Fielding positions in cricket are one aspect of the game which plays a central point in any match but since there are so many fielding positions, it is very common that most of the viewers are not aware of all or knows only a few positions out of all.
When the commentator utters jargons like “Deep mid wicket”, “Deep extra cover”, “Short leg”, “Forward square leg”, “Third man”, “Gully”, and so on, it may well become very confusing and go over the head if one is unaware of the fielding positions. To overcome this problem, so that no one feels alienated with the game that we all love so much, this article will provide a comprehensive guide to all the fielding positions that exist in the game of cricket.
On side/Leg side and Off side
Before diving deep into the various positions in which a fielder can field, it is imperative to know what is an on side or leg side and what is an off side because these two terms form the base of all fielding positions in cricket.
In simple language, imagine a batsman who is ready to face the ball, that is imagine he is ready with his batting stance. Now the side of the field which the batsman is facing is called the off side, that is the side of the field which the batsman can see right in front of his eyes while he is in his batting stance is called the off side. Consequently, the side of the field which is behind the batsman which the batsman cannot see is called on side or leg side.
In even more simpler terms, imagine a right-handed batsman is standing straight right in front of the wicket, so his right hand side will be called off side and his left hand side will be called leg side or on side. Conversely, in the case of a left handed batsman, his left side will be the off side and the right hand side will be the leg side or on side.
By dividing the field into on side and off side, it becomes easier to differentiate and understand the various fielding positions. To give a rough idea before going in detail about each of the positions, here are the overall fielding positions from a bird’s eye view-
| On/Leg side Field | Off Side Field | Others |
| 1. Mid on 2. Mid wicket 3. Square leg 4. Backward square leg 5. Fine leg 6. Long on 7. Deep mid wicket 8. Deep square leg 9. Deep backward square leg 10. Long leg 11. Silly mid on 12. Short leg 13. Leg gully 14. Deep fine leg 15. Cow corner | 1. Mid off 2. Extra cover 3. Cover 4. Point 5. Backward point 6. Short third man 7. Long off 8. Deep extra cover 9. Deep cover 10. Deep point 11. Deep backward point 12. Third man 13. Silly mid off 14. Silly point 15. Gully | 1. Wicket keeper 2. Slips and leg slips 3. Flying slip 4. Long stop 5. Straight hit |
The 30-yard circle
The 30-Yard circle is a white painted oval line drawn at a radius of 30 yards from the middle stump of each wicket which separates the entire ground into 2 parts – the ‘inner-field’ and the ‘outer-field’. The region inside the 30-yard circle is called inner region and hence the area outside the 30-yard circle is called outer region.
This 30-yard circle further plays a major role in naming the fielding positions and also can divide the fielding positions by 3 parts – on the edge of the 30-yard circle, inside the 30-yard circle which is near the pitch, and outside the 30-yard circle which is on the boundary line.
In most of the cases, whatever the name of a fielding position on the edge of the 30-yard circle, that exact position, parallelly straight backward, close to the boundary is named the same with an extra word – “Deep”.
This 30-yard circle will help group fielding positions in bunches of 2 and 3 because a position exactly at the edge of the 30-yard circle will have a similar position straight parallelly backward near the boundary and straight in front of it near the crease.
By the dividing the field into on/leg side and offside and with the help of the 30-yard circle, here are all the fielding positions explained in detail –
1. Wicket Keeper and Slip fielders
Wicket keeping position is the most common fielding position and almost everyone is aware of it. Wicket keeper is the one who stands immediately behind the batsman.
Slip fielders are the one who stands beside, on either side of the wicket-keeper. There can be any number of slip fielders- one, two, three, four, and even more. The slip fielders who are behind the batsman, which is located on the leg side of the batsman are called ‘leg slips’.
2. On side/ leg side fielding positions
Since it’s the leg side, a lot of the fielding positions in this area end with the word ‘leg’.
A) Mid On, Long On, and Silly Mid On – Mid on is the position on the edge of the 30-yard circle which is closest to the bowler (Mainly fast bowler) on the on-side of the field when the bowler is ready to start his run-up, meaning it s a position on the on side of the field somewhat behind one of the corner’s (depending on left-handed or right-handed batsman as discussed earlier) of the opposite end of the pitch, that is at the runner’s end.
Long on is the exact place of mid-on but parallelly backward very close to the boundary line.
Silly mid-on is just the reverse of long on, meaning it is the point parallelly in front of mid on within the 30-yard circle and very close to the pitch.
At any given point of time at least any one of mid on or long on will be there because whenever the batsman tries to get aggressive, these 2 positions become very key. Silly mid on is mainly kept to stop a quick single or take a catch of a mistimed shot mainly off a bouncer.
B) Mid Wicket and Deep Mid Wicket – Mid wicket position is the position on the 30-yard circle or just inside the 30-yard circle which is somewhere in the middle of the pitch and on the right hand side of mid on.
Deep mid wicket is the exact position parallelly backward at the edge of the boundary.
Both are catching positions, and apart from that, fielders are set there to stop a boundary as batsmen who are strong on leg side hits in these areas a lot.
C) Square Leg, Deep Square Leg and Short Leg – The fielding position on the edge of the 30-yard circle parallelly behind the batsman is called square leg and is also on the right hand side of mid wicket.
Subsequently the same position at the edge of the boundary is called deep square leg.
Short leg is the point just behind the batsman, meaning right in front of square leg and well inside the 30-yard circle.
D) Backward Square Leg, Deep Backward Square Leg and Leg Gully – Backward square leg is that point on the right hand side of square leg and on the edge of the 30-yard circle which is approximately facing the backside of the batsman.
