I am a very good fielder. I field at mid on but i can catch and am very agile in the field. The only thing lacking is my running i am not the quickest and i would like to improve it. Any ideas?

Also even though my catching is supurb I need to hit the stummps more. I can direct hit every 3/5. Hoq do I increase it to 4/5 or even 5/5. Any ideas?

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There seems to be only one thing to do Ketz, practice, practice, practice.

You need to find someway to replicate a match situation with the ball coming to you at mid-on, then simply practice getting to the ball quickly, cleanly picking up and throwing down the stumps. If you have a friend, brother, father (or even mother/sister) who enjoys cricket, then maybe they can help you by standing in the batsman's position and playing balls out to you for you to attempt to hit down the stumps. If you play small cricket games with friends, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to bowl for a bit (you can do a lot of bowling practice on your own) and concentrating solely on fielding.

Always be on your toes, even maybe walk in a little (not too much at mid-on) and learn to watch the batsman so that you can be ready if the ball comes to you. Practice one- and two-handed pick-ups as both will be needed, practice swapping the ball to your stronger hand. But mostly, don't be afraid to miss the odd few, enjoy fielding, play hard and you will get rewards.

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*ketz's head explodes* Lol jokes m8, it's alright to be arrogant - sometimes.

For the speed thing i'd do SAQ. Speed, Agility, Quickness training. I do it for rugby and it's things like quick feet through the ladder, short sprints etc. Build up leg muscles and just practice sprinting.

For accuracy, practice throwing a ball from a set distance at one stump, then double the distance and so on. Learn to hit one, you can hit three.

I'd also say i'm a good fielder (being arrogant ) and i field at Square leg or backward point/gully as i can dive and make agile stops. As i'm a sprinter and have a big arm i also love to field sweeping or deep square leg. When you've got a spinner on or are on defence the best fiielders need to be on the boundary, i've made a lot of big diving catches in my time and diving stops, so if you improve your speed and arm you could also become a boundary fielder.

But as i say, mid on really isn't a place for a good fielder, try square leg or gully/backward point, or if you have a very good arm - short mid wicket.

lol. Good joke. Ok thanks I know I can hit the stumps more often then not so ill ask my captain to give me the chance of fielding at mid wicket.

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I like to differentiate between good fielders and good catchers. Good catchers should stand in the slips. Good fielders should stand square of the wicket so that they can execute run-outs as well as take diving catches and cut off boundaries. Mid On is not a position reserved for the best fielders. Usually, the bowlers field at Mid On or Mid Off or deeper at Long On and Long Off.

Try this link for fitness exercise suggestions.

I think a good drill would involve 3 people. A batsman, a backup fielder and a fielder. The batsman uses a heavy cardboard cone with the top cut off to rest the ball. He can control exactly how to hit the ball. Whether to hit in the air, along the ground, straight at the fielder with power, without power, to either side of the fielder. The fielder gets catching practice, practice at moving forward or sideways to field the ball, overarm or underarm practice for throwing at the stumps. The backup fielder goes to the opposite side of the stumps to prevent overthrows or up to the stumps to effect a stumping. The batsman may occasionally run to the non-strikers end to simulate a real-life scenario to put extra pressure on the fielder. I suggest using a softer practice ball to avoid hand injuries during a long session.

The key point about fielding is not to look up before the ball is properly gathered in your hand. Your team-mates should be calling which end to throw while you are focussing on picking up the ball cleanly.

In this drill, the backup fielder can call which end to throw at. After the fielder has gathered the ball and looks at the end he has been told to throw at:
- if the backup fielder is up to the stumps the fielder throws the ball to the backup fielder to effect a stumping.
- if the backup fielder is not up to the stumps the fielder must attempt a direct hit.

The backup fielder can call "keeper's end - stumping" when he stands up to the stumps at the striker's end to effect a stumping.
The backup fielder can call "keeper's end" when he stands some distance behind the stumps to cut-off an attempted direct hit.
The backup fielder can call "bowler's end - stumping" when he stands up to the stumps at the non-striker's end to effect a stumping.
The backup fielder can call "bowler's end" when he stands some distance behind the stumps to cut-off an attempted direct hit.

If the fielder hears those calls and knows in advance which end to throw to, he can pickup, swivel and throw in one motion, without hesitating to decide which end to throw at.

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Do NOT do this! Mid-wicket requires more running (and faster fielders) than ANY other position on the pitch.... as you tend to be covering a HUGE area on the leg side... and with minimal likelihood of a ball coming your way in the air.

If you are better at catching than at running then try gully... or somewhere in the covers.... or close-fielding around the bat.

Rachael do you play cricket? I see catches and agility stops at short mid wicket all the time, not many at gully or cover. Cover does as much running as Short Mid wicket, also gully will have to run if there is no third man. Any position will have to do his fair share of running!

OK... there's possibly a theory-vs-practice conflict here: at Test level, the leg side is the place for an athelete like Chris Lewis... someone who can cover the turf like an olympic athelete and whose arm is strong enough to stop batsmen going for the extra run. At the highest level, catches on the leg-side are a pretty rare event: fields are usually 7-2 and devliveries are expected to be outside off stump - and what goes through mid-wicket is {a} smacked off a poor ball that strayed onto the stumps; and {b} generally on the ground and well wide of any fielder.

Now.. at club level this might all change: I can visualise 6-3 fields and bowlers chucking as many balls onto the batsmen's legs as they get outside of off stump... but the theory is good - leg side fielding positions are essentially about saving runs through covering the turf quickly where off-side fielding (especially slips, gully, point and the covers) is about catches and run-outs.

Well, you always hear about Nasser Hussain and others fielding at mid-wicket and being able to take these catches and make amazing stops. I saw a few in the ashes and regularly see diving stops/catches by short mid wickets in test and one day cricket.

Really? For someone like McGrath or Pollock maybe occasionally, or if there is some heavy off-theory in practise. But usually there will be at least a fine-leg, short or square-leg and a mid-on.

Most bowlers would get a bit cheesed off if their captain wanted them to bowl to a 7-2 most of the time.

In The Art of Captaincy Brearley talks about how he noticed that sometimes Lillee was good enough to bowl to a 7-2 field, but when the ball got older he would revert to 6-3 or 5-4.

7-2 fields are extremely rare even at test level. I'm not sure where you have seen them Rachael? I've seen Pollock bowl to a 7-2 field once at Vaughan, but he was bowling way too wide outside off-stump. A good bowler with a 7-2 field has to be able to bowl a perfect length, not too wide to waste the ball and not too straight to give away leg-side runs.

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Whatever your difficulties in mathematics, I can assure you mine are far greater!
Albert Einstein, 1879-1955