Cricket’s best catches of 2012

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 01: Nathan Lyon of Australia catches out South African captain Graeme Smith off a delivery by team mate Mitchell Starc during day two of the Third Test Match between Australia and South Africa at the WACA on December 1, 2012 in Perth, Australia.

We saw fielding brilliance in 2012, with the likes of Steve Smith, Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis, Martin Guptill, Ravi Ashwin, David Warner and Kieron Pollard taking the art to levels unseen since Inzamam himself.

However, only one of them features in this list of 2012?s best catches: let the countdown commence!

10. Nathan Lyon [AUS] – Funny things happen when Mitchell Johnson is bowling. Wides, no-balls, emotional breakdowns, and now: phenomenal catches.

Watch Lyon sprinting to the ball with single-minded focus: there is no question about taking it easy and letting the ball come to him on the bounce.

Instead, there is an over-my-dead-body desperation in his catch that makes it something special.

9. Mahela Jayawardene [SL] - One of the greatest slip catchers to ever come out of Asia (apologies to Viru), Mahela continues to impress us all with his agility, despite being in the twilight of his career.

8. Faf du Plessis [CSK] - Opening the batting for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL was one of the triggers in 2012 becoming a year of transformation for du Plessis. Ending the year as the national T20 captain, he showed his value as the best fielder South Africa has produced since Jonty Rhodes.

Here, his anticipation and athleticism are on full show, as Tendulkar nails a drive, only to be intercepted by a diving du Plessis. Needing 40 off 26 balls with nine wickets in hand, this catch turned out to be match-changing.

7. Rangana Herath [SL] - The portly left-arm spinner finished 2012 as the world’s leading wicket-taker in Tests with 60 scalps in just ten matches, and shows here why he’s rapidly becoming a cult hero.

Wearing his flannels higher than what we deem to be sartorially acceptable, we’ll let Herath off easy, because he is what we all wish to be when we’re past our athletic best: having a half-nap at long-on in the blazing sun, and then lazily plucking a beauty out of the sky.

6. Kane Williamson [NZ] - New Zealand boast some world-class fielders at the moment, and this fresh-faced foetus has already established himself as as specialist at gully. Here, Williamson takes a stunning reflex catch with his wrong hand, something that we are fast becoming accustomed to with this special talent.

5. Jimmy Neesham [NZ] - Has anybody ever run this far to take a catch?

Otago’s 22 year old all-rounder pulled off an outstanding effort, sprinting 50 yards from cover to catch a skyer. Henry Davids’ miscue was in the air for a full 6.5 seconds, and Neesham’s momentum was so strong that he did well to put the brakes on before he could slide into the boundary – this was Neesham’s natural cricketing instinct.

4. Suresh Raina [IND] - The only Indian to feature in our list – I know, Ravi Ashwin will feel aggrieved to miss out – Raina’s effort is stunning for its uniqueness. The reverse one-hander – aka ‘the baseball catch’ – is the toughest of all to pull off from a technical point of view.

Why? It requires a conscious decision to go with your better hand, in turn causing your body to half-corkscrew as you take the catch. You can feel the awkwardness as your body contorts, but the toughest part is yet to come: the impact.

Hitting the ground and still managing to keep the ball in his cute baby hands was the most impressive part of Raina’s catch – note how he turns his body to cushion the impact on landing. He manages to make an unnatural catch look entirely innate, suggesting that he takes plenty of these in practice…something that a few Indian fielders could use a lot more of!

3. Tim Ludeman [Adelaide Strikers] - The only wicket-keeper to feature on our list, Ludeman has impressed all during this Big Bash, breaking the back of the PowerPlay on a consistent basis with his predominantly leg-side combination of brute force and surgical precision.

Here, Ludeman takes the most agile catch imaginable, showing excellent footwork and leaping to his left to take a catch that left us with our jaws on the floor. He had no right to catch it, and ended up plucking it from second slip. Note how the loopiness of the edge made the drama all the more enjoyable, giving us an extra half second to wonder whether Ludeman could do the impossible!

2. Bevan Small & Michael Mason [Central Districts] - With 60,000 views, more people have watched this YouTube clip than have ever tuned in to a HRV match.

On as 12th man, Small’s diving take-and-release is all about balance and timing. Taking the ball behind the rope was spectacular enough, but releasing it when parallel to the ground and falling backwards was exceptionally skillful. In contrast, Mason makes a meal of the equivalent of a fielder’s tap-in.

In terms of sheer ‘oh-no-he-did-not-just-do-that’ factor, this catch is right up there with the best of all time. However, it’s not quite as good as our top catch of 2012…

1. Dan Christian’s Superman catch vs Pakistan goes down as our best of the year. Backpedaling from mid-off, Australia’s all-rounder changes his momentum, before sprinting a full 20 yards. He extends his wrong hand, and plucks the ball inches from the ground.

The skill in this catch was particularly noteworthy, as Christian manages to keep a death-grip on the ball despite an off-balance and heavy landing.

There have been some awesome catches in 2012 but this trumps them all for sheer frisson value – watch the replay, and listen as the pro-Pakistan Dubai crowd gasp at the big screen, before instantly rising in unison to applaud.

If you want to introduce a friend to cricket, you’d do worse than to show them this; this is our sport at its very best.