Tuesday, July 19th, 2016

Bumpy Says “stunning” Whiteley Catch Reward For Practice Sessions

Bumpy Says “stunning” Whiteley Catch Reward For Practice Sessions

Worcestershire Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes says Ross Whiteley's boundary catch to dismiss Birmingham Bears batsman Aaron Thomason in Friday evening's NatWest T20 Blast encounter was the most "stunning" he has witnessed.

Whiteley was fielding on the boundary edge at deep mid wicket Thomason struck a delivery from Joe Leach which seemed destined to go for six.

But Whiteley at full stretch somehow managed to get a hand to the ball, flick it back and then hold onto the catch.

It was a reward for the fielding practice that is put in by Whiteley and his team-mates.

Rhodes said: "It was a tremendous catch and we practice them a lot believe it or not – and we don't often do them as well as that in practice.

"It was a case of we've done a lot of practice and we are grateful to take it but it was a stunning individual effort to take what was an important catch.

"Ross did a brilliant bit of fielding at Trent Bridge last year, very similar where he couldn't quite hold it going back and was actually tumbling over the ropes and he threw it back.

"This time he somehow flicked it behind himself and it just popped up which was a great bit of thinking, a special skill.

"It is easy to say 'we practice those' but he still pulled it off on the day and it was a great catch.

"We do a lot of working in pairs where one flicks it for the other one. We also practiced before the game, getting them to get used to where the boundary rope is.

"But I've never seen anything as stunning as that at Worcester even in our practice sessions although Mitch (Daryl Mitchell) took a blinder as well."