Cricket: Black Caps outstanding in their field

Doug Bracewell shows his athleticism for the Black Caps ... such gravity-defying feats are part and parcel of the game nowadays. Photo / Photosport

The days of hiding on a cricket field are over.

Once, you were either a batsman or a bowler. You had to field, of course, but it was in a sense a secondary issue. Some were good, some average. Not so any more and as the game, and the intensity, speeds up, so too has the standard of work in the field come to matter far more.

New Zealand have been blessed with some fine fielders down the years, the likes of Chris Harris leap to mind. But they tended to be individuals standouts in a less effective collective. New Zealand are among the best fielding units in world cricket, and it's not by accident.

True, they have outstanding athletes - as distinct from simply cricketers - such as Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner and Martin Guptill, but far more specific work goes into fielding and the old line rings out loud: the harder you practice, strangely enough the better you become.

Two Big Bash League catches in the last few days illustrate how vital fielding is.

First Glenn Maxwell, a spectacular, electric fielder, dropped one which would have embarrassed a second grade club player.

Second, Ben Laughlin and Jake Weatherald then combined for one of those magnificent double efforts for the Adelaide Strikers, where Laughlin took a fine catch, then flung the ball 20m infield as he stepped over the boundary line, and his teammate dived to make the second catch. It was a marvellous example of fielding skills, and teamwork, in the modern game.

"A catch or run out can be crucial in winning or losing," said New Zealand assistant coach Craig McMillan. "It is something we work pretty hard on and when we field well we are certainly up in the top echelon of the better sides in the world."

Especially when compared to the muppet fielding efforts of the West Indies, in particular, and Pakistan occasionally this season. The Windies were disinterested, the Pakistanis are capable of full-on pratfalls, particularly in the outfield.

"Without a doubt," former international McMillan said when asked if the significance of quality fielding has sharpened the minds of teams in the last few years. He puts a fair chunk of that down to the burgeoning world of T20, where the hectic nature of the game adds importance to the fielding performance.

"The reality is you can't afford to hide anyone in the field. Guys now hit the ball 360 [degrees]. In the old days there would be short fine leg, or third man, where you could manoeuvre players to where the ball generally wouldn't go." Not any more. "You have to be able to field and throw. It starts with the younger kids coming up. It's just as important as being able to bat or bowl."

McMillan suspects younger players enjoy it more. Remember they have, and are, growing up in a changing cricket landscape, with the increased attention on fielding.

"The great thing about fielding is it's very easy to get better quickly. When I first made the [New Zealand] side, [coach] Steve Rixon had a big emphasis for us about fielding and the ability to keep us in game, or win games.

"He pushed the envelope with us and as a fielding side we developed. Those who are a little bit off the pace, it doesn't take a lot to get them up to pace but you need buy in from player. He has to want to field."

McMillan also pointed out so many games, especially the shorter versions, are won by two, three or four runs. "That can be a misfield, a dropped catch. There's very little between top teams, so you can have a point of difference."

He said the coaching staff have been excited this summer by the quality of catches taken - McMillan citing captain Kane Williamson's diving one-handed snare at mid-wicket to remove Hasan Ali in Dunedin on January 13 as a prime example.

Hitting the stumps with direct throws has also become taken on more importance.

"Now with T20 players they will hit the ball to you and run," McMillan said.

"[They'll think] 'You have to hit to run me out and I'm prepared to take you on and take a chance you'll miss'. I've seen some real improvement. They can be game changers and it's been a work-on for us in the last 12 months."

While fielding isn't a significant factor in team selection - in that you usually have two or three capable slip fielders, for example, no matter the mix for any particular match - McMillan revealed tabs are kept on which players concede most runs in the field, and which positions are the most vulnerable.

"It's something I keep count of, and over a season we keep a tally so we know what positions and fielders are doing the job and saving runs or need a little bit of work."

A noticable change in McMillan's time in the game at the top has been the arrival of more athletes, as distinct from cricketers, and there is a difference.

Step forward the likes of Santner, Boult, Guptill and Tim Southee.

"We have some very good athletes in our side. Players have to be multi-skilled, they're often fielding on the boundary, have to have a strong arm, be able to dive to stop fours.

"Jumping up on the boundary to bat the ball back, these are things they train on. They aren't one-offs that just happen."

Once upon a time a fast bowler's lot would have been fine leg or third man. In Southee's case he's become a quality slip catcher. He'd never have got the chance 20 years ago.

At training, McMillan usually slaps catches to the inner ring fielders, hard and flat. Bowling coach Shane Jurgensen serves up the outfield catches while coach Mike Hesson does the slip catching.

"We acknowledge fielding is the heartbeat of the side. We talk a lot about it.

"It's something you can control in terms of our attitude. Other things happen with the bat and ball but fielding is non-negotiable within the group and it's something Kane [Williamson] pushes pretty hard."

Sometimes catches go down. Even from the safest pairs of hands. That's life.

McMillan chuckled while acknowledging the point. "They do, and there's no worse feeling, as anyone who's played the game knows, that putting down one of those easy ones. You just want to dig a hole and hide."

There's been precious little spadework for the New Zealanders this summer.