Hard work and a disco jacket – how England turned fielding woes aroundFigure caption, Highlights: Superb England beat South Africa to set up World Cup final against AustraliaByMatthew HenryBBC Sport Journalist at The OvalPublished6 hours agoThe ‘F’ word came up again and again in the review into England’s Ashes hammering.The players knew it. Staff knew it. And after England dropped seven catches on day two of the Test in Melbourne, the whole world knew it.England’s fielding had not cost them the series but it was a clear problem. They also put down six chances when exiting the T20 World Cup against West Indies the previous autumn.But Thursday’s semi-final victory over South Africa at The Oval, with two fine Sophie Ecclestone catches and a perfect throw for a Danni Wyatt-Hodge run-out, was the clearest example yet of England’s improvement.The secret? A sparkly disco jacket owned by the wife of the fielding coach…Image source, ECB/GettyImage caption, Nick Wilton (left) played 17 first-class games and 19 List A matches in his careerThe man tasked with improving England’s fielding is long-standing coach Nick Wilton, the former Sussex wicketkeeper now dubbed DJ Wilton.His fielding ‘disco nights’ have become a feature of this World Cup.With the tunes blaring and while wearing his wife’s jacket, Wilton has England’s players charging around and taking high catches under the lights.Practice but fun practice. It has lifted England from those miserable days in Melbourne and Dubai.”We do pieces of fielding to each song and he pumps the music up to try and get us all hyped up,” vice-captain Charlie Dean mentioned.”I love the way he gets us really passionate about fielding so it is fun every time.”Figure caption, Big breakthrough for England as Wolvaardt is caught earlyThere is, of course, more to England’s improvement than a coach dressing like an ABBA tribute act.As well as Ecclestone’s catches – a leap at mid-on and a nerve-jangler as the ball dropped over her shoulder at short fine leg – and Wyatt-Hodge’s run-out, Charlie Dean also pulled off a direct hit dismissal in the win over New Zealand and Wyatt-Hodge took a superb catch in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka.
Fitness and fielding were two of coach Charlotte Edwards’ priorities when she took over after the Ashes defeat.
The former captain, who sprinted on to the field to congratulate her players during the timeout after Ecclestone’s first catch, has calmly quietened talk of the issue.
In one of her previous roles at Southern Vipers, Edwards used an electric scooter to follow and observe her players during their fitness sessions and one of her first moves after becoming England coach was introducing minimum fitness standards.
The new standards include a two-kilometre time trial, 30m two-way sprints (effectively shuttle runs), a test to assess explosiveness through a squat and a vertical leap, and another which gauges a player’s maximum velocity.
England posted clips from the gruelling sessions on their social media accounts at the start of the season. Videos of boat parties posted on players’ own accounts are long gone under Edwards.
Wilton has been given free rein to improve England’s fielding. Without any international fixtures this winter, he was able to work with the players on their training camps in Oman, Stellenbosch and Pretoria.
There were more training sessions in the early-season gatherings at Millfield and Repton schools and at England’s cricket centre in Loughborough.
“Progress happens with dedication over time and putting the work in,” Dean mentioned.
“All our careers we put in the work but especially the last year.”
