In the sport of cricket, fielding was — as the Fifth Doctor once heavily implied — what the majority of players on the entirety of the cricket field were doing. (PROSE: Graham Dilley Saves the World) Namely, fielders attempted to catch the cricket ball after it was struck by the batsman in order to limit runs or catch the batsman out. (TV: Black Orchid, PROSE: Goth Opera, Happy Endings) The fielding area — informally the ground (PROSE: Graham Dilley Saves the World) — was divided into two hemispheres, leg side and off side, and fielding positions were often modified by adding the terms "leg" and "off" — as in "silly mid-off" — to indicate whether the fielder was standing on the leg or off side of the batsman. (AUDIO: Phantasmagoria)
Known fielding positions included the following:
- Backward square leg
- First slip
- Gulley
- Mid-off
- Second slip
- Silly mid-off
- Silly point
- Slip
- Third man
- Wicket keeper
Behind the scenes[]
Prose writers have sometimes used the fact that Tegan travelled with the "cricketing Doctor" to make the obvious pun on the surname of her portrayer, Janet Fielding. For instance, in The Eight Doctors, Terrance Dicks sets a scene where the Fifth Doctor, Turlough and Tegan are going to play a few overs at the Eye of Orion. The Doctor says that he'll bat, and Turlough can bowl. Tegan then grumbles, "And I'll be fielding all day."