The Slip Cordon: Fielding Art & The 10 Greatest Slip Catchers

The slip cordon is the most photographed part of any Test field. Three or four men, crouched, hands relaxed, waiting for the edge that is half-expected and yet always a shock. A great slip cordon catches everything that comes its way. A merely good cordon drops one in three. The difference between those two outcomes is the difference between winning and losing a Test match.

This guide walks through the geometry of the slip cordon — first slip, second slip, third slip, gully — what each position does, the technique of slip catching, and the ten greatest slip catchers in cricket history. From Mark Waugh's casual brilliance to Rahul Dravid's 210 catches, the slips have produced more sport-defining moments than almost any other fielding spot.

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The slip positions

The slip cordon is a row of fielders behind the wicketkeeper, on the off-side, angled to catch outside-edge dismissals from fast or seam bowling.

Position	Roughly where	Catch type
First slip	Right next to the keeper	Thin edges from quick balls
Second slip	One slip width to the right	Wider edges, harder hits
Third slip	Two slip widths from keeper	Wider still — modern third slip in pace attack
Gully	Square of the slips, off-side	Edged cuts, lifted drives

Each slip position has slightly different reading and reaction characteristics:

• First slip is the catching specialist — edges come fast, low, often half-volley. The first slip needs the fastest hands.
• Second slip sees more height. Edges that travel further usually rise more. Soft-handed catching matters.
• Third slip is sometimes considered "the easy slip" — the ball is travelling slower by the time it gets there. This is misleading. The catches at third slip are often awkward — half-rising, swerving away.
• Gully is the surprise position. Catches come from edged cut shots, lofted drives, or mistimed pulls. The gully fielder needs anticipation.

For a complete diagram of slips and the rest of the field, see our cricket fielding positions guide.

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The technique of slip catching

Six things make a great slip catcher.

1. The crouch

A slip catcher doesn't stand. They squat — knees bent, weight on balls of the feet, hands relaxed below the knees. The reason: most edges travel low. A standing fielder must drop down to reach the ball, costing reaction time.

2. Watching the bat

Like silly point fielders, slip catchers watch the bat, not the ball. By the time the ball is on the bat at 140 km/h, it is moving too fast to track. Reading the bat angle is the only way to get a head start.

3. The hands

A slip catcher's hands must be relaxed at all times, ready to react. Rigid hands cannot absorb the impact of a fast edge — the ball pops out.

4. The footwork

A slip catcher moves their feet, not their hands. The hands stay in front of the body; the body moves towards the ball. Mark Waugh was famous for this — he didn't reach for catches; he glided to them.

5. The mental reset

Slip catching is mostly waiting. Sessions can pass with no chances. Then suddenly, two come in three balls. The great slip catchers stay sharp through the long boring stretches.

6. Trust in the keeper

The keeper takes everything to the right of the right-hand glove (for a right-handed keeper). The first slip takes everything from there leftwards. The line between them must be communicated, or chances fall in the gap.

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The 10 greatest slip catchers ever

Ranked by a combination of catches taken, success rate from chances, longevity, and difficulty of the catches.

1. Mark Waugh (Australia)

The single most stylish slip catcher in cricket history. 181 Test catches in 128 Tests — second-highest catch ratio per Test in Test history (1.41 per Test). Waugh was famous for catching with relaxed hands and minimal fuss; he made the difficult look ordinary.

2. Rahul Dravid (India)

210 Test catches — the second-most by any non-keeper in Test history. Dravid was India's designated first slip for over a decade, and his standing in the cordon allowed Saurav Ganguly and others to specialise elsewhere. His catch ratio per Test (1.30) is among the best ever.

3. Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

205 Test catches in 149 Tests. Mahela had the rarest gift — he could field at first slip to fast bowling and at silly point to spin, with equal world-class returns. His standing position (slightly closer than most first slips) caught edges others would miss.

4. Jacques Kallis (South Africa)

200 Test catches in 166 Tests. Kallis was a slip cordon specialist who also bowled medium pace and batted at no.4. His catching record is even more impressive given the tactical workload.

5. Stephen Fleming (New Zealand)

171 Test catches in 111 Tests — a per-Test ratio of 1.54, which is extraordinary. Fleming was the captain who fielded at first slip; his catches won New Zealand far more Tests than the records suggest.

6. Ricky Ponting (Australia)

196 Test catches in 168 Tests. Ponting fielded at second slip throughout his career — the position that requires the most movement and the strongest reading of bowler-pitch combinations. His catch ratio (1.16) was elite.

7. Joe Root (England)

170+ Test catches in 150+ Tests. The active leader. Root has fielded at first slip for England for over a decade and is widely considered the best slip catcher of the modern Test era.

