Fielding . . .

Watching New Zealand's brilliant fielding today it struck me that there is an enormous difference between the standards of fielding in the Southern and Northern hemispheres.

If I had to rate the different cricket-playing countries in terms of fielding, it would be as follows:

Northern Hemisphere

India - average

England - average

Afghanistan - average

Pakistan - poor

Bangladesh - poor

Sril Lanka - poor

West Indies - poor

Southern Hemisphere

New Zealand - brilliant

Australia - brilliant

South Africa - brilliant

I wonder why the three SH countries are so far ahead of their NH counterparts when it comes to fielding?

Natural athleticism and a penchant for field sport like rugby which teaches you how to dive and recover.

I Bet if there was a slum swim tournament, India and Bangladesh would win hands down!

anything else I can help with?

"anything else I can help with?"

Well, the winner of the Grand National would be nice . . .

Looks like it's going to be a SA vs NZ semi.

The Phillips airborne diving catch to dismiss Kohli ....wow they don't come much better. ball travel time was .062 secs.

Also Jansen's outfield catch to dismiss Harry Brook was another bit of unbelievable magic.