Making catching a habit

We've taken a break from Lists on batting and bowling this week, and looked at fielding instead: who took catches in the most consecutive Tests, who went the most successive Tests without a catch, and those with the highest proportion of matches with and without a catch. We've excluded wicketkeepers, though, so players other than Boucher, Gilchrist and Healy get a look in.

Peter Richardson, an England left-hand batsman who played 34 Tests in the 1950s and 60s, went a 23-match stretch without taking a catch. It's the highest number of consecutive games anyone has gone without a catch. Richardson eventually finished with only six catches in his career. Most of the players in the table below - Courtney Walsh is second with 22 consecutive catch-less matches - are bowlers, largely because they spent most of their time in the outfield rather than at prime catching positions, the preserve of captains and batsmen. Unfortunately, no records exist for drops, so it's impossible to know if they had opportunities to end these barren patches or not.

The highest number of Tests a player went at the start of a career before taking a catch is 16. Geoff Pullar made his debut for England in July 1959 and it wasn't until the Lahore Test in 1961 that he caught one - Mushtaq Mohammad off David Allen. He took only one more catch in his last 11 Tests - making it only two catches in 49 innings. Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Sami played their first 15 Tests without taking a catch. McGrath finished with only 38 in 124 Tests, while Sami has seven from 34 matches. One of McGrath's efforts, though, the one to dismiss Michael Vaughan at the Adelaide Oval in 2002, is among the best ever.

Most consecutive Tests without a catch

Player	Mat		Start Match	Opposition	Scorecard		End Match	Opposition	Scorecard
PE Richardson (Eng)	23		Jul 26, 1956	v Australia	Test 428		Oct 21, 1961	v Pakistan	Test 512
CA Walsh (WI)	22		Jun 2, 1988	v England	Test 1098		Mar 23, 1991	v Australia	Test 1167
JB Hobbs (Eng)	20		Jul 12, 1924	v South Africa	Test 155		Aug 17, 1929	v South Africa	Test 185
MD Marshall (WI)	20		Jan 26, 1989	v Australia	Test 1113		Aug 8, 1991	v England	Test 1175
Abdul Razzaq (Pak)	19		Jan 9, 2002	v Bangladesh	Test 1584		Mar 16, 2005	v India	Test 1741
DBL Powell (WI)	18		Mar 31, 2005	v South Africa	Test 1745		Jun 15, 2007	v England	Test 1836
Abdul Qadir (Pak)	17		Aug 12, 1982	v England	Test 932		Mar 12, 1984	v England	Test 981
MW Tate (Eng)	16		Jun 15, 1929	v South Africa	Test 181		Jul 27, 1935	v South Africa	Test 245
G Pullar (Eng)	16		debut		Test 476		Aug 17, 1961	v Australia	Test 511
FJ Cameron (NZ)	16		Dec 26, 1961	v South Africa	Test 517		Apr 9, 1965	v Pakistan	Test 587
CEH Croft (WI)	16		Dec 1, 1979	v Australia	Test 862		Mar 27, 1981	v England	Test 901
P Willey (Eng)	16		Aug 7, 1980	v West Indies	Test 884		Jul 24, 1986	v New Zealand	Test 1049
CL Cairns (NZ)	16		Mar 31, 2000	v Australia	Test 1493		Jun 10, 2004	v England	Test 1704
Javed Omar (Ban)	16		Aug 27, 2003	v Pakistan	Test 1657		Sep 20, 2005	v Sri Lanka	Test 1766
SCG MacGill (Aus)	16		Dec 26, 2003	v India	Test 1678		May 30, 2008	v West Indies	Test 1877
DN Sardesai (India)	15		Dec 13, 1966	v West Indies	Test 610		Dec 20, 1972	v England	Test 703
DR Doshi (India)	15		Nov 27, 1981	v England	Test 911		Sep 14, 1983	v Pakistan	Test 961
EJ Chatfield (NZ)	15		Nov 30, 1985	v Australia	Test 1031		Nov 12, 1988	v India	Test 1107
Aaqib Javed (Pak)	15		Oct 10, 1990	v New Zealand	Test 1151		Jan 31, 1995	v Zimbabwe	Test 1285
GD McGrath (Aus)	15		debut		Test 1235		Nov 17, 1995	v Pakistan	Test 1313
CA Walsh (WI)	15		May 25, 2000	v Pakistan	Test 1497		Apr 6, 2001	v South Africa	Test 1542
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	15		debut		Test 1533		Apr 13, 2004	v India	Test 1697
CS Martin (NZ)	15		May 5, 2006	v South Africa	Test 1801		Nov 28, 2008	v Australia	Test 1896
SJ Harmison (Eng/ICC)	15		Dec 26, 2006	v Australia	Test 1824		Aug 20, 2009	v Australia	Test 1931

