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[Milky Bar Kid]

I bowl left arm off spin. As I'm quite tall I get a fair amount of bounce and turn the ball quite a long way. Where would you put your fielders? Reason being is I've never set a field as my mate captains the side and does it for me but senior players want me to start doing it. I would definitely have a slip as I get a number of wickets there. Also a backward point. Now I'm stuck 

[Bruce]

Slip, backwards point, cow corner, deep square leg, 1 on the 45 degree, mid wicket- for playing with the spin, mid off, cover, maybe a deep extra cover.

That's for a RH bat.

It's very much a *ahem* suck it and see thing setting the field. Got to see what works for you.

[wilkie113]

I'm a leggy, and have slip, point deep cover, extra cover, deep mid off, mid on, deep square leg, a midwicket saving one and someone on the 45, but obviously changes on the situation

[Milky Bar Kid]

I'm gonna give them a go Saturday. Thanks that's what I needed. Can make the changes if their needed.

[Buzz]

I would think you need to say how accurate you are and think where the fielders are.
as the guys have said, you want to think about where the batsman is hitting.

but to a right hander, certainly you want a 5-4 off side, split. given the pitches are pretty slow, I would have an off side of a slip, backward point, wide cover, someone on the drive catching on the line of extra and a deepish mid off. then your four leg side fielders would depend on the batsman and how accurate you are. you might want to start with a square leg a mid wicket and the 45 fielder or you might want a backward square leg mid wicket some protection on the fence and a mid on.

you could always ask your mate what he sets for you!

[ajm90]

Could have a catching midwicket if they're trying to flick you through leg

[will5210]

If the ball is turning I'd be tempted to leave a gap at midwicket to tempt them to play against the spin.

I'd start with: Slip, Backward point, deep cover, short cover, mid off (or long off), mid on, deep mid wicket, square leg, short fine leg.

Depends massively on the state of the game/batsmen/pitch/length of game/ etc though

[Manormanic]

but to a right hander, certainly you want a 5-4 off side, split. given the pitches are pretty slow, I would have an off side of a slip, backward point, wide cover, someone on the drive catching on the line of extra and a deepish mid off. then your four leg side fielders would depend on the batsman and how accurate you are. you might want to start with a square leg a mid wicket and the 45 fielder or you might want a backward square leg mid wicket some protection on the fence and a mid on.

Slightly controversial but if the OP is tall and turns it as he has said, and providing he is not prone to sticking it in half way down, I might be tempted to go with a 6-3 off side field to begin with - the 45 fielder should be largely redundant, and it would be interesting to see if he could convince the batsmen to try and sweep him against the turn, which may well lead to pop up catches. 

On the off side, slip, backward point, deep cover and a deepish mid off are musts - personally I would have the other two in to start with, one man on the drive and one at silly point.  That way the boundaries are protected but you still have men to put pressure on.  You'd soon know if you were bowling at guys patient enough to milk the singles and could adjust accordingly.

[Pitbull]

I agree with Manormanic I'd also go for a 6-3 field, slightly more attacking in that respect, will make them try to play the ball against the spin into the leg side too.

[Buzz]

Slightly controversial but if the OP is tall and turns it as he has said, and providing he is not prone to sticking it in half way down, I might be tempted to go with a 6-3 off side field to begin with - the 45 fielder should be largely redundant, and it would be interesting to see if he could convince the batsmen to try and sweep him against the turn, which may well lead to pop up catches. 

On the off side, slip, backward point, deep cover and a deepish mid off are musts - personally I would have the other two in to start with, one man on the drive and one at silly point.  That way the boundaries are protected but you still have men to put pressure on.  You'd soon know if you were bowling at guys patient enough to milk the singles and could adjust accordingly.

I agree - I thought about this - I really don't like the 45 field placement - I prefer a backward square leg. the 6-3 will mean you are not setting a field for the bad ball - which I also prefer.
It depends on the bowler, but in an ideal world 6-3 would be brilliant.

[Manormanic]

the man at 45 is essential if you've got a guy bowling off spin, or even a left armer who doesn't really turn it much, as there will always be balls that get nudged round there whatever the bowler tries - but if the ball is actively gripping away from the bat, I like to offer it to the batsman as a risk/reward shot.

[Buzz]

the man at 45 is essential if you've got a guy bowling off spin, or even a left armer who doesn't really turn it much, as there will always be balls that get nudged round there whatever the bowler tries - but if the ball is actively gripping away from the bat, I like to offer it to the batsman as a risk/reward shot.

absolutely - but there are different angles at play for the offie

[Manormanic]

absolutely - but there are different angles at play for the offie

exactly - the batsman can always elect to get inside the line and work him round the corner Dravid style.  To counter that, I finished last season setting a leg gully for our young spinner from the start - he wasn;t turning it enough to really merit it, but it got the batsman thinking that there were demons coming his way!

[Milky Bar Kid]

Thanks for the responses guys, really appreciate it. I always have a 45 and a slip for definite. In terms of accuracy I have been prone to dropping it short but have really worked on it and it's not much of a problem anymore. I always turn it big and get bounce even on soaking wet, soggy pitches. Don't know how I just do. Looking through your responses there seem to be similarities so I'm gonna try them all and see how I go. Once again thanks a lot!

[Manormanic]

of course, this is wher we find out we're playing the guy next week...