safe pair of hands

Noun

 * 1)  The ability to catch and keep hold of (the ball, etc.)
 * 2) * 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 (London, M.C.C.) p.34:
 * 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.
 * 1)  A player who has this ability.
 * 2) * 2010 Eric MacKinnon "I'll bounce back insists Livi keeper Tony Bullock after debut to forget" (West Lothian Courier) 29 July 2010:
 * the veteran shot-stopper has proved to be a safe, capable pair of hands over the years
 * 1)  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.
 * 2) * 1998 Thody, Philip Malcolm Waller The Fifth French Republic: Presidents, Politics and Personalities (Routledge) p.34 ISBN 9780415187541
 * The solid, reliable Monsieur Pompidou was there, as safe a pair of hands as the most timorous bourgeois could wish for
 * 1) * 2011 Charles Bremner Wham, bam, no thank you MAM (The Austrialian, reprinted from The Times) 8 February 2011
 * Sarkozy appointed the no-nonsense Alliot-Marie in November to straighten out the Quai d'Orsay, as the ministry is known, after the shambolic three-year stint there of Bernard Kouchner, the glamorous humanitarian doctor. [...] She was a safe, uninspiring pair of hands who acquired a name as an enforcer.
 * Sarkozy appointed the no-nonsense Alliot-Marie in November to straighten out the Quai d'Orsay, as the ministry is known, after the shambolic three-year stint there of Bernard Kouchner, the glamorous humanitarian doctor. [...] She was a safe, uninspiring pair of hands who acquired a name as an enforcer.

Synonyms

 * good hands
 * old reliable; steady Eddie