Key match activities of different fielding positions and categories in one-day international cricket

Fielding has gained considerable importance in the game of cricket; however, there is a paucity of research in this area compared to batting and bowling. The purpose of this study therefore was to quantify the movement demands of one-day international (ODI) fielding. Television footage of eight games (16 innings) from the 2011 ODI World Cup was analysed using the video analysis package SportsCode. The variables of interest included 16 fielding-related activities and two efficiency calculations. These variables were calculated for fielding positions (excluding wicketkeepers) and categories of fielding. There were on average 177 +/- 52 fielding contacts and 12 +/- 6 fielding mistakes per innings. The activity in the field was split between the fielding categories: 20% close fielding, 51% inner circle fielding and 29% outer circle fielding. The positions with the most fielding activity per innings were bowler (26), cover (24), backward point (14), mid-off (14) and midwicket (14). Understanding the movement demands of cricket fielding provides value to coaches when designing assessments, and individualising training programmes to match positional and categorical (close, inner and outer) fielding demands.