Life at a corner of a cricket field

How often do critics scream out that cricket is a boring and a dormant game, when compared with games like football and tennis? How often do they tell that the game moves very slowly and there are a few fielding positions where fielders simply loiter around and don’t exactly take part in the heat of the moment in the middle?

Some of the criticisms are quite true, but it takes some doing to understand how life actually is, for those who stand at positions like fine leg and third man.

Fine leg is traditionally a fielding position for the fast bowlers. After each and every over, fine leg provides the fast bowlers much needed break for a brief while. It is a position which doesn’t make them run every ball, when compared to positions like cover or mid-off. It is a position which doesn’t make them show quick reflexes when compared with slip and forward short leg. An attacking field position like deep square leg, especially for well-directed bouncers, will also be a busier spot than fine leg. Bowlers don’t usually tend to stray on the leg side and hence, the probability of them getting to chase a ball is usually low.

Sometimes, the fine leg provides the captain the best position to hide the team’s weak links on the field. Nowadays, fast bowlers aren’t like the ones of the past. The likes of Brett Lee, James Anderson and Mitchell Johnson set high standards on the field. Such fielders might be fast bowlers, but they would be seen patrolling the field inside the circle.

So how does it feel when you are stationed at fine leg? How different can it get to another position say, a long-on or a sweeper cover? It is a very lonely place on a cricket field. Bigger the field, the more the lonelier you would feel on the ground. It could be really frustrating when you don’t do well and when you are looking for some moral support. The mind keeps wavering and it becomes extremely tough to concentrate on the game that is happening about 60-80 yards away from you.

Worse is when teams travel abroad and when bowlers get stationed at positions like fine leg. Visiting teams find it tough to beat Australia in Melbourne during Boxing Day test matches. One of the reasons is the unusually large size of the ground. Fielders from the subcontinent have a hard time because of the size of the ground and the packed stadium. Australian crowds aren’t the most sportive in the world. There are always jeers from big sections of crowds that stand right behind you. There have been many incidents when foreign players were targeted by the Indian fans in the past, so much so that matches have been abandoned due to crowd interference with the players. We don’t even have to cross the international border to see this sort of effect for fielders standing at fine leg.

The emergence of IPL has meant that the crowds are extremely vocal in their support for their local teams. I remember seeing Ashish Nehra being simply troubled by crowd jeers when Delhi Daredevils played Royal Challengers in the opening edition of Champions League. Although, Nehra was at long-off during the incident, such stories reveal how much the crowd plays in the minds of cricketers during pressure cooker situations.

When fine leg can already make you feel lonely, the strength of the voice of a thousand spectators can only add to the misery. Even in good times, it is not the best place to be fielding. When you’ve bowled a good spell of hostile fast bowling and you want to cherish those moments with your team mates, it becomes very tough!

The fun part of cricket is actually lost, to an extent, with such field positions. In contrast, slips and cover regions are probably the most active regions on a cricket field. Australians play a game inside a game. Michael Clarke once revealed that the Australians patrolling the field at the point, cover point and cover regions talk a lot and have a small contest between them to see who saves the maximum runs.

The slips in the worst of the days when they keep waiting for a ball towards them, are atleast near the action. With due respect, it is extremely tough to keep concentrating on the game every ball and be ready and agile as you were for the first ball in the morning. But, at least you can still be in the game and always believe there is a big role on the field for you.

While most of the field positions on a cricket field are meant to pick up wickets and show the aggressive nature of the team, fine leg will always remain a defensive position that enables the captain to hide the worst fielder in the line up and at the same also cover up the mistakes the bowlers might make by bowling down the leg side. That is exactly where positions like long-on and sweeper cover score more brownie points than a fine leg. They might at times look a defensive position, but the truth of the fact is, such positions enable the spinners to pick wickets.

The elementary foundation of team sport is slightly shaken up with field positions like fine leg. Every time a wicket falls, you will be the last person to come and join the celebrations. By the time you reach the centre and wish the bowler for his efforts, all the frenzy would have gone down.

The inputs which you otherwise would have given to the bowler will only be with you while standing at fine leg. This is one of the reasons, why bowlers like Zaheer Khan, who aren’t the swiftest on the field, still stand at mid-on or mid-off. When we weigh his experience and his presence near a young fast bowler with his fielding prowess, the former definitely overweighs the latter. But, it necessarily need not happen with all senior bowlers.

The amount of concentration someone needs at fine leg is immense. It is very easy to let your mind wander at such positions, especially when you are absolutely alone. In cases of low profile Ranji matches, this will be very evident. There wouldn’t be any crowd behind to keep you tensed. That is when the mind might go off on a long tough day. And then suddenly a ball flies towards your left or right, which if you don’t spot early might reach the boundary within seconds.

I can recollect a funny incident which I myself found once while playing a game at semi pro level. The game was meandering on a hot afternoon and one of the newbies in the team was asked to field in the fine leg region. He was not quick on the field, hence we was positioned at fine leg. For some reason, he was looking on the other side of the ground and didn’t realize that a throw fired from the point region was on its way towards him and after the whole team shouted out his name he turned back in surprise only to realize that the ball was near him and he had to do the fielding.

So, next time, when you watch a cricket match in the ground / stadium, try noticing the fielder who is stationed at fine leg, and let me know what you observe from that position.