The most consecutive Tests in which a player has taken a catch belongs to Bob Simpson, who caught at least one batsman in 27 matches in a row between July 1961 and May 1965. He is nine matches clear of Rahul Dravid in second place, followed by Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh, all of whom are slip specialists. Simpson's 110 catches came in 52 out of 62 Tests, his 83.87% of matches with catches being the third highest over all.

Jacques Kallis is presently on a catching-streak of 13 Tests, having most recently taken Sachin Tendulkar and Amit Mishra at Eden Gardens in February this year. Given that he stands at slip, and rarely drops any, he has a fair chance of climbing up the table in the coming years. West Indian batsman Runako Morton has the highest proportion of matches with catches - 86% - having taken 20 catches in 13 out of his 15 matches.

Most consecutive Tests with a catch (excluding wicketkeepers)

Player	Mat		Start Match	Opposition	Scorecard		End Match	Opposition	Scorecard
RB Simpson (Aus)	27		Jul 6, 1961	v England	Test 509		May 5, 1965	v West Indies	Test 589
R Dravid (ICC/India)	18		Jan 2, 2004	v Australia	Test 1680		Oct 14, 2005	v Australia	Test 1768
ME Waugh (Aus)	17		Dec 26, 1999	v India	Test 1479		Aug 16, 2001	v England	Test 1556
MA Taylor (Aus)	16		Feb 25, 1993	v New Zealand	Test 1215		Mar 17, 1994	v South Africa	Test 1253
MA Taylor (Aus)	15		Nov 25, 1994	v England	Test 1275		Jan 25, 1996	v Sri Lanka	Test 1324
GS Sobers (WI)	14		Mar 25, 1960	v England	Test 491		Jul 4, 1963	v England	Test 545
PD Collingwood (Eng)	14		Jul 13, 2006	v Pakistan	Test 1809		Jul 19, 2007	v India	Test 1840
LN Constantine (WI)	13		debut		Test 173		Jan 24, 1935	v England	Test 239
AR Border (Aus)	13		Mar 18, 1980	v Pakistan	Test 879		Aug 13, 1981	v England	Test 907
AR Border (Aus)	13		Nov 23, 1984	v West Indies	Test 999		Nov 30, 1985	v New Zealand	Test 1031
SP Fleming (NZ)	13		Nov 30, 2001	v Australia	Test 1573		May 3, 2003	v Sri Lanka	Test 1644
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	13		Nov 26, 2008	v Bangladesh	Test 1895		Feb 14, 2010	v India	Test 1952
GA Lohmann (Eng)	12		Jul 16, 1888	v Australia	Test 28		Jun 22, 1896	v Australia	Test 50
FJ Titmus (Eng)	12		Feb 12, 1965	v South Africa	Test 578		Feb 11, 1966	v Australia	Test 601
SP Fleming (NZ)	12		Apr 27, 1996	v West Indies	Test 1326		Nov 20, 1997	v Australia	Test 1386
MA Taylor (Aus)	12		Jun 19, 1997	v England	Test 1370		Mar 6, 1998	v India	Test 1405
ADR Campbell (Zim)	12		Dec 18, 1996	v England	Test 1345		Nov 27, 1998	v Pakistan	Test 1430
WR Endean (SA)	11		Dec 24, 1952	v Australia	Test 361		Feb 5, 1954	v New Zealand	Test 382
R Benaud (Aus)	11		Jul 27, 1961	v England	Test 510		Feb 7, 1964	v South Africa	Test 555
M Amarnath (India)	11		Mar 10, 1976	v West Indies	Test 773		Dec 16, 1977	v Australia	Test 811
SL Campbell (WI)	11		May 18, 2000	v Pakistan	Test 1496		Dec 26, 2000	v Australia	Test 1525
TM Dilshan (SL)	11		debut		Test 1470		Dec 10, 2003	v England	Test 1672
BC Lara (ICC/WI)	11		May 1, 2003	v Australia	Test 1643		Mar 11, 2004	v England	Test 1687

