As an SLA myself, I'd like to think I'd do alright on this! First off, I'd have a short third man, maybe a bit finer than normal if he doesn't get a huge amount of turn, so almost a fly slip, a bit finer than on the 45. I would have a standard mid-on for him, cutting off the one, but my mid-off would be 10 yards further back, just in case the batsman plays inside the line of one and gets a leading edge, or mis-times a big hit out of the ground. I'd have a short-fine leg, 45 on the one. I would have a deep forward-square leg fielder, for the sweep/short ball/hoick to leg. I'd have a standard mid-wicket in, maybe 5 or 10 yards back, but with the option of coming closer to choke a new batsman, or to go back to a big hitter. My final 3 fielders would be on the off side. A fielder slightly backward of point, maybe 5-10 yards further back than normal to allow for the short/wide ball, a shortish cover, and an extra cover, again being 5 or 10 yards further back than normal. The bowler, gully, mid-on and extra cover should be looking to cut off the quick singles in the middle, or at least threaten to.

By the way, my field (which doesn't count as an entry) is:

Slip

Off side:
Backward Point
Cover
Extra Cover
Deep Extra Cover/Off side sweeper
Mid Off

Leg Side Ring:
Short Fine Leg/45
Short Mid Wicket
Mid On

There are a number of variations to this, but the basic principle is a 6/3 split field teasing the batsman to hit across the line and cutting off the 'easy' off side shots. We would revise things if the batsman starts working the ball to leg effectively.

My field would be :

2nd Slip
Cover
Extra Cover
Mid Off
Short Fine Leg (on the 45)
Deep Square Leg
Short Midwicket (quite Square)
Wide Mid On
Long On

With the bowler bowling straight a leg side field is the way to go and encourage the batsman to make a mistake trying to score on the off side.

If I was a left arm spinner angling the ball into a right handed batsman and with a good arm ball, I would love to see him trying to play the ball away through the gap at backward point. I'd give him an over before I either sneak a straight one inside the bat and knock back the stumps or he spoons it straight to gully.

Personally, I think a 6-3 field is a bit too negative a tactic and forces the bowler to err towards bowling wide of off stump for fear of giving away easy runs into the legside. To my mind this negates his best tactic of bowling straight at the stumps.

Thats a very attacking field for a 50 over game Ant. Its the kind of thing you would see in a test match against a tail-ender, with men out for the slog and almost everyone else in catching. Most club batsman would be happy simply working 4 or 5 singles an over against field.

I like the flexibility that having a 5/4 split field gives me, I'm then not afraid to attack the stumps, and if I over/under-pitch the ball, and they play me to leg I'm not going to lose out too badly!

Slip
Backward Point
Deep Cover
Extra Cover
Short Straight Catching Cover
Long Off
Mid On
Straight Mid wicket
Short fine leg a bit squarer than 45.

Slip for knick. Short catching cover will be there for leading edge when batsmen works across the line and can cut single off to mid off. Long off back for miss hit attempt over leg side on one that turns or a little slower. Straight mid wicket to encourage batsmen to play around the front pad a bit squarer. If batsmen starts to get ontop and hitting legside, consider using slip or catching cover at deep forward square leg. If ball is not turning use deep cover across on legside, again to encourage batsmen to play squarer increasing chance of knicks and bowled.

Could go on for much longer but thats enough for now

I'm slightly confused by that Richard, can you elaborate?

In particular, is point on the boundary or just a bit deeper than usual?

Also, you only mention 8 fielders: slip, gulley, point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket and backward square leg. Is the other guy at extra cover?

As a side note, its interesting to see how AB says short balls tend to be pulled and you say short balls tend to be cut. Just shows how every spinner is different!

All this time I have said "point" and "cover point" as the same position, but i see from a bit of googling that they can be slightly different. How confusing.

Hello sir,
The field set-up for this slow left Arm bowler could be a tricky one. Firstly, he should go by a one fielder at 1st Slip.With Fielder at first slip there's always a possibility of a ball taking an Outside edge of the balls. One at Fine leg isn't a bad idea, because batsman could try a sweep/paddle sweep for some runs, as many of the batsmen do.
A gully fielder, Cover fielder for Backfoot shots should be applied. The bowler needn't try too much. He should bowl good length and line little out of off stump from Round the Wicket to keep those (above mentioned) fielders in operation. A fielder b/w straight position & extra cover (inside the 30-Yard circle) should be kept to avoid boundary through that site. And one at long-on should be kept. Because all the fielders inside the Circle becomes bad idea if batsman switches to Aggressive mood.
For a bowler to be aggressive and put some pressure onto batsman he should go by a short-leg fielder. To get Gain of this fielder, bowler should try arm-balls from round the Wicket which may get inside edge onto the pad to the short-leg. And one fielder should be at Mid wicket (leg side)..
This field set up is for Right handed batsman..For left handed the field position should be reversed.
I a bowler lacks confidence, then no field set-up will help him. If bowler be able to put some pressure to the Batsman, then it would help him. Bowler should change this field occasionally or According to the situation, so that batsman do not get used to the field! Sometimes, A silly point should be placed to put some extra pressure. For tale enders move mid-wicket to backward (Bacause mostly they try to slog due to lack of ability to defence properly or to handle pressure).

Sir, what you think of the field. If there's a any type of error, plzzzz post me. I'd like to hear from you.
Thank you....
< Pup>

I am the under 13 captain for my school and club here in Barbados. Here is my field placements for the SLA bowler.

Wicket Keeper
Point
Cover
Deep Extra Cover

Long off
Mid on
Mid Wicket
Deep Midwicket
Deep Backward Square
Short Fine Leg
Bowler

Personally I'm very nervous about a 4/5 leg side field spread to all corners.

