Master Fielder

[StinkyBoHoon]

Agreed with that point. If a spinner is bowling I would want Jayawardena at slip. Apart from hands that seem like shovels sometimes, he also reacts superbly and he can read the bowler almost as well as the keeper.

it's pretty difficult to speculate about but it was one of the reasons I think murali was so effective for sri lanka, especially in ODIs. I still think he was a class above saqlain in the format but you do have to consider that the gulf in them was probably widened by having sangakkara (among the fastest hands behind the stumps, especially capable of standing up to the spinner and effecting stumpings) and jayawardena close with dilshan covering. it makes a big difference, can't really think of anyone in pakistans team that would as effective taking one handed catches on both sides as a close in slip to a spinner.

EDIT - Off topic, but as I am forced to call Jayawardene Jayawardena, anyone remembers when they used to call the grounds Calcutta (Kolkata now) and Bombay (Mumbai) and Jayawardena was Jayawardene, Shakib was Saquibul Hasan, Muralitharan was Muralidaran, Mohammed Yousuf was Yousuf Youhana, etc? (I will not mention what we called former NZ player Nathan Astle in the Caribbean...but rest assured, it definitely rhymed with As...dot dot dot)...hle...

haha, yeah, as far as I know not all of them are for the same reasons.

I believe muralidaran/muralitharan where just people not sure how sinhalese should be translated into the roman alphabet. australia actually still tends to go with the D (herald sun article from a couple of weeks ago - Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun)

I think to be honest, jayawardene tends to be the one that couples with muralitharan, whereas people that spell it muralidaran end mahela's name with an a. so I'm all over the place with no consistency.

mohammad yousuf changed his name upon converting to islam (like muhammad ali used to be cassius clay) and india changed the names of most of their cities as they were remants of british colonialism when they angliscised their names. (and in practice quite a few of them haven't stuck, the people I've met from mumbai frequently refer to it as bombay)

why did the caribbeans call astle that??? (apart from it rhyming)

 

[qpeedore]

Yeah, I knew about the reasons behind the changes, don't worry.

As for Astle, I think it was the last NZ tour of the Caribbean 10 years ago. There was an ODI played in Trinidad where Astle had a major role toward a NZ victory. I wasn't at the match personally, but a few of my friends were there and mentioned that people were calling him that out of frustration at the loss...and it sort of stuck.

 

[sifter132]

Ooohh, OK, I'll give it a go. Excuse the Australian-ness and modern-ness of my team. Hard to give the spots to guys you've never seen field/not very often. Picked some bowlers so I could make a 'normal' looking XI.

Keeper: Ian Healy (although I think his keeping is a bit overrated)
1st slip: Mark Taylor
2nd slip: Mark Waugh
Picked a 3 man slip cordon together - I couldn't think of a more successful group that I'd seen than these 3.

Gully: AB de Villiers - don't know if he's fielded there much, but he seems perfect for the gully spot with his exceptional hands.
Point: Jonty Rhodes
Cover: Ricky Ponting (heaps of options eg. old guys like Colin Bland/Neil Harvey/Derek Randall/C.Lloyd/V.Richards/D.Gower, or more modern players like Azharuddin, Mahanama, Harris, Collingwood, Dilshan, Gibbs, Vincent, Symonds etc.)
Mid Off: Jimmy Anderson

Mid On: Roger Harper
Short Leg: David Boon (apparently Eknath Solkar of India in the 70s was the greatest - never saw him though)
Deep Square Leg: Brett Lee

Bowler: Chris Harris - took a lot of caught and bowleds from memory, plus he's a very good fielder in general. Richie Benaud would be plan B if a 'proper' bowler is needed for the XI.

1 Mark Taylor*
2 David Boon
3 Ricky Ponting
4 Mark Waugh
5 AB de Villiers
6 Jonty Rhodes
7 Ian Healy+
8 Chris Harris/Richie Benaud
9 Roger Harper
10 Brett Lee
11 Jimmy Anderson

 

[puddleduck]

Good shout on Jimmy. Definitely one of the finest bowling fielders in my memory. The fact he's ended up in the slips is really quite impressive.

Brett Lee is a good mention as well due to his very safe hands, athleticism and excellent arm.

I think it's Dwayne Smith of the Windies who I'm trying to think of? One of the best arms from deep in cricket. Absolutely pings it in, and normally right above the stumps.

Dilshan is another good call from the modern game, very quick across the ground.

I'd definitely want AB in there. If only for that awesome tumbling run-out he managed to pull off

 

[angryangy]

haha, yeah, as far as I know not all of them are for the same reasons.

