5 best South African silly point / short leg fielders of all time

South Africa is the third oldest Test-playing nation in the world and despite their absence from international cricket for around two decades, they remain a country with a rich cricketing history.

They have had some outstanding close in fielders over the course of their history and that has been the case for almost all South African teams in Test cricket.

South Africans have generally been regarded among the finest fielding teams of the last two decades and it is not a surprise that they have also produced plenty of excellent short leg and silly point fielders.

Here is a look at 5 of South Africa's finest at those positions.

#5 Neil McKenzie

The former South African batsman, who played at various positions for the team throughout the course of his 9-year career from 2000 to 2009 was also one of the team's designated close-in fielders.

Although South Africa is known to have fielders who were spectacular in their exploits in the field, Neil McKenzie was certainly not among them. However, when it came to fielding the close I fielding positions, he proved to be extremely efficient and his position of choice was at short-leg.

He proved to be a natural and fielded well at short-leg irrespective of whether fast bowlers of spinners were in operation and over the course of his career, he nailed down that spot. He picked up 54 catches in total in his Test career that spanned 58 games.

#4 Dean Elgar

The left-handed opener made his Test debut for South Africa in 2012 and over the past half a decade or so, Dean Elgar has become one of the team's more reliable batsmen.

On the other hand, he has also become the team's first choice fielder at silly point and over the years, he has proven to be extremely reliable in the position.

One of the most important attributes of a good silly point fielder is that he must be able to figure out when to move out of the way and when to stand his ground, since after all a batsman might wind up for a drive and end up mistiming it or offering a catch to the silly point fielder.

Elgar seems to have that quality and does not always duck as soon as he sees the batsman ready to go for a stroke on the offside. Last but not the least, he has good skills of anticipation as well and enough agility to pull off catches that come his way.

The silly point is primarily used when spinners are in operation and since South Africa are not overly reliant on their spin bowlers, he does not always get to field there for too many overs. It perhaps explains his tally of 43 catches in 45 Test matches.

#3 Hashim Amla

One of South Africa's modern greats is usually found fielding at slip or short leg, but there used to be a time when Hashim Amla donned the helmet and fielded at either silly point or short leg.

Now, the elegant right-handed batsman is definitely not among the best fielders in the South African side and certainly not known for diving around on the field.

However, to Amla's credit, he is one of the safest fielders in the Test side and in addition to that, he has the courage, the skills and powers of anticipation to do an excellent job at one of the close-in positions.

He debuted in 2004 and over the next few years, he proved to be an excellent fielder at both those positions. However, it was perhaps Amla's rising stature in the team that eventually saw him field in safer positions. He has taken 99 catches so far in his 113 Test career.

#2 Jacques Kallis

He is among the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game and certainly one of the best batsmen to have represented South Africa in Test cricket.

However, what is often forgotten is that Jacques Kallis had been a Test cricketer for 18 years (1995-2003) and in the first part of his career, he was a regular at short leg for South Africa. Later on, he fielded in the slips but as a young cricketer, he was one of the best short-leg fielders that South Africa ever had.

Kallis had the reflexes, the skills of anticipation, the courage to stand at the position without flinching and last but not the least, he had big hands which helped him in hanging on to tough chances that came his way.

For as long as he fielded at short-leg, Kallis remained among the best in the world. Overall, he took 200 catches in his career that spanned 166 Test matches.

#1 Temba Bavuma

The diminutive right-handed batsman may not have actually set the world on fire for South Africa in Test cricket just yet but there is no doubt that Temba Bavuma is one of the best fielders to have emerged in world cricket in recent years.

However, Bavuma's fielding is not only restricted to ground fielding within the circle and in fact, he has proven to be a superb fielder for South Africa at short-leg. He is an outstanding athlete and has the natural aptitude that one looks for in the best short-leg fielders.

He enjoys standing at the position and in addition to that, he can fling himself either way to complete catches that might look impossible.

On the other hand, Bavuma can anticipate the events a split second early on most occasions and that can often be the difference between an ordinary short-leg and a great one. He is definitely in the latter category and could end up as one of the best in the world by the time he finishes his career.