'Catch!': Is there method in the madness?

I’ve asked it before and I’ll pose the question again: why on earth do cricketers yell “catch it!” when the ball goes in the air?

Australia copped some flak for sloppy fielding in the Adelaide Test, which really boiled down to a couple of dropped catches by Marnus Labuschagne. On both occasions there was a loud scream of “catch!” from captain Tim Paine as Marnus was about to grab the ball.

Each time Labuschagne’s reaction looked a fraction overexcited. We can’t know for sure, but I had a strong suspicion that the cry contributed to a rushed and botched catch attempt, particularly for one rather easy chance off his own bowling.

I recall noticing the same thing in October last year when Labuschagne dropped a simple chance at short mid-off from Jon Holland’s bowling in the second Test against Pakistan in the UAE. It seemed to be Holland himself who delivered the loud but superfluous demand for Marnus to do the bleeding obvious.

(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Most experts advise that when catching – whether in the slips, in the ring or on the boundary – it is important to concentrate, relax and give with the ball, and watch it into the hands. It’s a big no-no to think about the outcome or start celebrating prematurely. Just stick with the process, which is pretty much an instantaneous reaction when close to the bat.

Surely someone yelling “catch!” can only affect the outcome by causing a distraction, however slight, by making the catcher rush a bit or lose concentration. It’s pretty hard to see how an injunction from teammates will make you more likely to catch it. Unless you are rather short-sighted, you won’t need to be told that a catch is coming towards you. If you are, you probably won’t catch it anyway.

Yet yelling “catch!” has become a universal practice over the last 20 to 30 years. All national teams do it. Most of the time catches still get taken and it doesn’t interfere. But I’m sure I’ve spotted more than a few other occasions where the “catch!” call may have contributed to a drop.

My hazy memory of watching cricket in the 1980s was that “catch!” started out purely as a message to umpires rather than fellow fielders, trying to convince or con the umpires that bat-pad chances had taken the edge of the bat. In the days before DRS this possibly swayed a few decisions in favour of the fielding team.

Some Roarers have noted elsewhere that “catch!” was seldom or never heard in grade or school cricket around or before the 1980s, maybe later, and that some coaches or senior players made a point of advising their teams not to do it. That was also my experience.

Yet over time it’s become ingrained in cricket at all levels to the extent that it’s become a kind of herd behaviour – a reflex reaction that everyone does because everyone else is doing it. We sometimes even hear the call over the stump mike when the ball is edged to slip, which seems the height of folly.

At the same time I believe I have detected “catch!” expressing a range of messages or emotions at different times, some being even more pointless than others. Here are the main types:

1. “I say, old chap, the ball is heading in your general direction. If you haven’t picked it out in the sky, we’d be most grateful if you could spot it and take the catch.”

I suppose crying “catch!” might conceivably alert a fielder near the boundary who is daydreaming or who may not have picked up a skied ball. However, you almost never hear the potential catcher’s name being called out, which suggests it’s just a herd reaction kicking in 99 per cent of the time.

2. “I want you to catch the ball, and I fervently pray that you will do so.”

This is one end of a spectrum of emotions that might better be reined in by impulse control, ranging from the above plea/expression of hope to a more insistent and angry demand, usually from a bowler, along the following lines:

3: “Catch the bloody thing. I deserved a wicket with that ball and will stand here with a double teapot if you drop it, cursing loudly, even though I may have unwittingly contributed to the catch going down.”

4. “You (batsman) hit the ball slightly in the air. Given you are piling on the runs and not getting out we are going to try to make you feel uncomfortable by implying that shots that never risked getting out were somehow flawed, thus diminishing your confidence and leading to your mental disintegration.”

This I suspect is just mildly annoying at best or looks foolish at worst, but it’s relatively harmless compared to situations where lofted or edged balls might actually be within range of a catcher.

5: “You smashed me miles in the air and, even though it is about to go for six, I will feel slightly better about this humiliation if I can pretend it was a near-mistake by the batsman.”

6. “Hey, ump, he edged that onto his pad! Honestly!”

As noted, this became redundant in Test cricket with the advent of DRS as the batsman will almost certainly know if he hasn’t hit it and will appeal successfully. The minuscule chance of the batsman not knowing is outweighed by the risk of distracting the catcher.

So the whole practice is pretty mind-boggling to me, particularly when coaches apparently condone it and commentators never remark on the practice. I worry what this says about the collective common sense of the cricketing community.

But maybe I am missing something. Perhaps all catching drills today are accompanied by someone yelling “catch!” to foster a Pavlovian reaction that has been proven to make it more likely a fielder will snaffle the chance.

I do hope I am missing something. Maybe fellow Roarers can help me out here. No doubt some who have yelled “catch!” themselves will be offended and pile in on me. Sorry about that. I can only pray you can enlighten me.