Cricket Fielding Positions Explained

By the Live Cricket Zone editorial team · Last reviewed 17 September 2026

Fielding positions are named from the point of view of a right-handed batter facing the bowler. The off side is the side the batter faces (to their right, on the bowler's left as they run in); the leg side or on side is behind them. Positions are mirrored for a left-hander, so a fielder standing in the same physical spot changes name when the batters swap. Once you know a dozen base positions and four modifiers, you can place any fielder you hear mentioned.

The modifiers

Short or silly: much closer to the batter than usual. Silly point and silly mid-off are only a few yards from the bat.
Deep or long: near the boundary. Deep midwicket, long-on and long-off are boundary fielders.
Fine: closer to the line of the pitch behind the batter. Fine leg is finer than square leg.
Square: level with the batter, at right angles to the pitch. Square leg and point are square positions.
Wide: further from the pitch line than usual, as in wide mid-off or wide long-on.

Behind the batter

The wicketkeeper stands directly behind the stumps. The slips stand beside the keeper on the off side, numbered first, second and third slip moving away from the keeper, and catch edges from pace bowlers; a fly slip is a deeper slip halfway to the boundary. Gully is squarer than the slips, between slip and point, and takes thick edges and cut shots hit uppishly. On the leg side, leg slip mirrors first slip and is used against batters who flick off the pads. Third man is on the boundary behind square on the off side, saving runs from late cuts and edges that beat the slips. Fine leg and long leg are the boundary positions behind square on the leg side; long stop, directly behind the keeper, has all but disappeared from the modern game.

Square of the wicket

Point is square on the off side, roughly level with the batter, and is often occupied by the side's best athlete because so many cut shots go there. Backward point is a little behind square, silly point very close in for the bat-pad catch off spin. On the leg side, square leg is the mirror of point; the square-leg umpire stands there. Short leg is the close catching position on the leg side, used against spinners, and backward square leg is a little behind square. Deep point, deep square leg and deep backward square are the corresponding boundary positions.

In front of the batter

Cover is in front of square on the off side, between point and mid-off, and extra cover sits between cover and mid-off. Mid-off is beside the bowler's run-up on the off side and mid-on is its leg-side mirror; both are straight positions that save the drive. Midwicket is the leg-side equivalent of cover, in front of square. Close in front of the bat, silly mid-off and silly mid-on take bat-pad catches. On the boundary, long-off and long-on are straight, deep cover and deep extra cover are on the off side, and deep midwicket is on the leg side. Cow corner, an informal name for deep midwicket towards long-on, is where slogs across the line tend to land; a sweeper is any fielder patrolling a large section of boundary, usually at deep cover or deep midwicket.

How captains use the positions

A Test captain with a new ball and a fast bowler might set three slips, a gully, point, cover, mid-off, mid-on, midwicket and fine leg: nine fielders plus the keeper, seven of them in catching or run-saving positions on the off side, inviting the batter to drive at a ball that might swing away. A spinner on a turning pitch wants a slip, a short leg and a silly point for bat-pad chances, with the rest saving singles. In the closing overs of a T20 the captain may have only the two fielders permitted inside the circle in catching positions, with everyone else on the boundary. The fielding restrictions that shape those choices are explained in the powerplay guide.

Two positional laws worth knowing

No more than two fielders may stand behind square on the leg side at the moment of delivery; a third makes the ball a no-ball. This law dates from the 1930s Bodyline series and still shapes leg-side fields. And no fielder may stand on or over the pitch itself until the ball has been played, so even silly point stays off the cut strip. Beyond those, and the limited-overs circle rules, a captain may put fielders anywhere.