Field setting · SlovenijaCaptaincy is played in the gaps between fielders.
XI
Set a cricket field like a captain, not like a spectator
A cricket field has no fixed formation — it has named places. Slip, gully, point, cover, midwicket, fine leg: thirty-plus fielding positions, and only nine fielders to spread between them. Every over is a trade-off between catching men, ring fielders who stop the single, and boundary riders who protect the rope.
This board is a real field setting tool: drag any of the 11 players on a circular ground and the board names the position you just set — deep midwicket, short third man, silly point. Start from a ready-made field (powerplay, death overs, pace, spin, Test), check it against the 30-yard circle restrictions live, then export or share it.
35+ named positions Live field restrictions Right & left-hand batter Free · no sign-up
Field diagramThe cricket field positions diagram — off side right, leg side left
For a right-handed batter on strike, the off side is the side he faces (right of this diagram) and the leg side — or on side — is behind his legs (left). Every fielding position name derives from that split plus the distance: close catchers around the bat, the ring on the 30-yard circle, and the deep positions on the boundary. For a left-hander, mirror everything — the board does it in one tap.
- Close catchers — around the bat
- The ring — inside the 30-yard circle
- Boundary riders — on the rope
Right-handed batter at the striker’s end (bottom), bowler at the top. Dot colour = who fields there on the board (keeper, batter, all-rounder, pace, spin).
OFF SIDELEG SIDE30-yard circleBoundaryWicketkeeperBowlerSlipGullyShort legSilly pointPointCoverExtra coverMid-offMid-onMidwicketSquare legBackward square legThird manFine legDeep pointDeep coverLong offLong onCow cornerDeep midwicketDeep square leg All cricket fielding positions, explained in one line each
The names sound exotic — silly point, cow corner, fine leg — but the system is strict: side of the wicket (off/leg), depth (silly, short, ring, deep, long) and angle (fine, square, backward). Here is every position you will actually see set in a professional match.
Close catchers — around the bat
- Wicketkeeper
- The gloved fielder behind the stumps — up to the stumps for spin, several metres back for pace.
- Slip (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
- Next to the keeper on the off side, waiting for the edge. Numbered outwards; a Test attack may set three or more.
- Leg slip
- The mirror of slip on the leg side — for glances that brush the bat or pad.
- Gully
- Squarer than the slips, catching the hard slash that flies off a thick edge.
- Short leg
- The helmet position: crouched by the batter’s pads for the bat-pad catch off spin.
- Silly point
- “Silly” = dangerously close. In front of square on the off side, inches from the bat, for the lobbed defensive shot.
- Silly mid-off
- Very close and straight on the off side — pressure position against defensive prods.
- Silly mid-on
- The leg-side twin of silly mid-off, catching the checked drive.
The ring — inside the 30-yard circle
- Point
- Square on the off side, level with the batter — the cut shot dies here. Home of the best athlete in the side.
- Backward point
- Point, but a shade behind square — for the late cut and the upper cut.
- Cover
- Between point and mid-off, patrolling the most productive drive in cricket — the cover drive.
- Extra cover
- A straighter cover, splitting cover and mid-off against the on-the-up drive.
- Mid-off
- Straight on the off side, beside the bowler — stops the straight drive, talks to the bowler between balls.
- Mid-on
- The leg-side mirror of mid-off — first stop for the on drive.
- Midwicket
- Leg side, between mid-on and square leg — the flick and the pull along the ground come here.
- Square leg
- Square on the leg side, near the square-leg umpire — for the sweep and the square pull.
- Backward square leg
- Behind square on the leg — one of only two fielders allowed there at once.
- Short fine leg
- Inside the circle behind the batter on the leg side, saving the single off the glance.
- Short third man
- Inside the ring behind the batter on the off — cuts off the steer and the ramp in white-ball cricket.
- Bowler
- Delivers, then becomes the 11th fielder — straight drives come back at him fast.
Boundary riders — on the rope
- Third man
- On the rope behind the batter, off side — collects edges and late cuts. The famously “odd” name of the set.
- Deep point
- Point pushed to the boundary — kills the square cut for four.
