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August 14, 2008

Posted on 08/14/2008 in Extras

The value of 'third man'

From Ian, United Kingdom

I'm continually baffled as to why Test teams refuse to put 'third man' in place. During the two Test series this summer in England, it's been impossible to count the number of boundaries that have been scored from edges, controlled or otherwise, through the slip/gully area. I don't know if it's considered unduly defensive but surely the merits of limiting the batsman's scoring must be a priority. Additionally, there can be very few other fielding positions where the number of runs saved have been greater than the number that have been conceded through not employing a third man. I suspect, although I don't have the means to clarify, that teams could justifiably have fielded without a mid-on throughout the summer and with a third man in place have conceded far fewer runs. I'm not sure whether Statsguru can aggregate scoring in this way but it would be interesting to see. Obviously, there's a large amount of speculation involved but still. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Comments (4) Feedback

Posted by: Brendanvio at August 14, 2008 11:13 PM

In regards to field tactics, I'd view as a neccessary risk in order to have more fieldsmen in the slips or in the field. If batsmen are edging it through slips, your bowlers are doing their job right. Whether it goes to hand or not is another issue.

Posted by: Daniel Marks at August 15, 2008 5:10 PM

Vaughan used a 3rd man a lot during the 2005 Ashes series. It reduced the scoring rate considerably and put pressure on the batsmen, which in turn produced wickets.

It's an indirect tactic, but I think it can (and does!) produce results - if used against the right team, and the right batsmen!

Posted by: paul lewis at August 18, 2008 4:25 PM

yes it is considered a negative fielding position. bowlers tend to go for a mid on because it allows them to bowl straighter, or if they are bowling outside off stump, they can occasionally go straighter searching for a bowled or lbw. overall, i would say that 3rd man is underrated in 4 day cricket and overrated in one day and t20 cricket. in one day and t20, especially in later overs, batsmen are not trying to run to 3rd man. they are trying to belt it over the fence and if they get an edge, it would go past the keeper for 4 anyway.

Posted by: paul lewis at August 18, 2008 4:25 PM

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