Mid off

Whatever the bowler and whatever the state of the wicket, there will normally be a mid off, thought his actual position in the field may vary between wide limits. We are not concerned here with a true silly mid off except to suggest that this role can be easily overplayed and can lead and has in fact frequently led to a side virtually fielding with ten men. It  is of  course, justifiable if the  position is clearly unsettling and  cramping  a  batsman, especially when  he first comes in or if  he looks  like playing the forward push to a left hand  spin or leg  break bowler  which may  lead  to a catch close in. Only too often we see a silly mid off persistently retained on a good wicket when no prospect of such a catch is apparent and even after the initiative has clearly passed to the baths man.

For the normal mid off the main qualifications are:
(a)    Good strong hands to stop and if need be catch the hard hit.
(b)   Ability to start and move quickly to cut off the drive on either side of him and to anticipate  the         stolen single from the push.

     (c)    Courage, that will face up to  anything that will come to him  either on the ground or  in the air, and that will get the  legs  and  body  behind the  hands as a  second  line of  defense.

      (d)   An accurate, strong, low throw.

His position will be determined by:

(a)    The pace of the ground.

(b)   The bowler.

(c)    The batsman.

(d)   The position of the other off side fielders: e.g a short extra cover will mean a deep mid off. The faster the ground, the deeper can he  stand to any  batsman  who  is  ready  to  off drive, and  still  be  able  to  save  a single.

With  an ‘away swing’, left  hand  spin or leg  break bowler  he will  tend  to  stand  appreciably wider  than  normal.

Mid off  will  normally  always aim at stopping  the  batsmen from  running  short single; especially is this true  when a man  first comes in  and is  often on  edge  until he has broken his duck. By watching the batsman carefully he can often anticipate the probable line of the stroke. For  hard returns from the  one  side  it will  often  be  mid off’s business to  get  to the  wicket in order  to save the  bowler’s hands.

                          There is no better place for a captain to field.