In cricket's long history, what is now commonplace was once audacious, unseen. In a new series we look back at some events, innovations and players who foretold the game's future.

"I've never seen it before, but I'm going six," was Ian Bishop's considered opinion while on commentary at the time. And if Bishop hadn't seen it before, you can bet most people hadn't either.

Angelo Mathews had just combined quick thinking and athleticism to pull off what is still among the greatest saves in the game. In 2009, it was unreal.

Ramnaresh Sarwan lofted Ajantha Mendis towards long-on during the T20 World Cup match between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge. Back-pedalling towards the boundary edge, Mathews braced himself for the catch, just about took it, but realising his momentum would take him over, he threw the ball up and then fell outside. That wasn't the end of it. Looking up from the grass, Mathews saw the ball was going to drop over the boundary and result in a six. So up he sprang into a full-length jump, slapping the ball into the field of play while his body was airborne, before crashing to earth once again. If you're having trouble reconciling the Mathews of today with those acrobatics, he was a sprightly 22-year old at the time.

Thankfully, the effort was declared legal by the umpires and soon had the MCC's approval too. "Such brilliant and quick-thinking acts should not be outlawed," it said. Amen to that.

While the Mathews save was possibly the first of its kind (do write to us if you know it wasn't), when did its analogous cousin - the step-over-and-back boundary catch - enter the consciousness of the cricket fan? Coincidentally, six overs earlier in the same game, Muthiah Muralidaran had the opportunity to dismiss Dwayne Bravo in such a manner, but he couldn't complete the catch or prevent the boundary.

A few months before, in February 2009, Adam Voges did both against New Zealand to dismiss a marauding Brendon McCullum at the SCG, and help Australia snatch the first one-run victory in a T20 international. Judging by how excited the commentators were, catches like that were rare 15 years ago.

Why wasn't this type of fielding more common earlier, like in the 1990s? One theory is that until relatively recently, no minimum distance was mandated between the boundary rope and the advertisement boards for player safety. In the past, fielders had little space to work with beyond the boundary, unless they were okay crashing into the boards. And in countries like Australia the advertisement perimeter - or the picket fence - was the boundary as recently as the early 2000s. Not as many sixes were hit in those days either; the straight boundary and pockets on the leg-side boundary weren't the hot zones they are now. Another example of necessity being the proverbial mother of invention.

So was Voges the first? Perhaps in an international match. The earliest evidence we found on the internet is of another Australian, Andy Bichel, performing the step-over-and-back boundary catch to dismiss Kyle Mills in an exhibition game in Hamilton. That contest, in 2005, was designed as a ten-overs-a-side match, which possibly deserves its own entry in this series of articles.

George Binoy is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

 

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