Slip Catching
Also known as: catching in the slips, slip cordon
Slip catching is the specialist skill of catching edges in the slip cordon, the fielders placed behind the batter on the off side. It usually takes exceptional reflexes and soft hands.
The slip positions (first slip, second slip, third slip, gully) stand close to the wicket-keeper and slightly wider. They are positioned to catch balls that edge off the bat. Slip catches arrive at high speed, often at knee or waist height after a thick or thin edge. They demand instant reaction with soft, relaxed hands that absorb the impact cleanly. A key technique point is catching in front of the body with both hands ("two hands together"). Another is watching the ball all the way into the fingers. Dropped catches at slip are highly costly, because they can reprieve a batter who goes on to score a century. Slip catching errors are frequently reviewed in team video analysis. Elite teams set multiple slip fielders for pace and swing bowling and practice catching in specialist drills.
Focus on getting very low in your slip stance with your weight on the balls of your feet. A low centre of gravity means you can react to a wide ball both ways. By contrast, standing upright means you can only dive sideways.
Practice second-slip and third-slip reactions specifically by having a thrower hitting edges at different speeds to your left and right. The hardest catches are the ones you have to dive across your body for.
Example
An out-swinging delivery takes the faint outer edge and flies fast at knee height to second slip, who takes a low reflex catch to his right with both hands. A brilliant catch to dismiss the well-set batter.
Why it matters
Dropped chances at slip are the most expensive errors in pace bowling. SwingVantage's cricket analysis (in development) will study reaction time and hand position in catching sessions to help slip fielders sharpen this high-value specialist skill.
How it shows up on video
Good slip-catching technique on video shows the fielder in a low, wide base with hands cupped together in front of the body, eyes level and tracking the ball from the moment it leaves the bat, and a calm absorption of the ball into the hands with fingers pointing downward for low chances and upward for catches above the waist. Drops in the slip cordon usually show a late reaction, hands too far to one side, or a rigid catching action that causes the ball to pop out.
Common mistakes
- Starting in an upright stance instead of getting low, making lateral dives and low chances much harder to reach
- Looking at the batter rather than the bat-ball contact zone, causing a reaction delay on fast edges
- Holding the hands tightly or at the wrong angle so the ball strikes the palm instead of the fingers
- Moving hands toward the ball rather than letting the ball come to the hands, causing the ball to bobble and spill
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
SwingVantage cricket analysis (currently in development) will analyse reaction time from ball-bat contact to hand movement initiation in the slip cordon to help coaches build individual reaction-time benchmarks for fielders.
Related terms
- Catching PositionA catching position in cricket is the stance and body alignment a fielder adopts while waiting for a possible catch — soft knees, hands in front, eyes on the ball — to maximise reaction time and secure the catch.
- 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.
- CaughtCaught is the most common dismissal in cricket. 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.
Put this into your swing
SwingVantage can spot this in your own swing — free to start.