safe pairs of hands

Noun

safe pair of hands (plural safe pairs of hands)

1. The ability to catch and keep hold of (the ball, etc.)
   • His fielding in the outfield in the early part of his career impressed me, if anything, more than his batting or bowling, for he was a beautiful thrower. ... He could run like a deer and had a very safe pair of hands.1919 Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham; quoted in eds Charles Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home; George Harris, 4th Baron Harris; Sir Home Gordon, Bt. The Memorial biography of Dr. W.G. Grace...
2. (metonymically) A player who has this ability.
   • the veteran shot-stopper has proved to be a safe, capable pair of hands over the years2010 Eric MacKinnon "I'll bounce back insists Livi keeper Tony Bullock after debut to forget" (West Lothian Courier) 29 July 2010
3. (figuratively) An experienced person (especially a leader) who can be trusted to do a decent job and not to make serious mistakes; often in relation to a task which is difficult and important; often suggesting blandness or a contrast to someone brilliant but erratic.
   • The solid, reliable Monsieur Pompidou was there, as safe a pair of hands as the most timorous bourgeois could wish for1998 Thody, Philip Malcolm Waller The Fifth French Republic: Presidents, Politics and Personalities (Routledge) p.34 →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   old reliable, steady Eddie