In cricket a fielder is often placed at the boundary edge as shown - Edexcel - A-Level Physics - Question 17 - 2023 - Paper 1

The time taken to reach the fielder can be found using distance and horizontal velocity:

$t = \frac{d}{v_x} = \frac{55.0}{15.33} \approx 3.59 \, \text{s}$

The maximum height can be derived from the vertical motion equations. Since the ball takes half the total time to reach its maximum height:

$t_{up} = \frac{3.59}{2} \approx 1.795 \, \text{s}$

Using the equation for vertical displacement:

$y = v_y t - \frac{1}{2} g t^2$

where $g = 9.81 \, \text{m/s}^2$, we can substitute:

$y = 18.28 \times 1.795 - \frac{1}{2} \times 9.81 \times (1.795)^2 \approx 16.38 \, \text{m}$

Since the ball reaches a maximum height of approximately 16.38 m, and the fielder is capable of catching the ball only if it is less than 3 meters above the height it was hit, we must consider the initial height (which we can assume as ground level for this scenario). Therefore, its maximum height exceeds 3 m and the fielder cannot catch the ball.