- Deep backward point
- The boundary rider for the upper cut, behind square on the off.
- Deep cover (sweeper)
- The classic ODI sweeper — patrols the cover boundary, turns fours into twos.
- Deep extra cover
- Between deep cover and long off, for the lofted drive hit inside-out.
- Long off
- Straight boundary on the off side — the first fielder posted back when a batter starts hitting over the top.
- Long on
- Straight boundary, leg side — twin of long off for the lofted on drive.
- Cow corner
- Between deep midwicket and long on — where the agricultural slog lands. Named after village-green cows grazing there.
- Deep midwicket
- The boundary catcher for the slog sweep and the flat pull — a wicket machine at the death.
- Deep square leg
- On the rope, square on the leg — waits under the top-edged pull and the hard sweep.
- Deep backward square leg
- Behind square on the leg boundary — counts toward the two-behind-square limit.
- Fine leg
- The boundary behind the batter on the leg side — glances, top edges off the hook, and the bowler’s fielding home.
Cricket fielding positions — the questions everyone asks
Short answers, straight from the laws of the game and a century of captaincy.
What are the fielding positions in cricket?
There are 35+ named positions, built from three ideas: side (off side in front of the batter, leg side behind his legs), depth (silly and short near the bat, the ring on the 30-yard circle, deep and long on the boundary) and angle (fine, square, backward). The core ring for a right-hander: slip, gully, point, cover, mid-off on the off side; mid-on, midwicket, square leg, fine leg on the leg side; third man behind on the off. Only 9 fielders (plus keeper and bowler) can cover them, so setting a field means choosing what to leave open.
How many fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle?
T20: maximum 2 during the powerplay (overs 1–6), then maximum 5. ODI: maximum 2 in overs 1–10, 4 in overs 11–40, 5 in overs 41–50. Test cricket has no circle restriction. The board counts this live for whichever phase you select.
What is the powerplay field restriction in T20?
During overs 1–6 only two fielders may stand outside the 30-yard circle at the moment of delivery — usually third man and fine leg. That is why openers attack the first six overs: the rope is essentially unguarded.
What is silly point?
“Silly” marks a position so close to the bat it borders on unwise — silly point is barely two metres from the batter, in front of square on the off side, helmeted, waiting for the ball to pop off bat-and-pad against spin.
What is the difference between point, cover and mid-off?
They are three stops along the same off-side arc: point is square (level with the batter) for the cut, cover is at ~45° for the cover drive, and mid-off is straight, beside the bowler, for the straight drive. Extra cover splits cover and mid-off.
What is cow corner?
The area between deep midwicket and long on. The name is village-cricket humour: shots landing there were once so rare that cows could safely graze on that part of the outfield. Modern T20 batters put a fielder there almost permanently.
Why is the position called third man?
In early cricket, point and slip were the two close men behind the wicket on the off side; when captains added a third fielder to that area, he was literally the “third man”. The name survived even as the role moved to the boundary.
What is the best field setting for a fast bowler?
New ball: keeper well back, two or three slips, gully, point, cover, mid-off, mid-on, fine leg and third man for the edges — an attacking cordon. As the ball softens, drop a slip into the ring, push men to backward point and midwicket. The “To pace” preset on the board is a ready-made starting point.
What field do you set for a spin bowler?
Keeper up to the stumps, catchers around the bat (slip, short leg, silly point), a ring saving the single, and one or two sweepers on the leg-side boundary for the slog sweep. The “To spin” preset shows the classic version.
What changes for a left-handed batter?
Every name mirrors: the off side moves to the other half of the ground, so your slip cordon, point and cover all swap sides. On this board, the RHB/LHB toggle flips the entire field in one tap and keeps every label correct.
Is this cricket field placement tool free?
Yes — the board, all presets, the restriction checker, PNG and GIF export and the share link are free, with no account required. It runs in the browser on mobile and desktop.
Can I animate a field plan over by over?
Yes. Add a step per over (or per batter), move the fielders, and the board exports the whole sequence as an animated GIF — a shareable over-by-over field plan.
