nightwatchmen....answer me this

[Son Of Coco]

Possibly because a nightwatchman is used as a reaction to a certain situation (i.e., losing a wicket late in the day), not offered up as a solution to that happening in the first place. By this I mean that teams send out their openers as per usual with the mindset that a wicket isn't going to fall by the end of the day and they'll start off the next day as per usual. However, if a wicket does fall then some teams will try a nightwatchman approach to get them through to stumps if there's only a few overs left, this doesn't mean that sending out a nightwatchman straight off is the right approach, as you'd be adopting a negative stance from the outset and basically saying 'we expect to lose a wicket, so we'd rather you have this guy'.

You could just as easily ask 'why don't they send out two nightwatchmen to start the innings if there's only 5 overs left until the end of the day!?', most teams will leave things unchanged at the start of an innings as that provides stability and a positive approach.

 

[mofo123]

yea but u might have batted the whole of the last session when ur batsmen gets out, leaving u say 80-1 this is the stage with 4 overs left u dont want to lose ur OTHER batsmen so u send in a wicket u dont mind losing AS much. and sometimes the nightwatchman can impress and blah blah blah...lovely

 

[Son Of Coco]

yea but u might have batted the whole of the last session when ur batsmen gets out, leaving u say 80-1 this is the stage with 4 overs left u dont want to lose ur OTHER batsmen so u send in a wicket u dont mind losing AS much. and sometimes the nightwatchman can impress and blah blah blah...lovely

yes...

 

[vic_orthdox]

My club side sent in a nightwatchman for our semi-final, and he ended up batting on till halfway through the second session the next day, dismissed for 45 but importantly he fell at 3/150. He's the perfect nightwatchman though, ridiculously hard to get out, very few shots. If you have someone worth throwing up there, you might as well do it.

 

[marc71178]

Hoggard has proven himself time and again to be that sort of player - I can't remember the number of times he seems to come in, then last an hour or so of the new ball the next morning - he may only make 15 or 20 or so, but the benefits for the team are far more than that!

 

[vic_orthdox]

exactly. and its indescribably frustrating as a bowling side to have a character like this delay your inroads into a batting order. (that's my best peter roebuck impression).

 

[marc71178]

Another great reason to use a NWM!

 

[Neil Pickup]

Glamorgan v Surrey today.

For no apparent reason, Surrey opening in their second innings with Nayan Doshi (FC average 8.24).

 

[The Maestro]

Nice.....some much more insightful replies this time. Thank you cos this issue has been driving me nuts since it occured to me. Ive questioned just about every cricket person I know and most just look blank before fumbling through the "openers are better equipped to deal with it" theory. While that theory has merit I honestly dont beleive it stands up to closer examination and certain situations

like this one

. The England openers thus had an over to see out before stumps, and Trescothick promptly looped Pollock's first ball up to Paul Adams at short leg.

With nothing at all to gain on a wearing fourth day pitch (England were bowled out for 118, and then South Africa followed for 131 chasing 202 to win), the option of Ashley Giles opening for England and facing the first over (if he were out, it would be stumps) was perhaps a trick missed by England - but it didn't matter.

Perfect....Im not sure what the rule is but the one where if a wicket falls its immediately stumps lends itself spot on to the theory

Also.......as alluded to above, I think the NWM can be harder to get out in tough batting conditions because of their propensity to miss the snorters by a mile whereas the "get-in-line-mindset" opener is more likely to hit it or be hit by it.

Im just suprised we have not seen it applied more (hey i dont really think Im the 1st one to think of it) and if I ever spot my idol Glenn Maitland Turner I'll be accosting the poor bugger and questioning him about that day vs Sri lanka fo real

 

[marc71178]

Glamorgan v Surrey today.

For no apparent reason, Surrey opening in their second innings with Nayan Doshi (FC average 8.24).

Erm, where?

 

[Neil Pickup]

Erm, where?

It was like that at the time that I posted it, honest.

It was clearly a case of Cricinfo playing silly buggers again - I probably should have picked it as a technical issue when I noticed that Surrey had three not out batsmen.

 

[luckyeddie]

It was like that at the time that I posted it, honest.

It was clearly a case of Cricinfo playing silly buggers again - I probably should have picked it as a technical issue when I noticed that Surrey had three not out batsmen.

<quack> and a Clarkemeister

 

[Dizzy #4]

Well, after two years, what now? Does Gillespie nopw have a chance at opening? lol

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Well, after two years, what now? Does Gillespie nopw have a chance at opening? lol

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/showthread.php?t=32555

 

[Dizzy #4]

But now it's a year after The Dizzy Double and many nightwatchmen have made a name for themselves since...

 

[Perm]

Best night-watchmen out there?

Lee I reckon.