I believe muralidaran/muralitharan where just people not sure how sinhalese should be translated into the roman alphabet. australia actually still tends to go with the D (herald sun article from a couple of weeks ago - Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun)

I think to be honest, jayawardene tends to be the one that couples with muralitharan, whereas people that spell it muralidaran end mahela's name with an a. so I'm all over the place with no consistency.

mohammad yousuf changed his name upon converting to islam (like muhammad ali used to be cassius clay) and india changed the names of most of their cities as they were remants of british colonialism when they angliscised their names. (and in practice quite a few of them haven't stuck, the people I've met from mumbai frequently refer to it as bombay)

why did the caribbeans call astle that??? (apart from it rhyming)

The "Australian" spelling came to provenance through the unorthodox method of asking the player how to spell his own name. Both 'd' and 'th' have appeared on Sri Lanka shirts, while CSK produced a shirt spelt 'Muralidharan'. The name itself is a reference to the image of Krishna with his flute; so the origin probably lies in India and the "true" transliteration is probably entitled to be a bit sketchy.

With Mahela, 'Jayawardena' is the name on his shirts, his website, twitter and etc. It's never really been discussed, but it seems clear.

Some of the names that are most open to interpretation are the ones based on Arabic script. A feature of Semitic languages is the implicit nature of vowels. The vast nature of the diaspora makes for rather creative Romanisation depending on the local flavour. A great example of this was the deposed Libyan leader, who avoided making an official translation out of defiance against the West. Whatever his name was, the way it was spelled is best represented through this graphic;


So it's something that lends to Pakistan and Bangladesh players, who are given names that stem from middle-eastern tradition. 'Mohammad Amir' was a decidedly more concise translation than the earlier 'Aamer'.

Similarly with the name Younis; there are several spellings of the Arabic name which derives from the Biblical Jonah; what is most accurate really depends on the person. "My name is Younus Khan. I tell people that everywhere, but they don?t listen."

 

[Fenil]

Muralitharan is a Tamil name it is spelled as Muralitharan but pronounced as Muralidharan . One of my friend's name is Muralitharan so I'll 100% sure about the pronunciation and spelling of the name.

 

[qpeedore]

Funny thing is...I actually prefer Aamer...

I don't presume that the players would WANT to play in jerseys that have a spelling they don't appreciate. But it still makes for an interesting bit of discussion.

Not the discussion this thread was originally meant for, however. Back on topic.

I agree with the choice of Jimmy Anderson. He is by far the best strike bowler/excellent fielder combination in modern times. Brett Lee has an ecellent arm as well.

And yes, puddleduck, you ARE thinking of Dwayne Smith. While he may fumble a couple in the outfield, he is an excellent fielder generally and his returns to the wicketkeeper's end in particular are a joy to behold. Fast, flat, and bouncing just before the keeper to have him collect it right above the stumps. All he needs to do is bring it down if he chooses to take it over the stumps, or collect it and use the momentum to guide it onto the stumps if he opts to take it just in front.

And I must have watched that tumbling run-out at least 10 times the first instance I saw it.

 

[puddleduck]

Ha yeah me too. My brain struggled to grasp quite how he'd pulled it off!

 

[qpeedore]

I think Mike Shinoda described it best in his solo project attempt away from Linkin Park:

This is 5% luck
20% skill
15% concentrated power of will
5% pleasure
50% pain
...and A HUNDRED PERCENT reason to remember the name!

I'd LOVE to see a fielding montage with that song in the background on YouTube. Challenge to any video makers reading this thread. Post with your attempts, however bad you think they might be.

Mods/admins...allow me to award vCash to the winner, maybe, if this little challenge gets a good response?

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

aamer/amir, still sort of odd to be discussing a pakistan player in a great fielder thread.

but on that note, who is considered pakistans best fielder ever?

 

[qpeedore]

Kamran "I drop at least two catches in every Test innings" Akmal!

Honestly though, I think Inzamam had a decent pair of hands when it came to catches. Covering a lot of ground, not so much. Throws were fairly good too, though.

 

[Sedition]

Don't know about best ever, but Hafeez always seems to take catches from what I've noticed in my fantasy cricket scoring.

 

[Anjula]

Faf Du Plesis and TM Dilshan

 

[6ry4nj]

I have to mention Derek Randall

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

Don't know about best ever, but Hafeez always seems to take catches from what I've noticed in my fantasy cricket scoring.

I seem to remember when they were playing england misbah was going mental at someone for not taking a catch the correct way. he caught it, but he was still getting in trouble for his technique, so I wonder if misbah is usually quite solid?

they fielded really well that whole series though and then were back to being iffy against sri lanka, so maybe he just got bored and went back to being terrible.

younis khan maybe, seems to be reliable and notably absent from the team when it seemed like their palms had been... ahem... greased.