2010-11 Ashes Betting / Paul Moon / 01 October 2010 /

Paul Moon tells us why after hiring a top notch fielding coach, England have become real masters at the arts of catching, stopping and throwing. All skills that could well prove the difference between winning and losing the Ashes...

After England's Test Match series against Pakistan there was heightened scrutiny concerning the quality of fielding. Some observers commented that the best fielding team in the world had played the worst. This was no accident, one team had decided to tackle this particular discipline while the other gave excuses not to.

Pakistan maintained the bad out-cricket was because they play instinctively while captain Salman Butt claimed "cultural change in one series is virtually impossible and we need more time." Pakistan cricket is now 58-years old so how much more time do they need? To foolishly compound their obvious problems they have dismissed the idea that a fielding coach can make a difference and have deemed the appointment unnecessary...

The reality is that fielding directly affects the outcome of the game. Key moments often hinge on fielding and doing the little things right count in the final analysis. In the last Ashes series there was 96 catches taken, which accounted for 61% of the dismissals, underlining the value of handling skills.

Over the last ten years Australia and South Africa have been the best-drilled fielding sides but currently it is England who look the most accomplished. They have rapidly improved over the last few years under the guidance of former physical education teacher Richard Halsall. He graduated at Brighton and Cambridge in sport sciences and was appointed by Peter Moores in 2003 to be Sussex's fielding coach (the first in county cricket). He then became England's first fielding coach in 2007.

Richard Halsall ,41, quickly cemented the words "physicality, precision and sacrifice" into the team psyche and his impact was immediate. He seriously believes that putting pressure on core skills produces results. He measures fielders by keeping retrospective records of percentages regarding catches, diving stops and throwing accuracy. This man, for whom attention to detail is everything, seeks to replace opinion with facts. He is a momentum shifter and an innovator, even developing frictionless elbow protection to aid diving.

As England aim for their first series victory down under since 1987 the sides seem evenly matched. History and home advantage gives the Aussies the right to be favourites but in tight situations, the winners could be the team who fields best. Ideally, and in an order of priority a team would like to have a world-class: wicketkeeper, first slip, gully and backward point. In these key positions, England look slightly better.

World-class fielders are a rare commodity and only Ricky Ponting and Paul Collingwood tick those boxes but both teams have a clutch of high-quality fielders. These include Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey of Australia and Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell of England. The home side has a superb athlete in out-of-form Mitchell Johnson but England have two in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who are in form. Of the two squads only Monty Panesar is a fielding duffer who needs to be hidden someplace where the ball rarely ends up, all the rest are competent at the very least.

However, the defining moments of the series could be behind the stumps. Neither side has a top class wicketkeeper but Matt Prior will really enjoy keeping to tall men Steven Finn, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett who will provide the extra bounce and carry. He will also be keeping to the best spinner on show in Graeme Swann so it will be surprising if Brad Haddin (fitness permitting) takes more catches than Prior does!

Having seen Halsall's thoroughness to training and coaching, this aspect of the game will be fully covered. There will be no dropped catches because of a lack of practice. Clearly England must not succumb to the pressure of an Ashes series or inexperience on Aussie wickets but looking at the work done as a unit this summer and the forthcoming itinerary, England look prepared for once. Now they just need to win the toss in Brisbane, think about bowling for two seconds and then bat.

Latest Betfair betting for the first Test at Brisbane show: Australia [1.96] England [3.95] Draw [4.1] and the Test Series Winner: Australia [1.74] England [3.5] Draw [6.2].

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