ESSEX captain Mark Pettini is planning to slip into a new fielding position next season.

The skipper revealed that he could swap his usual station at mid-off for a place next to wicketkeeper and vice-captain James Foster in 2009.

A fine outfielder, Pettini tried out his new role in the county’s final LV County Championship match of the season at Gloucestershire last week.

But the skipper, who has kept wicket himself for Essex’s Second XI, admitted he still has a lot of work to do before he can hold a torch to the game’s finest slip fielders.

“It’s something that I’ve been thinking about,” he admitted.

“It’s not a position you can just take up, you have to put in a lot of work to make sure that you are comfortable fitting in there.

“I fielded at short leg a few years ago and had to put in a lot of time making sure I was competent. Obviously close to the wicket positions are so vitally important.

“So, yes, it’s something that I’m looking at and it has its benefits because it may be a bit easier to read the game from there.

“Also, standing next to Fozzie may have added benefits.

“I’ll have a think about it during the winter and maybe it might happen.”

During the 2008 season opening batsmen Jason Gallian and Varun Chopra and spinner James Middlebrook were the usual suspects in the slip cordon.

But with all three far from certain of their places in the side next season, Pettini’s decision to consider a move into “the office” may be a shrewd one.

Meanwhile, despite failing to secure a win at Bristol on Saturday, the captain was delighted with the performance of an Essex team that included Chopra and Wickford paceman Jahid Ahmed, who picked up five wickets on his only first-class appearance of the season.

“We did really well to get ourselves into a winning position even though we just couldn’t finish the job off,” he said.

“I’ve no complaints about our performance, with the side we had playing, we did really well to get ourselves into a winning position.

“And there were a number of positives to take from the game.

“Varun came back in and did exceptionally well for us with his century (155 in Essex’s first innings) and it was good to see him get plenty of runs again whilE Jahid was a real plus given the way he bowled in the game.”