Simon Hughes
Slip Fielding
Few overs are bowled in a Test match without at least one man in the slips. This is not just to keep the wicket-keeper company, though on batsmen-friendly pitches it might look like it. Slip is probably the most important fielding position in the game. 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.
Sod's Law dictates that you can stand at slip, concentrating furiously for hours, and not touch the ball once, then, when you've given up hope of ever getting any action and are
contemplating where to go out for dinner, a chance comes along and you shell it. Slip fielding needs great
powers of concentration, never mind quick reflexes. It's a case of switching off most of the time, and just switching on for those crucial four seconds when the ball is 'live'. It's why
opening batsmen usually make good 'slippers' and bowlers are bad ones – their concentration is going to be seriously impaired if they're fuming about a lucky edge in their last over. It also helps if you have big hands – Graeme Hick's are like buckets.
 Bucket hands
Graeme Hick is an excellent slip fielder who has taken hundreds of catches. It helps to have hands much larger than average (mine in the foreground).
Proportionately more chances go to second slip than first (the keeper often poaches ones going to first) so the best 'copper' (catcher) always stands there. Because of the different angles involved, specialist first slips rarely stand at second, and vice-versa.
 First slip
The ball comes at a nice height for Brian Lara to take this slip catch. He was lucky that, on this occasion, the keeper wasn't tempted to go for it.
Standing styles
Standing styles vary. Atherton and Hick, part of England's regular slip cordon, prefer the slightly more crouched stance, Hick even resting his hands on his knees, which most coaching manuals advise against. In reality, it's whatever feels comfortable and Hick has snaffled hundreds of catches – some of them blinders.
 Comfort is vital
You may be standing in the slips for hours – Atherton (right) prefers to crouch, Hick is more upright.
Normally, an opening bowler will start with three slips, more is unusual. Here (below) there are four. There's a simple explanation – the West Indies were 23-4 and the wicket
was a minefield. The slips take their positions from the keeper. First slip will stand a little deeper (fine edges carry further), second slip on roughly the same line, third slip a little closer.
 Standing apart
Slip cordons are staggered. The first slip, standing behind the wicket-keeper, is a long way back.
In Australia, where the bounce is
consistently higher, slip fielders adopt
a more upright stance. This shot (below)
from the 1970s is interesting not
only because of the two slip fielders' stances, but also because of the
extraordinary wind-up in Jeff Thomson's action. The crouched
figure batting is Graham Gooch,
on his Test debut.
 Standing up
Australian slip catchers stand more upright because, on their pitches, the ball will bounce higher.
Where Slip Fielders Stand
Slip fielders can stand as close as they dare to the bat, but
they better not stand too close together or they'll get in each other's way. Daily practice will determine who goes for what in the slip cordon when the ball flies between two of them (it is a bit like playing doubles in tennis), but sometimes instinct takes over. In the sequence below Graeme Hick does very well not to be put off by Graham Thorpe's outstretched hand and still take the catch.
 Know your place
You can't fault Thorpe's enthusiasm, but he probably shouldn't have gone for it. It was closer to Hick and therefore his catch. Not only have there been cases of dropped catches but also broken fingers when one slip fielder gets in the way of another.
Copyright material reproduced under license from Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London, England
Copyright © Simon Hughes 2001
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