5 fielders with the most Test catches
For every good bowler, there needs to be an equally good fielder to take catches. Players are unlikely to be selected for Tests on their catching ability alone, but it is certainly a valuable skill for them to have.
The best catchers are usually placed in the slips and all the following players have been slip fielders during their careers. After the wicket-keeper, the slip fielders are the most important fielders in a Test match, just because of the number of chances that come their way.
Without a good slip fielder, how many wickets would Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have taken?
On that note, here is a look at the five fielders with the most catches in Test cricket:
#5 Mark Waugh (181 in 128 matches)
Mark is the twin brother of former Australian captain Steve Waugh. He played most of his career with his brother and also under his captaincy, and while Steve was the better batsman, Mark led the way in terms of fielding statistics.
An interesting point in Waugh's career was when he and Mark Taylor opened on debut against Tasmania. The match was drawn but it was more notable for an incident on the third morning when the new opening pair overslept on Taylor's twenty-first birthday.
They were punished by coach Bob Simpson with fielding drills, who forced the pair to take hundreds of catches. This is likely to have been a factor in Waugh's development as a world-class catcher.
He was primarily positioned at second slip when a fast bowler was operating, and would often field at silly-point off a spin bowler.
Also Read - Most Catches In Test