***Official*** 5th Test at the SCG

[OverratedSanity]

Also lolRoot

 

[Victor Ian]

Positives....Root must be the most consistent Batsman to average over 50.

 

[Compton]

I don’t much care for nightwatchmen tbf, but today is one of those days that make me tread carefully on that point.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I've never really believed in night-watchmen anyway. Why do you need to protect a specialist batsman from facing the exact same bowling he'll be facing the next morning anyway?

It's pretty much just a psychological thing IMO. Batsman doesn't want to go out there and have to start again the next morning.

 

[TNT]

Australias best bowlers bowling with a almost new ball so you send out your best batsmen its that simple.

 

[Darwin Award]

god please give me root making his 4th score between 50 and 99 and Smith making his 4th century

.... Well... LOL!!!... Step 1: Done and dusted- '83'

Step 2: Now we wait for Smudge to fulfill your quinella

 

[GIMH]

I've never really believed in night-watchmen anyway. Why do you need to protect a specialist batsman from facing the exact same bowling he'll be facing the next morning anyway?

It's pretty much just a psychological thing IMO. Batsman doesn't want to go out there and have to start again the next morning.

Harder to face a new ball in fading light

 

[Compton]

Harder to face a new ball in fading light

So you send out your least qualified to do it.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Harder to face a new ball in fading light

That's a pretty weak excuse. It's not like it's actually really ever that dark when they play

 

[Compton]

I mean:

Worst case scenario your night-watchman gets out and your batsman has to come out anyway (to an even more confident attack)

Best case scenario your night-watchman blocks out and then gifts the opposition a momentum-building wicket the following morning whilst also imcreasing your chances of a legitimate batsman running out of tail to bat with.

 

[Debris]

I mean:

Worst case scenario your night-watchman gets out and your batsman has to come out anyway (to an even more confident attack)

Best case scenario your night-watchman blocks out and then gifts the opposition a momentum-building wicket the following morning whilst also imcreasing your chances of a legitimate batsman running out of tail to bat with.

To be fair, the best case scenario is your night watchman makes a quality double hundred which he can then live off for the rest of his life.

 

[hazsa19]

I mean:

Best case scenario your night-watchman blocks out and then gifts the opposition a momentum-building wicket the following morning whilst also imcreasing your chances of a legitimate batsman running out of tail to bat with.

Nah. Best case (excluding double tons) is that they protect your specialist batsmen late in the day, then tire and frustrate the opening bowlers the next morning, all the while roughing up a newish ball. Even an average case would’ve gotten England to the close with another specialist batsmen still to come.

Is a valid tactic, and these were probably the perfect conditions to use it. Dumb Cricket

 

[TheJediBrah]

Nah. Best case (excluding double tons) is that they protect your specialist batsmen late in the day, then tire and frustrate the opening bowlers the next morning, all the while roughing up a newish ball. Even an average case would’ve gotten England to the close with another specialist batsmen still to come.

Is a valid tactic, and these were probably the perfect conditions to use it. Dumb Cricket

Nah. If Johnny can't survive how do you expect the tailender to survive? And then if Johnny got out the way he did he's just as likely to get out that same way the next morning.

 

[hazsa19]

Nah. If Johnny can't survive how do you expect the tailender to survive?

Eh? Night watchmen often survive. Multitude of factors at play; bowlers bowling different plans, batsmen aiming only to survive etc. And even if he did get out, good chance there wouldn’t have been enough time for Jonny to come out and face up.

And then if Johnny got out the way he did he's just as likely to get out that same way the next morning.

Just..nah.

 

[Starfighter]

Well, at least somebody has made a cursory look into the effectiveness of nightwatchmen. Take from it what you will.

 

[Woodster]

Yes I think there are times where a nightwatchman is a legitimate option, other times, like when they just hold the game up the following morning when a team is looking to push on then it's aswell to put the next batsman in towards the close of play.

Today looked to be a perfect time to utilise the night watchman ploy, especially against the new ball.

 

[Victor Ian]

When can you go off hurt and come back on to finish your innings? I'm sure I've seen batsmen retire hurt only to come back and finish their innings later on.

 

[hazsa19]

Having just watched the limited highlights available to me, the night watchman debate shouldn’t take away from what was, yet again in this series, a very poor display of batting.

Root should rightly be criticised for not converting, but Stoneman and Vince in particular. Vince has been given an opportunity and is in real danger of frittering away what should be a promising test career.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Root should rightly be criticised for not converting, but Stoneman and Vince in particular. Vince has been given an opportunity and is in real danger of frittering away what should be a promising test career.

Even more so when you consider how much Malan struggled to time the ball but dug in and scored a scratchy dogged 50 and is the key tomorrow to getting a below par score and not a massively below par one.

 

[Bijed]

When can you go off hurt and come back on to finish your innings? I'm sure I've seen batsmen retire hurt only to come back and finish their innings later on.

Pretty sure that if you retire hurt, you can come back on when any subsequent wicket falls.