8. Brian Lara (West Indies)

164 Test catches in 131 Tests. Lara was a quietly excellent slip catcher who got little credit because of his batting reputation. His standing-out-of-the-keeper's-line was textbook.

9. Mohammad Azharuddin (India)

105 Test catches in 99 Tests, plus 156 ODI catches — the highest combined-format slip catcher of his era. Azharuddin's reactions came from being a former hockey goalkeeper. His one-handed slip work was particularly memorable.

10. Allan Border (Australia)

156 Test catches in 156 Tests. Border was the steady second-slip option through Australia's rebuilding 1980s and the rise into the dominant 1990s. His catch ratio (1.0) was among the best ever for a non-keeper non-first-slip fielder.

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The Mark Waugh effect

A note on Mark Waugh, because he genuinely changed slip catching. Before Waugh, the standard slip-catching technique was active — fielders moved to meet the ball with their body. Waugh stood still. He moved his hands. He let the ball come to him. He absorbed the pace with soft hands rather than fighting it.

The technique spread. By 2000, most slip cordons in international cricket had adopted the Waugh approach. Mark Boucher described Waugh's slip work as "the textbook for the next generation." It still is.

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The hardest slip catch ever

Several candidates:

• Andrew Strauss, Edgbaston 2005, taking Adam Gilchrist off Andrew Flintoff at second slip — diving full-stretch to his left, one hand. The catch turned the most famous Test of the modern era.
• Younis Khan, Lord's 2010, taking Stuart Broad — diving low to his right, one hand. The catch was so good it momentarily silenced Lord's.
• Ben Stokes, Edgbaston 2018, leaping at second slip to take Cheteshwar Pujara — a textbook full-stretch dive that defined Stokes's era.
• VVS Laxman, Mumbai 2010, off Harbhajan Singh — sprinting forward from second slip to take a low chance.

The honest answer: slip catching is a discipline of unbroken consistency more than spectacular individual moments. The greats catch everything in their range. The spectacular ones, eventually, become routine.

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How modern data has changed slip cordons

Three changes in the past decade:

1. Slips have moved closer to the bat. Modern hyper-accurate fielding makes a closer position viable. The increase in close-in catches has been measurable.
2. The cordon has gotten smaller. Fewer fielders at slip in modern Test cricket — typically two slips and a gully, vs three slips of the 1990s. The leg-side field is now more populated.
3. Catches are now ranked by chance percentage. Modern coaching tracks "catches per chance" rather than raw catches, allowing fairer comparison across positions.

For the broader rule context, see our ICC playing conditions 2026 guide, which covers boundary catch rules that interact with slip cordon decisions.

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Comparison with the close-in cluster

Slip cordon catches are different from silly-point catches:

Feature	Slip cordon	Silly point
Distance from bat	15-20 metres	4-5 metres
Bowling type	Pace/seam	Spin
Catch type	Outside edge	Bat-pad
Reaction time	0.4-0.6 seconds	0.2-0.3 seconds
Risk to fielder	Low	High

The two are complementary — a great Test side has both a strong slip cordon and a strong close-in cluster. Read our silly point fielding guide for the close-in counterpart.

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The slip cordon and DRS

Slip catches are increasingly subject to DRS review. The questions:

1. Did the ball carry to the slip fielder?
2. Did the slip fielder catch it cleanly?
3. Did the ball touch the ground?

Modern HD cameras and Hot Spot technology have made low slip catches more reviewable than ever. The "carry" question — did the ball reach the fielder before bouncing — is now a routine DRS scrutiny. For more on this, see our DRS guide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who has taken the most catches in Test cricket? Rahul Dravid of India holds the record for non-keeper Test catches with 210, taken across 164 Tests. Joe Root is the active leader and approaching this mark.

What is the most common slip position? First slip — the position next to the wicketkeeper. Most teams field a first slip in almost every Test situation. Second slip is added when conditions favour edges; third slip is rarer, used mainly in green-pitch Tests.

Why is gully sometimes considered part of the slip cordon? Gully sits at a similar angle to the slips and catches similar shots (edges and miscued cuts). Some commentators classify it as a slip; others treat it as a separate fielding position. In practice, the gully fielder works with the slips as a unit.

Can a wicketkeeper field at slip? No. A wicketkeeper is a designated position with specific glove protection. A non-keeper fielder fields at slip with bare hands, requiring different technique and equipment.

Who is the best modern slip catcher? Joe Root of England is widely considered the best active slip catcher in Test cricket, with over 170 Test catches at first slip. Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Ben Stokes are also elite modern slip fielders.

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The slip cordon is, at its best, a subtle art that makes the difference between teams that win Test matches and teams that don't. The hands are quiet. The catches are unspectacular. The aggregate impact is enormous. Mark Waugh, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene — they made first slip into a position of permanent quiet brilliance, and the tradition continues with Joe Root and his contemporaries.