Where did the various names for fielding positions come from?

Question

Where did the fielding positions in cricket get their names? For example, why did the name the slips, slips? What about gully? Does it refer to a landform created by running water eroding sharply into soil, typically on a hillside. Or is it from the Hindi/Bengali word meaning an alley or by-lane? What does it have to do with cricket anyway?

Third Man. Why so? If the players behind the bat were numbered starting with the keeper, there could only ever be one slip because the third man would be fielding on the boundary. Since it is perfectly possible to have two or even three slips and still a third-man, why did the term come into use?

Point? To what does it point? Why did early cricketers make a point of calling a man in this position "point"?

Cover. What does it cover? Any fielder in any part of the ground is covering some area, either for close catching, run-saving or preventing boundaries. Why was cover then called cover?

Mid-off, mid-on, long-off, long-on, and mid-wicket are understandable, as is the unqualified term "leg" (being on the leg side), but why fine leg, square leg, short leg and so on? Where did the terms fine and square come from?

Silly-mid-off/on/wicket or Silly point? How did they come to be described as silly?

Lastly, backward. Why do we describe positions as backward point and backward square leg? In the sense of behind square, could not behind or another word be used? Doesn't backward seem to refer to a state of being unsophisticated, uncultured or uncivilised? Isn't this unrefined state exactly what the English aristocracy loathed? Why then did they name the positions such?

Answer 1

You know, I see this happen a lot here, that good intelligent questions in yahoo hardly elicit enough responses.

I don't know the answer to ur question but would like to know what it is. Ben did a good job. But honestly, these fielding terms literally give me a spin :)  

Answer 2

Slips

The origin of the slips is hinted at in an early description of the long stop, who ‘is required to cover many slips from the bat’. Early cricket writers identify two slip positions in the game. The first was called a short-slip, which was equivalent to the modern-day 1st or 2nd Slip position. The other position was called a long-slip, which was equivalent to the modern-day Short 3rd Man or Fly-slip position. By the turn of the last century an attacking field would usually have two slips (in the modern sense) which were called ‘1st Slip’ and ‘cover-slip’ or ‘extra-slip’.

Gully

The name apparently derives from the more general meaning of gully, and suggests a narrow channel or ‘gorge’ between point and the slips. Gully is a fairly recent term for the position formerly called short 3rd Man or backward point. It became a position in its own right following the development of off-theory attack towards the end of the 19th century.

Third Man

The term third man originally denoted a position that was beginning to be used more often (with the spread of overarm bowling and the development of off-theory attack) to supplement the more established close offside fielding positions of point and short-slip. The new fieldsman was thus the third man up

Point

The origin of this term stems from early cricket when the position was called ‘point of the bat’. This indicates that the fielder stood very near to the end of the striker’s bat (hence the even older name for this position was ‘bat’s end’). The fieldsman would field no more than three and a half yards from the batsman.

Cover

The origin was that the fielder in this position was referred to as ‘The Man who covers the Point and Middle Wicket’

Mid - On and Mid - Off

The terms are actually a contraction of the earlier position ‘middle wicket off’ and ‘middle wicket on’. The manuals and illustrations of the early 19th century all show middle wicket as one of the standard fielding positions of the game at that time. Middle wicket was an offside fielding position between extra cover and the bowler. However, an equivalent leg-side position was also occasionally used, so the two ‘middle wicket’ positions as middle wicket off (Mid-Off) and middle wicket on (Mid-On). Mid-Wicket, although an ancient cricket term only received its current meaning in the 1930’s. Prior to that time mid-wicket or ‘middle wicket’ was simply another name for mid-off. The position currently called mid-wicket in earlier times would have been called forward square leg or perhaps extra mid-on.

other explanations

Silly: Very close in to the batsman.

Short: Closer in towards the batsman.

Deep: Further out towards the boundary.

Long: Right near the boundary.

Forward: Further in front of the batsman's popping crease.

Backward: Further behind the batsman's popping crease.

Fine: Closer to the line bisecting off and leg sides.

Straight: A synonym for fine.

Wide: Further from the line bisecting off and leg sides.

Square: Closer to the line of the batsman's popping crease.

Hope this is adequate to explain the terms.