Like me, those of you who saw Andrew Flintoff's sensational slip catch in Tuesday's one-day international match against South Africa must have been pretty impressed.

We see those sort of catches on a fairly regular basis now and not just in the international arena either.

Nothing lifts a fielding side more than a great catch, whether it is close to the wicket or by someone running along the boundary's edge.

I like to think of myself as a decent slipper and I've taken a few good ones in my time at Derbyshire and Sussex, but when I first started out life as a professional I had to field in what the players call Boot Hill, just like every other youngster coming into the game.

That meant crouching down at short leg or silly point with as much protection as you could muster, hoping you didn't get too many body blows.

So how did I end up escaping out of the firing line and into the slips? It was all down to hard work and the encouragement of Alan 'Bud' Hill, who was second XI coach at Derbyshire when I first started.

When we weren't playing we would net in the morning and then Alan would insist on two hours of fielding practice that involved lots of catching.

Alan could see I had decent reflexes and good hands and I watched guys like Ian Botham, who caught his fair share of decent slip catches, and tried to learn from them.

Since those days back in the late 1980s the standard of fielding generally in the county game has improved enormously.

When I started every side had what we would call a gun fielder. For Sussex it was Paul Parker and later Alan Wells.

There was Trevor Penney at Warwickshire and I remember Nick Knight being pretty special in his early days with Essex.

Nowadays there are four or five in each team. Our supporters can't have helped but notice the way Matt Prior has energised our fielding in the last few weeks while I don't think there is a better bat-pad catcher in the country than Richard Montgomerie who has made that crucial position his own.

The catch Monty took at Arundel on Wednesday to dismiss Nasser Hussain was one of the best I've seen anywhere for a long time, Flintoff's included. We've often joked in the dressing room that England should carry Monty around as permanent 12th man just to field at bat-pad.

Personally, the best I've ever taken was back in 1988 in my early days with Derbyshire. Graeme Hick had rolled into Derby having scored something like 700 runs without getting out, I think the aggregate included the 405 not out he got against Somerset.

Alan Warner, who you may remember as a military medium-pacer, was bowling and, apart from wicketkeeper Karl Krikken, I was the only fielder within 30 yards of the bat.

It was a typically low, slow Derby seamer and Hicky was hitting it to all parts.

Anyway, he went to play a full-blooded cut and the ball fizzed off the bat. I stuck a hand above my head and was as amazed as anyone that it stuck! Most people, including Hicky, were looking towards the third man boundary until I came up off the ground with the ball in my hand. What a memory.

That same season I remember Steve Goldsmith taking a running catch in front of the pavilion during the 1988 Benson and Hedges Cup final. It was similar to the one our own James Kirtley took at headquarters a year ago in the final of the NatWest series.

But any story about fielding and catching wouldn't be complete, as far as I'm concerned, without mention of one of the funniest moments I've ever seen on a cricket field. I still laugh thinking about it now and it happened over 15 years ago.

Derbyshire seconds were playing Nottinghamshire at Worksop and we were getting thrashed, so much so that Notts had ten overs to get the 50 runs which would have enabled them to beat us inside two days.

Their coach had offered them a day out at Alton Towers if they could finish us off a day early.

They got to 42-5 at stumps and were well narked that they had to come back the next day. Next morning, and this is the gospel truth, our coach, the aforementioned Bud Hill, had us on our hands and knees in the dressing room praying for salvation from Odin, the God of rain, while the sunshine flooded through the windows.

Alan decided to get the game over early and bowl his off spin at the start of the day. He had this old-style Hovis cap which he kept on and wore these bottle-thick glasses. Anyway he tossed one up to Bruce French, who went on to keep wicket for England of course, and Frenchy hit it high in the air.

Bud called for it and took his cap off and we all stood back and watched as the ball hit him plum on the nose, drawing quite a bit of blood.

Of course the rest of us fell about laughing, even the umpires joined in. I'll never forget it but Bud had his revenge once Notts had completed their victory. Punishment for taking the mickey out of the coach was 90 minutes of fitness training which, to this day, remains one of the most punishing hour-and-a-halves I've ever spent as a pro cricketer.

Saturday July 12