Ranking 10 Best Slip Fielders in Modern Test Cricket

Test cricket is still considered to be the purest form of cricket and winning a Test match is a great honour. Winning a game on just pure, dumb luck is still a thing possible in white-ball cricket but winning one in red-ball cricket requires skill, hard work and patience. And, one of the most underrated yet necessary skills for winning a Test game in cricket is slip fielding.

Any lethal bowling attack loses its edge if they are not well supported by the slip cordon and there have been numerous examples of the same where brilliant bowling was shunned down by poor slip fielding.

In modern times, where the focus of players around the world has shifted to the money-making formats of the game, there have been a few who have still kept the flame of Test cricket alive.

Here is a list of the top 10 modern-day best slip fielders:

10. Tim Southee

Based on this list, all of the players who have fielded in slips successfully are either all-rounders or pure batters, although Tim Southee is a surprise. Southee is one of the few fast bowlers who fields in the slips, and he has spent the majority of his career doing so with good results.

The captain of New Zealand, despite being a pacer, is helped by his innate athleticism and quick reflexes to collect the ball. In general, pacers are not known for their ability to field, but Southee is an uncommon cricket player in that regard. It is amazing that for a pacer, he has taken over 70 catches in Test matches.