Aussies put spotlight on catching in Benoni

Australia completed an exhaustive fielding session on Sunday to kickstart the Qantas Tour of South Africa as they seek an edge over the Proteas in the upcoming four-Test series.

The Test squad, minus David Warner who is leading the T20 side in New Zealand, ventured to Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Sunday afternoon for a fielding-focused hit out that lasted close to three hours as they aim to get accustomed to the unique conditions found in the Highveld.

The session led by fielding coach Brad Haddin and assistant coach David Saker comprised numerous stations that each replicated a different fielding situation – be it in the cordon, out in the deep or taking screamers in front of the batter.

“We just wanted everyone to get some balls in their hands and get used to the altitude,” Haddin said after today’s lengthy training run.

“The ball carries a lot further here. So when you’re taking your catches in the outfield ... and in slips, they carry a bit further than you thought.”

Despite several spectacular fielding efforts in the dominant 4-0 Magellan Ashes win during the home summer, Haddin has identified the team’s catching as both an area for improvement, as well as a potential deciding factor in the blockbuster campaign that begins in Durban on March 1.

The Australians will be aware that, unlike England, the Proteas are bound to cash in should regular chances present themselves during the four-match series.

“I don’t think we caught as well as we should’ve,” Haddin said when reviewing the fielding performance during the Ashes.

“We’ve got three of the best fast bowlers in the world at the moment and probably the best spinner, and we’re creating a lot of chances, so it’s up to our guys behind the wicket to make sure we’re taking them.

“The one thing we want to keep doing in the field is creating a real presence with the way we move and our body language. 

“This group is really starting to understand how much that makes a difference in tight games. 

“I thought that’s one thing we really did a lot better than England during the summer, really creating a presence with our body and movement.

“We’re going to have to be even better here against South Africa.”

There was one fielding drill in particular that immediately caught the eye of the players and the dozen-or-so passionate onlookers as training commenced.

The drill featured a white bed sheet – held up by a pair of steel poles – standing above a fielding board with a thrower and catcher approximately five metres to either side of the sheet.  

“Basically what it was, we wanted the guys just to react to the ball,” Haddin explained.

“We didn’t want them to get any cues from the thrower, so we needed to put a bed sheet there, so the boys just reacted to what they did.

“Late in the day sometimes when you can be a bit sleepy and you’ve just got to react to what comes, or a slip fielder to a spinner where you lose sight of it.

“Yeah, it wasn’t because ‘Marshy’ (allrounder Mitchell Marsh) wet the bed to dry it! It was all just part of the drill.”

The tourists will take to the nets on Monday afternoon ahead of a return to Benoni for their sole warm-up match of the tour later in the week.

Qantas tour of South Africa

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match v SA Invitational XI, Sahara Park, Benoni, Feb 22-24

First Test Kingsmead, Durban, March 1-5

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3