Caught
Also known as: caught out, caught behind, edged to slip
Caught is the most common dismissal in cricket. This means the batter is out when a fielder catches the ball on the full (without it bouncing) after it has come off the bat or glove.
Once the ball touches the bat or the glove (which is attached to the bat hand and counts as part of it), it becomes live for a catching dismissal. Any fielder — including the wicket-keeper — can take the catch. The catch must be clean. This means the fielder must maintain complete control of the ball throughout. Neither the ball nor the fielder can touch the boundary rope or go beyond it before the catch is completed. The most common caught dismissals are edges to the slip cordon (for pace bowlers) and catches to long-on or long-off (for spin bowlers or in limited-overs cricket). "Caught behind" means caught by the wicket-keeper from a fine edge. Catching ability is therefore one of the most crucial fielding skills.
In practice catching drills, always watch the ball all the way into your hands rather than looking at where you will throw. This means the habit of watching into the hands is what separates clean catches from juggled ones.
In the slip cordon, soften your hands at the moment of ball contact by allowing your fingers to give a few centimetres backward. This means this absorbs pace on a fast edge and by a lot reduces the chance of the ball bouncing out.
Example
The batter edges an out-swinger to second slip, who dives to his right and takes a brilliant one-handed catch — the batter is out caught.
Why it matters
Being caught is the most frequent way batters are dismissed. SwingVantage's cricket analysis (in development) will link edge frequency to specific bowling types and batter technique to identify the swing-bowling matchups most likely to produce catches.
How it shows up on video
A caught dismissal on video shows the fielder taking the ball cleanly before it touches the ground, without the ball also making contact with a rope, boundary, or marker. Slow-motion replay confirms clean contact with the hands, that the fingers are underneath the ball. That the fielder's momentum carries them across the boundary only after the catch is complete (a completed catch then crossing the boundary is not out. This means the fielder can return from the boundary and complete it).
Common mistakes
- Fielders juggling the ball across the boundary when tumbling forward and then claiming the catch as complete
- Slip fielders grassing a catch due to a delayed decision about which fielder should take the ball
- Wicket-keepers taking a caught-behind catch without confirming the edge, leading to incorrect celebrations
- Batters assuming the ball has hit the ground on a low catch when it has been cleanly pouched, delaying the walk off the field
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
SwingVantage cricket analysis (currently in development) will review ball-travel trajectory from bat contact to fielder hands to confirm edge detection and identify coaching patterns in the types of edges produced off different deliveries.
Related terms
- Slip CatchingSlip catching is the specialist fielding skill of catching edges from the bat in the slip cordon. This means the group of fielders positioned behind the batter on the off side. This means typically requiring exceptional reflexes and soft hands.
- Out-SwingOut-swing is conventional swing bowling where the ball curves in the air from leg to off (away from the body of a right-handed batter), enticing an edge towards the slip cordon.
- Catching PositionA catching position in cricket is the stance and body alignment a fielder adopts. At the same time, waiting for a possible catch. This means soft knees, hands in front, eyes on the ball. This means to maximise reaction time and secure the catch.
Put this into your swing
SwingVantage can spot this in your own swing — free to start.