Slip Catching
Also known as: catching in the slips, slip cordon
Slip catching is the specialist fielding skill of catching edges from the bat in the slip cordon — the group of fielders positioned behind the batter on the off side — typically requiring exceptional reflexes and soft hands.
The slip positions (first slip, second slip, third slip, gully) stand close to the wicket-keeper and slightly wider, positioned to catch balls that edge off the bat. Slip catches arrive at high speed, are often at knee or waist height after a thick or thin edge, and 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") and watching the ball all the way into the fingers. Dropped catches at slip are highly costly — they can reprieve a batter who goes on to score a century — and slip catching errors are frequently reviewed in team video analysis. Elite teams set multiple slip fielders for pace and swing bowling and practise catching in specialist drills.
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.
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.
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