Dropped Catches!

[Wilted]

You can also argue there are a lot more chances in the short forms so you'd expect a higher rate of catches and drops.

[cde]

The majority of the games are playing as Glamorgan, across the three formats. I played some international matches and what not too and kept the overall success rate for those too.

What I found surprising is that I have always been frustrated by the number of catches both Selman and Labuschagne would put down and assumed they were awful. Once I kept tabs they are almost always above 90% and they had the majority of catches coming their way.

It seems about right overall and it can often happen in real life that teams have shocking matches in the field for not particular reason. I’ve also found that I notice drops much more in LO matches because it makes so much more of an impact.

[Wilted]

I’ve started keeping tabs on dropped catches and over half a dozen seasons I found that between 6-7% were put down. Most players, even in the key positions held on to at least 90%, most higher. I do have one player who keeps finding his way into the slips despite putting down 14% of his catches though!

I have noticed that putting catches down tends to spread like Covid through the team. I seldom have a match where just one gets put down and if I do then it tends to be on a flat wicket when I am getting few chances.

Those numbers are pretty good compared to real life. Just out of interest what comp/team was that for?

[cde]

I’ve started keeping tabs on dropped catches and over half a dozen seasons I found that between 6-7% were put down. Most players, even in the key positions held on to at least 90%, most higher. I do have one player who keeps finding his way into the slips despite putting down 14% of his catches though!

I have noticed that putting catches down tends to spread like Covid through the team. I seldom have a match where just one gets put down and if I do then it tends to be on a flat wicket when I am getting few chances.

[saviopaes]

The animation showed two dollies being dropped from scooped drives. I now hate the dropped catch mechanic.

It is HORRIBLE! I hate it myself. So many matches lost that way

[Wilted]

The animation showed two dollies being dropped from scooped drives. I now hate the dropped catch mechanic.

[Wilted]

I found an interesting article that tries to quantify dropped catches as a statistic. It looks at chances missed from 2003-2015. The author separates missed chances into 'normal' and 'difficult' but then doesn't split the data into those categories due to the difficulty of the chance being unverifiable (not everyone is Robelinda). Basically anytime a finger touches a ball is considered a chance.

http://sportstats.com.au/articles/droppedcatches2016.pdf

Biggest stat is how often each position drops a chance:

These include any chance including those that barely brush past a fielder's fingertips. Bowlers, short leg, slips, etc. of course have tougher chances than the likes of mid off getting a scooped drive.

Some countries have more drops than others:

Spinners naturally get chances put down more often by the keeper than quicks. This is exacerbated with Asian pitches so of course countries with flat decks that favour quicks take chances than countries with spinning decks. The best keeper in this time frame, Boucher, missed 10% of chances. Other African, New Zealand, Aussie keepers missed 11-12% of chances. On the other hand the best Asian keeper in the article was Dhoni with 18% of chances being missed while most other Asian keepers missed 20-22% of chances. Also keepers dropped more with age. Some top keepers from flat deck countries missed just 7% of chances early in their career such as Gilchrist. Their percentage dropped as their career progressed.

Without actually keeping track of my own stats in CC, I'd wager that there are actually less dropped catches. There would be more sitters that are put down but as others have said, this is probably due to animations. Maybe the animation that plays for dropped keeper and slip catches could be balanced to have more diving animations instead of sitters going down.

[Chris_]

Just to add to the above (as a quick edit will get the post marked for moderation):

The wicket keeper has a 2nd XI 3-Day CpM of 5.23, which I class as very reliable. The 3 others mentioned above who are usually the top 3 in my fielding order have 2nd XI CpM stats of 1.15, 1.12 and 1.11 so they're pretty close together.

It's interesting to note that my part-time keeper who plays as a regular #5 batsman in my team has a 2nd XI CpM of 3.47 but is always right at the bottom of the fielding list, so whatever ability he's given for wicket keeping isn't translating to the fielding list.

[Chris_]

I had 4 players drop 2 catches each in the FC season I just finished. All 4 were players towards the top of my fielding order and usually in the slips or other close up positions, depending on who was in the team and how aggressive my field was. I have 2 slips for most overs, though 3 or 1 if I'm trying to push for wickets or reduce run rates.

One was my primary wicket keeper who made 35 catches, so the 2 drops out of 37 opportunities were 5.4% dropped.
The next two were opening batsmen who both spend most of the time in the slips. They made 18 and 13 catches each so the 2 drops represented 10% and 13.3% dropped.
The final player is a bowler who drops in at #1 or #2 slip when not bowling. He made 12 catches, so the 2 drops made it 14.2% of chances dropped.

