Long stop is a field position that is not often talked about in professional cricket. The reason is simple; rarely does the captain of the fielding side place one of his men at long stop. It is far from being an injury-prone position or one that requires immense agility. Yet, the long stop exists and is often seen in lower tiers of the sport.
The long stop field position is behind the wicket-keeper, near the boundary line. It was mainly devised for teams that did not have a specialist wicket-keeper. In professional cricket, no team puts forth a playing eleven without a wicket-keeper.
In 1860s, some cricket matches had the long stop position more common than a wicket-keeper. This tradition continued till nearly three decades, after which the legalization of overarm bowling made the wicket-keeper a mandate. However, in the three decades where the long stop was a routine, there was not one, but three such long stop fielders positioned behind the batter. The other two are positioned at a distance left and right of the long stop fielder.
Cricket historians have reported that the long stop position’s role was to restrict the runs a team could score through byes. The testament to these are old scoreboards, wherein records were maintained on which long stop fielder conceded the most runs.
When the role of the wicket-keepers amplified, teams started realizing that instead of having a fielder positioned behind, it would be much more advantageous to have one in front to restrict the flow of runs. This change became a routine in 1890s, after which the use of long stop gradually declined to non-existence. Wicket-keepers have since shared their responsibility with slip fielders, and fielders positioned at fine leg and third man areas.
Modern cricket is characterized as fast and aggressive, one that is decorated with power-hitting shots directed all across the field. The concept of 360-degree batting has gained prominence in the T20 era. Yet, the long stop is strategically a misfit, making it an almost obsolete fielding position in cricket.