Offspinner Tim May didn't take a catch for Australia in an ODI for seven years. He took one off his own bowling on debut in 1987, but his barren streak began in his second game and lasted for 43 more. May finally took two catches against West Indies in Barbados in 1995, and played just one more ODI. He took catches in only two matches out of his 47.

Catches in ODIs are evidently harder to come by because the streaks without one are longer and the ones with a catch are shorter. Only two players - Allan Border and Graeme Smith - have taken a catch in nine consecutive ODIs. Carl Hooper is the only one to appear twice in the table below - he had two streaks of six matches with catches, in 1988-89 and 1993.

Most consecutive ODIs with a catch (excluding wicketkeepers)

Player	Mat		Start Match	Opposition	Scorecard		End Match	Opposition	Scorecard
AR Border (Aus)	9		Dec 13, 1988	v West Indies	ODI 539		Jan 16, 1989	v West Indies	ODI 552
GC Smith (Afr/SA)	9		Dec 2, 2007	v New Zealand	ODI 2652		Mar 14, 2008	v Bangladesh	ODI 2692
IVA Richards (WI)	7		Mar 20, 1985	v New Zealand	ODI 320		Nov 22, 1985	v India	ODI 341
M Azharuddin (India)	7		Jan 14, 1998	v Pakistan	ODI 1276		Apr 9, 1998	v Zimbabwe	ODI 1311
JN Rhodes (SA)	7		Aug 18, 1998	v England	ODI 1347		Jan 27, 1999	v West Indies	ODI 1395
Yuvraj Singh (Asia/India)	7		Oct 29, 2000	v Sri Lanka	ODI 1652		Jul 20, 2001	v New Zealand	ODI 1736
CK Coventry (Zim)	7		Mar 3, 2006	v Kenya	ODI 2344		Aug 16, 2009	v Bangladesh	ODI 2873
CL Hooper (WI)	6		Dec 13, 1988	v Australia	ODI 539		Jan 7, 1989	v Pakistan	ODI 547
EAE Baptiste (WI)	6		Jan 5, 1988	v India	ODI 487		Mar 7, 1989	v India	ODI 556
CL Hooper (WI)	6		Jan 16, 1993	v Australia	ODI 792		Feb 19, 1993	v Pakistan	ODI 805
HP Tillakaratne (SL)	6		Mar 27, 1997	v New Zealand	ODI 1185		Apr 11, 1997	v Pakistan	ODI 1198
SK Warne (Aus/ICC)	6		Dec 4, 1997	v South Africa	ODI 1254		Jan 14, 1998	v New Zealand	ODI 1275
DN Crookes (SA)	6		Apr 2, 1997	v Australia	ODI 1188		Apr 5, 1998	v Sri Lanka	ODI 1306
JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA)	6		Jan 27, 1999	v West Indies	ODI 1395		Feb 14, 1999	v New Zealand	ODI 1407
N Hussain (Eng)	6		Feb 13, 2000	v South Africa	ODI 1560		Jul 20, 2000	v West Indies	ODI 1618
B Zuiderent (Neth)	6		Mar 1, 1996	v United Arab Emirates	ODI 1069		Feb 16, 2003	v England	ODI 1953
TM Dilshan (SL)	6		Feb 27, 2004	v Australia	ODI 2106		Apr 27, 2004	v Zimbabwe	ODI 2123
CH Gayle (ICC/WI)	6		May 15, 2004	v Bangladesh	ODI 2128		Jul 3, 2004	v New Zealand	ODI 2138
V Sehwag (Asia/ICC/India)	6		Oct 25, 2005	v Sri Lanka	ODI 2286		Nov 9, 2005	v Sri Lanka	ODI 2295
CL White (Aus)	6		Jun 27, 2008	v West Indies	ODI 2719		Jan 18, 2009	v South Africa	ODI 2796