Cricket Fielding Exercises

In cricket, a good fielding performance can be the difference between a winning or losing result. Working hard on fielding exercises in training is a great way to take your team's fielding standard to the next level.



Work hard on these drills to improve team bonding as well. Fielding exercises involve the whole squad in training together and can always be a good source of team-building, as well as giving your side the edge.

  1. The Long Barrier

    • A man holds a cricket ball with the leather seam showing.

      In fielding, the long barrier is one of the most basic but useful skills you can learn. A long barrier is your fail-safe when stopping a ball with your hands--drop your leg behind your hands so that if the ball gets through, it will be stopped by your long barrier.

      The long barrier drill consists of one player rolling a ball along the ground on either side of the fielder at various speeds. The fielder must adopt the long barrier position, practicing getting hands on the ball and throwing it back to the fielder who rolled the ball originally.

      A good long barrier is essential in the field and will save valuable runs.

    Call And Catch

    • A batsman fends the ball away on the leg side.

      One skill that is always tested in the field is a fielder's ability to catch the ball. This is a method of dismissal for a batsman and is commonplace in club-level cricket. A further skill to catching the ball is the ability to successfully call the ball so as to avoid colliding with any other fielders.

      The call and catch exercise is a good way of practicing this. You need a set of stumps with a wicket keeper behind them, a batsman and some fielders (minimum two, maximum 10) standing five yards apart, about 20 to 40 yards away from the batsman.

      The wicket keeper tosses the ball up for the batsman to hit into the fielders at varying angles and paces. Fielders must practice calling for the ball, catching it and returning the throw to the wicket keeper.

    Pick And Return

    • Another essential skill in the field is the ability to chase down a ball, pick it up and return it to the wicket keeper as quickly and accurately as possible.

      A good drill to work on these skills again involves a wicket keeper over the stumps and a batsman. On this occasion, the fielders line up behind a cone and take turns to individually chase down the ball that the batsman hits. They then must stop the ball, pick it up and throw it back to the wicket keeper as quickly as possible. The next fielder behind the cone then continues the exercise.

    Pick And Relay Return

    • Strong fielding can send a batsman back into the pavillion.

      We are seeing 21st century cricket moving toward more inventive fielding solutions. For example, fielders are now encouraged to chase down the ball in pairs so they can field the ball in tandem.

      The pick and relay return is the same as the pick and return exercise, but you send two fielders after the ball. The first fielder slides to stop the ball and flicks it up to the second fielder. The second fielder returns the ball to the wicket keeper.

    Slip Catching

    • Many of the catches taken in cricket matches are done so in the slips. This is the open side of the bat, known as the off side, and the ball commonly comes through to that area once it has hit the outside edge of the batsman's bat.

      A good exercise to practice slip catching is to get a bowler to throw deliveries at a batsman with no bounce (rather than bowl them) and have three or four fielders in the slips. The batsman then deliberately guides the ball into the slip region. This is the most authentic way of practicing slip catches and is second only to playing competitive cricket in the slips.