Deep backward square leg is similarly the point behind backward square leg in front of the boundary.
Leg gully is the fielding position within the 30-yard circle which is in front of backward square leg and also at the front left corner of leg slip.
When a batsman tries to pull a body line bouncer on the leg side, then these 3 positions come into play.
E) (Short) Fine Leg and Long Leg – Short fine leg or simply the fine leg is a position again on the edge of the 30-yard circle which is at the right side of backward square leg meaning it is roughly behind the batsman diagonally meaning on the left hand side of the wicket-keeper.
Long leg, again, is the point exactly straight behind short leg at the edge of the boundary line.
So, on the 30-yard circle, taking the position of mid on and moving in an anticlockwise direction, first on the right hand side will come mid wicket, then square leg, then backward square leg, and then finally fine leg.
Other fielding positions on the leg side-
A) Deep Fine Leg – It is the position to the further right hand side of the long leg.
B) Cow Corner – It is the position between long on and deep mid wicket.
Hence, similarly, moving outside of the 30-yard circle on the boundary line, taking the position of long on and moving in an anticlockwise direction, first on the right hand side will come cow corner, then deep mid-wicket, then deep square leg, then deep backward square leg, and then finally long leg and deep fine leg.
3. Off side fielding positions
A) Mid Off, Long Off and Silly Mid Off – In the most simple words, what mid on is on the leg side of the field, mid off is exactly that position on the off side of the field.
Consequently, Long off is the exact position behind mid off right in front of the boundary.
Silly mid off is the opposite of long off with respect to mid off, that is the position in front of the mid off, just outside the pitch and somewhere around the mid area of the pitch.
All the three positions have the same purpose as that of mid on, long on and silly mid on, just that it is now on the off side.
B) Extra Cover and Deep Extra Cover – Extra cover is the position on the left hand side of mid off, it is situated on the edge of the 30-yard circle, roughly parallel to the area where the pitch ends, is roughly parallel to the area where the bowler releases the ball from his hands.
Deep extra cover is similarly the point behind backward extra cover at the edge of the boundary line.
C) Cover and Deep Cover – Cover fielding position is located on the edge of the 30-yard circle, to the left side of extra cover and somewhere around the middle of the pitch area.
Deep Cover just like the case of long off and deep extra cover, is located parallelly backward with respect to cover just before the boundary line.
Batsmen who plays a lot of cover drives, to encounter them, these 2 fielding positions are very vital.
D) Point, Deep Point and Silly Point – Point is that fielding position on the 30-yard circle which is to the left of cover and stands somewhat parallelly straight to the position of the batsman.
The deep point is the position of the point which is at the edge of the boundary, that is it is exactly backwards to point.
Silly point is the position which is right in front of the batsman just outside the crease, and needless to say, it is well within the 30-yard circle.
Players who play a lot of straight on the off side, against them, the point and deep point becomes crucial for both catching and stopping a single purpose. Silly point is mainly a catching position that too when usually spinners are in action.
E) Backward Point, Deep Backward Point and Gully – Backward point is further left to the point position, meaning it is somewhat located parallelly just behind the crease from the batsman’s end on the 30-yard circle.
Deep backward point is the located parallelly or exactly backwards with respect to backward point on the boundary line.
Gully is the fielding position inside the 30-yard circle in front of the backward point.
If a batsman tries to play a cut shot down the off side, then these 3 fielding positions come into play.
F) Short Third Man and Third Man – The position further to the left side on the off side of the field that is on the left side of the backward point is called third point, and it is located on the edge of the 30-yard circle. It is the position on the 30-yard circle which is just behind and on the right hand side of the slip fielders.
Third Man is the short third man position but in front of the boundary.
So, taking the position of mid off on the 30-yard circle, and moving in a clockwise direction, first on the left hand side will come extra cover, then cover, then point, then backward point, and then finally short third man.
Similarly, on the boundary line, taking the position of long off and moving in a clockwise direction, first on the left hand side will come deep extra cover, then deep cover, then deep point, then deep backward point, and then finally third man.
4. Other Fielding Positions
These fielding positions are very uncommon in nature, meaning it is not seen generally in cricket but nevertheless, it exists.
A) Long Stop – Long stop is the fielding position right behind the wicket-keeper on the edge of the boundary.
B) Straight Hit – Straight hit is the point that is located straight behind the bowler at the edge of the boundary.
Therefore, the long stop and the straight hit are basically two opposite points to each other situated on either side of the ground.
C) Flying Slip – It is an uncommon position that is seen on the 30-yard circle that is further to the left side of the short third man which leads to the position of behind the slip fielders. Hence, flying slip is the fielding position found behind the slip fielders on the 30-yard circle.
That pretty much covers all the fielding positions that cricket has to offer right from wicket keepers to on side field to off side field using the 30-yard circle to great effect and other miscellaneous fielding positions as well. So there are roughly 40 fielding positions for 10 players to field, the 11th player being the bowler!
in order to have a 100 percent clarity, here is a pictorial presentation of all the fielding positions in the world of cricket which has been discussed in this article. (Note – The fielding positions shown in the picture given below is portrayed with respect to a right handed batsman).
FAQs
Who is the greatest fielder of all time?
Johnty Rhodes
How many Fielding positions are there in cricket?
Approximately 40
Who has taken the most catches in cricket?
Non Wicket keeper – Mahela Jayawardene (440 catches)
Wicket keeper – Mark Boucher (532 catches)
Read Recent Articles
Top 10 most beautiful cricket stadiums in the world
Top 5 teams with most international trophies
Top 10 highest opening partnerships in ODI cricket
Top 10 run scorers in overall international cricket
Top 10 bowlers with the most maiden overs in ODI cricket
