Slip (cricket)
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In the sport of cricket, slip is a fielding position on the off side of the wicket-keeper, usually placed in that position in anticipation of a "snick", or edge, from the batsman which is too far from the wicket-keeper for him to catch comfortably. Many teams employ two or three slips (numbered from the slip fielder closest to the wicket-keeper: first slip, second slip, etc.).
The gully fielder is an extension of the line of slips and fields almost square to the batsman; gully is also the name given to that area of the field. The position of gully was invented by Arthur Jones, who later became England captain in the 1880s at Bedford Modern School in Bedford. It was quickly adopted by EHD Sewell at Bedford School and then gained in popularity thereafter.
On occasion, four or five slips are called for. Australia used seven slips and a gully against Zimbabwe's lower order batsmen in a One-day International in 2001. England also used seven slips in the first Test against West Indies in Jamaica in 2004.
See also
Reference
- The Cricket Captains of England by Alan Gibson ISBN 1-85145-395-4