The stock ball does hold it's line so a decent batsman will be looking first to score in the V between straight and extra cover. I don't think 2 or 3 men in the ring on the off side is enough, it's easy runs through plenty of gaps.

I think at the very least you need 4 men in the off side ring to protect the main scoring area.

Also, I think having men on the boundary on both sides is a bit of a waste. Club batsmen are not Sachin and don't flay it all round the park. You have to be somewhat flexible to work out the boundary shots and cut them off but once you have that covered there is no need to spread the field wide.

Lots of interesting suggestions thus far. Its interesting to hear peoples reasoning too.

I am also a left arm orthadox spinner, who didn't sharply turn the ball when I was starting out in my early teens. There are a few things I'd definately recommend from a field perspective.

1. Start with a man at flatish mid wicket on the boundary. Bring this fielder up to a squarish midwicket position (on the ring) once the bowler is comfortable. Some of us young(ish!) spinners rely a lot on confidence, especially in the first over or two of our spell. We genuinely worry that the first ball we bowl wont hit the pitch, or will bounce twice. It is comforting to know that if this does happen, there will be a fielder at mid wicket there to protect that rank longhop/full toss. The mere fact this fielder there made me less nervous and less likely to bowl a bad ball! (make the position more square for a left handed batsman, as the ball is turning into a leftie, so the ball is more likely to be hit square).

2. & 3. Have a long on, and also a straightish midwicket (almost like a cow fielder inside the ring by around 5 - 10 metres). These fielders work together.

Right handed batsman: By bowling the ball on middle stump/middle-and-leg and turning the ball away you are encouraging the batsman to hit the ball along the ground through the vacant mid on for a "safe" single. Because of this fielding placement, the batsman must not only time the shot well, but must also place it perfectly. If he hits the ball too straight, the bowler can field this. If he doesn't hit the ball straight enough the man inside the ring at straight-cow will cut this off. Because the fielder is 5 - 10 metres inside the ring, he can move to his left (for a right handed batsman) and cut the ball off more quickly, so there is no chance for a single.
Left handed batsman: Hitting the ball with the spin through long on is easy, so if batsman start doing this on a regular basis, don't bring long on up - play with the fielder at straightish cow - make him more straight or closer to the batsman - as required.

4. Square leg - either inside the circle or outside the circle - depending on: how much the batsman is sweeping and the confidence of the bowler. This fielder should be infront of square for a right handed batsman, and behind square for a left handed batsman. It's pretty hard to sweep a really slow left arm orthodox, but club batsmen love it, so if your spinner is quite slow through the air, bring square leg up and encourage the batsman to hit the ball over/through the field. If you're a bit worried about the spinner loosing his confidence, then put the flat-midwicket fielder back to protect a slog sweep.

5. Slip - A slip told me that my captain thinks I can get a batsman out, even if I didn't think that! It also encouraged me to try and turn the ball as much as I could. It also comes in to play when the batsman is trying to hit the ball down to long on. A right handed batsman is playing against the turn and is not using the full face of the bat to do this, so this increases the percentage that an edge will be drawn. A left handed batsman may well play inside the line of a ball outside the off stump and edge. For left handed batsman, have slip almost standing at one-and-a-half-slip, as an edge off a ball that doesn't turn generally seems to go slightly wider than first slip - especially if the spinner is slow.

6. Mid off. Try to get the batsman to hit the bowler over mid off. It's harder than you'd think for a right handed batsman to do this. Although they're playing with the turn, they are playing an inside-out shot because of the angle so they often loose a lot of power. For a right handed batsman, maybe put mid off slightly wider than a conventional mid off, but never too wide so that a skied drive wont be caught. For left handed batsman - driving against the spin will promote the ball going in the air, so once again, mid off is there for a catch. If the spinner isn't turning the ball, then dropping mid off back an extra 5 metres could be an option. Remember, the bowler will be bowling over the wicket, so should be able to collect any misstimed shots in his followthrough

7. Point/gully, Cover point and Extra cover. Choose point if: the batsman likes to cut (point), whether the bowler is bowling long hops (point or even deep point), choose gully if: the bowler is maintaining a good line and length and he is turning it. Gully is a catching position for the big "hoick" either over cover or even cow. It's there for a thick outside edge off a shot with a lot of batspeed. Remember it's a catching position, so don't have him too deep. He should be about as far away from the bat as a standard gully for your opening fast bowler.

8. & 9. Cover point and extra cover work together, especially for a right handed batsman. If your left arm spinner strays off his straightish line and bowls a ball on off or outside off, the batsman will be promoted in to cover driving. Since the ball is turning away from the right hander it will either hit the middle of the bat (and hopefully go to extra cover), or hit the outside of the bat and go to cover point. Cover point can afford to be closer to the bat and actually become a catching position just off the block (if you're feeling aggressive), because a shot off the outside half of the bat will not only be aerial, it will also not be that powerful. To protect your offside field though, your cover point will need to be on the edge of the circle. This guy is there not only because a well timed cover drive will arrive at him quickly, but because he must protect a lot of ground on the offside field. You therefore want this fielder to be quick.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

My field would be;

-Long-on,
-Long-off,
-Straightish cover (saving one),
-Straightish mid-wicket (saving one),
-Cover-point (saving one),
-Short third man (saving one),
-Deep mid-wicket (covering the slog sweep),
-Square leg (saving one),
-Deep backward square leg.

As a slow left arm bowler I use this field often in one-day games, mixed in with variations in pace & flight. It seems to work OK.

David

How Can I post my field in POWERPOINT Slide...?
Pls respond to my prev post...

My field placement for the left hand bowler is short thirdman, short cover, short extracover, deep extracover, long off,leg gully, deep sq. leg, short midwicket, long on

OK I'm closing entries to this. I'll announce the winner shortly.