It's a perennial problem from Test cricket to club level: What do you do with the folks that cant run, throw or catch?

The issue has kept Monty Panesar from the England ODI side and keeps chunky middle-aged blokes in the slips for years. But its a problem that club captains can overcome.

The answer is this: put them in places the cricket ball is unlikely to go. Not much of a secret then. But the real mastery to this trick is to do it subtly, so the opposition doesn't realise what you are up to. So instead of putting your rabbit at mid on automatically, consider these options.

Where to hide your bad fielders

• In swing: cover point or third man.
• Out swing: mid on, midwicket or fine leg.
• Off spin: short third man, cover point or square leg (saving one).
• Slow Left arm or Leg spin: Midwicket or square leg (saving one).
• No swing/movement: Slips.

The principle is pretty simple: Put the fielders in places that are against the natural movement of the ball because its very tricky for the batters to hit it there.

NB. Really confident captains can also use bad fielders in a positive way. For example, if you are trying to get your opponents back in the game enough for them to go for it and get bowled out you use the bad fielders to quietly leak runs. Sneaky.

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