A few other players dropped 1 each, in various positions.

I don't think any of those are out of the ordinary, and there were plenty of innings where I either had no drops or maybe a half chance where the animation shows the player diving one handed at full stretch.

Obviously some of them were frustrating - such as dropping a batsman at 17 runs and seeing him go on to score a century - but that's cricket. It's not like anyone was being placed in the slips and dropping 7 catches.

[Jamesy1984]

I think stupid run outs is worse than all the drops.

My batsmen tried to take a run to 1st slip last night online. Didn't even cross!

Again the amount of run outs is ok but the animations for them are not always great! Could maybe lower the percentage of test run outs if anything especially when team blocking.

question has anyone noticed if run out running 2 runs you don’t get credited with 1?

[galvatron]

I think stupid run outs is worse than all the drops.

My batsmen tried to take a run to 1st slip last night online. Didn't even cross!

[Jobi1K]

I'd agree the number of drops seems fine to me – it is what it is, part of the game. There are plenty of IRL examples of players being put down early in an innings and going on to make monster scores.

Could maybe be something to do with the animations (although I feel like I do see a fair few drops in the slips when fielders are diving) – I tend to listen more to the commentary, assuming the "Just got his fingers to it" line as a better indicator of the difficulty of the chance.

The one I actually find more frustrating is the number of balls that go straight through the keeper for 4 byes. I often feel that happens more in the game than it does IRL, but again that could be partly to do with the animation – it's certainly not uncommon IRL to see a quick bowler put a bit too much into a bouncer and have it sail over the keeper's head, but there doesn't seem to be an animation for that. You'd say it's pretty rare for top-line pro keepers to let anything past them that's within their reach, but I guess unless some new animations are added the only way there will ever be byes in the game is if the keeper lets it straight through his hands.

[Jamesy1984]

Dropped catches are a part of cricket, they change matches in real life and in the game.

Yea I think the number of dropped catches is fine but the limited game animations make you think they are all easy catches. Rather be seeing people dive and not cling on to a one handed catch. Then maybe the players here would be more forgiving!

[Sureshot]

It is ridiculous that you have 4/5 catches being dropped in a match. Sometimes, 3-4 in one innings alone. Absolute nonsense. The whole game changes with one drop-especially that of a set batsman you've been lining up to get out.
Sureshot - something to look into.
In Tests - it isn't even far worse - apart from fielders, the wicket keepers are hopeless.
However int20's it impacts more as one drop catch can easily translate into 40+ runs which changes the whole complexion of the game.
Can something be done about this?

Recently played a Legends game - had 3 catches dropped (the first one at 75/7) - opposition went on to score 160+ which was beyond chaseable on that pitch.
Very disappointing stuff in the 2021 version.

Dropped catches are a part of cricket, they change matches in real life and in the game.

[Chris_]

I have noticed quite a few but as Yorkie said, just watching the recent England v India tests there were plenty of dropped catches. I think it partly comes down to the animations; if I see someone dive and not hold on to a one handed attempt at full stretch I just consider it a half chance but when it looks like an easy ball that floats towards someone and they drop it that's certainly frustrating. Eve more so when that batsman goes on to score a century, but again that happens in cricket.

I do look at the CpM in 2nd XI stats as that's generally an indication of their catching ability. For most players I don't sign for that specifically but it's a nice bonus to see someone with good CpM as reliable catchers in the slips can certainly win matches. I certainly agree with cde that you need to view it in context. My first slip also drops most, but he catches far more than anyone else too.

For wicket keepers I do see a definite correlation between 2nd XI CpM and drops, and it's something I definitely look at when signing keepers. Using 2nd XI 3-Day stats to look at First Class potential, I've found:

5.00+ CpM = Safe hands, will only drop very rarely.
4.5 - 4.99 CpM = Generally very reliable but you'll see a few more drops here and there. On the whole still very good though.
4.0 - 4.49 CpM = Inconsistencies start to appear. A keeper might be fine one match and drop 2 clear chances the next.
3.99 or lower CpM = Unreliable. A tendency to drop far too many catches, often at crucial times. Something you often see with part-time keepers.

For outfield players if I see someone with over 1.0 CpM I expect they'll be one of my more reliable catchers and likely placed in the slips. Someone with 0.3 is going to drop more if the ball comes their way too often. I certainly feel more comfortable with a team all closer to 1 CpM than to 0 (for 2nd XI stats).