Generally fast bowlers are not good fielders. Good fielding requires running fast, diving and athletic feats. Very few of them run fast. If you look at the South African pacers, they are very good at field besides their bowling ability. But, player like Munaf Patel and Mohammad Irfan, they’re lazy at ground. Last few years we have seen fast bowlers that are very good fielders. James Anderson is very comfortable in fielding. All the Kiwi fast bowlers are brilliant. Trent Boult has already taken some of the most sensational catches . Tim Southee is a regular slip fielder. Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad are also good fielders. Even in the Indian team, Umesh Yadav has a pretty good throw and fields well at the third man boundary. Today, we bring here top five fast bowlers who are also brilliant fielders.
1 James Anderson
Did you remember Anderson’s fielding against Australia in Ashes 2013? What a fantastic piece of fielding done by Jimmy Anderson. Attacking the ball and taking one big last stride that put his foot in the opposite direction to where he was going. Then a clean pick up and, crucially, he took aim before he threw the ball rather than just getting rid of it as soon as possible. This was end of Chris Rogers and a great example of how to do it in the field. England’s James Anderson is an outstanding fast bowler simultaneously good fielder in the world. He is a very good outfielder and have a strong arm. he can field in the in the slips. After Paul Collingwood’s retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, Anderson also started standing at slip to the spinners.
2) Trent Boult
Black Caps left-armer Trent Boult is one of the best fielder, who also opens the bowling, international cricket has ever seen. He has taken many stunning catches. One of the best catch was when he pulled in a one-handed screamer to dismiss Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakara in a Test match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. New Zealanders are known to be pretty athletic. In a Test match against West Indies Boult pulled off a stunning one-handed catch when Denesh Ramdin had smashed the cover off the ball and rightly thought that he had hit a boundary.
3) Tim Southee
New Zealand’s Tim Southee is good all-rounder in the world. Apart from his bowling he is also starting to contribute with the bat and in the field on a regular basis which is very beneficial from Kiwis’ perspective. He displayed his brilliance in the field.
4) Mitchell Starc
Australia’s Mitchell Starc is one of most promising fast bowlers. He is a very good fielder as well. The left-armer in IPL not only bowled well but also took some good catches on the boundary.
5) Dale Steyn
Dale Steyn is the best fast bowler of this generation.He also has a great throwing arm, which prevents batsmen from taking an extra run on his arm, and has never shied away from throwing himself on the outfield in an effort to save runs for his side, thereby setting a fantastic example for the other members of the team.