Fielding reflects team spirit, says Rhodes

“There is no doubt that fielding has now become an important part in any team’s planning, training and strategies. It has taken on a new dynamism and spirit in recent years,” said Rhodes, who played 52 Tests and 245 one-dayers for South Africa.

“The dynamics have changed in the sense that now a top fielding side is an indication of good team spirit and unity. A good fielding effort shows players are willing to play for people around them,” he said.

“Now a days you often see people choosing players who are willing to save runs for the team efforts and bowlers efforts. The standards of world fielding have risen,” he added.

Rhodes said fielding had been an important element in Australia’s dominance over other teams and helped them make a more united team.

“They are ahead of everyone else. They brought in a baseball coach to help them with their throwing six years ago. Throwing has made a huge difference in international cricket. We also have a baseball coach now to come and show us how to throw.”

Rhodes said the Australians had laid a lot of emphasis on good throwing techniques that prevented not only runs but also injuries, as it did not strain the shoulders and elbows.

“It is good to see subcontinental teams also laying lot of emphasis on fielding and hiring specialists for this job. I think India has improved a lot in this area and is not far behind Australia and South Africa,” he said.

He was also optimistic about South African cricket’s future, saying the present team had good spirit and was an ideal combination of youth and experience.

“It is a side that is moving forward and wants to challenge Australia in Test cricket.” He noted that the South African rugby team had also recently won the World Cup after much hard work and planning.

“This success didn’t come overnight. A lot of hard work was put into it. It was a four-year plan. (Captain) Graeme Smith has same sort of idea and is putting it together especially if you want to dictate or dominate against a team like Australia in a test series,” he said.

Rhodes said the secret to Australia’s success was a combination of several factors one of them being that the players believed in each other.