that fielding is so little cultivated and so clumsily taught . Someof our larger schools , no doubt, have lately sent out some " fields " of the highest promise ; but the obvious question is : W h yare there not more ? Becauseundue importance, relatively to bowling and fielding , is set upon batting . Of course if a person shows a marked aptitude for batting or bowling , let it be thoroughly encouraged , but not at the almost entire expense of fielding . Aboy or manmay be a good runner , may be possessed of a quick and sure eye , may have a pair of " cunning hands ," and yet be a poor field ; because pace, sight andtouch have not been trained to work well together . Fielding is a science , and , as such , requires careful attention ; this , I fear, we as yet seem little anxious to give it . N o one can deny, however, that it is a science which exerts a very important influence over the well -being of cricket . H o wcan a bowler throw his whole heart and energy into his work if he feels no security in his field ; how can a team play well together if some of its members are untrustworthy in picking up, throwing, or catching the ball ? If w e are ever to have a fairly representative numberof good fields , they must be the produce mainly of school coaching ; it is useless to expect muchgenuine efficiency when fielding is learnt by persons of formed habits . Boyhoodis a period of elasticity , whena taste for fielding , like manyother good tastes , may be enthusiastically absorbed . It is not reasonable to expect that men, hampered generally with many serious avocatious , and enabled to give up only a limited timeto cricket , will take very readily to a form of exercise which implies muchlabour and muchinconvenience , and which, from a utilitarian point of view, offers few of the fascinations possessed by batting and bowling. On our manyschools and colleges -the nurseries of real cricket -must devolve the responsibility of improving the national game in this important respect ; and we take this opportunity of appealing to such institutions to adopt some systematic scheme of fielding practice , which , from the fact of its being systematic , must improve the style , and, therefore , raise the attractiveness of the gameas a whole. A n d this can be done without makinga " business of the matter ; " an earnest school captain can easily induce his team to give up some regular time to practice in " throwing ," " catching ," " picking up," and " returning ." Such practice will enable boys to acquire early that habit of self -reliance and general intelligence " in fielding , which is the offspring of continued application . For much must be left , in the matter of fielding , to the discretion of each memberof the team. Mr. G. H. Selkirk , in his useful " Guide to the Cricket Field ," speaks very appositely on this point : " It is impossible that the latter (the captain ) can detect every slight variation in style between the strikers , and therefore it is imperatively necessary that the fielder should note themfor himself , and guard against them. H emust to some extent use his own judgment as to where he shall stand -subject of course to the general discretion given to him" (p. 80) : and again , " the field must often be called upon to use their own judgment and experience " (p. 81). Having spoken thus far in general terms , I will now explain a scheme of fielding practice , which , though as yet worked on a smali scale , has been generally attended with success . Let the captain order his m e n out on the cricket field and bid themtake their respective fields , just as though a match were about to commence. The wickets being pitched , the captain goes to the stumps opposite those at which stands the wicket- keeper, and proceeds to throw the ball to different membersof the field ,