Bangladesh's Hunt For a NightWatchman

[aklemalp]

I am really serious about this. Bangladesh have been very poor in sending out an able bowler who can bat a bit to take some balls from an established batsman and guard him until umpires call, "Stumps!".

These days in the advent of the shorter formats, we have more bowlers carrying more than one bat in their kit bags, they are getting more batting practice than say a guy like Jason Gillespie had during his days as a test cricketer.

A nightwatchman would be great for BD cricket; he can stop the collapse, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief walking back to the pavilion not-out, along with the batsman who he was sent to guard with willow in hands.

Most teams have had a better lower order resistance in recent times in test cricket, the bowlers are becoming much better batsmen and are competing within themselves. Best guy gets the job of a nightwatchmen. It builds confidence and morale, the entire team gets buoyed up by this.

I see a couple of guys who might be candidates for this job. They are currently in the squad or back home contemplating their next career choice: Rabbi, Shafiul, Miraz, Abul, etc. I don't think Taijul would be a good choice, since they've used him and he crumbled.

How much net practice are these guys getting? Are they batting in pairs when in practice? Do they simulate match situations where a nightwatchman is required?

All that and more, the bowlers should form bonds with the batsmen and further improve their batting IQ. A batsman batting with the tail would have the trust to let his partner face the last two balls of an over; while the batsmen batting with the nightwatchman would have the confidence to let his partner face the bulk of balls than him, talking to each other of a plan and so on.

They say practice makes perfect. I believe in that. Somehow if they can improve in this area things would be great up at the top of the order.

Some of the Nightwatchmen currently in use in Test cricket:

PLAYER	COUNTRY	BatAVERAGE
Nathan Lyon	Australia	12.41
Kagiso Rabada	South Africa	12.72
Devendra Bishoo	West Indies	16.91

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Any thoughts on this topic would be welcomed

[Fazal]

Kamrul Islam Rabbi

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Fazal
Kamrul Islam Rabbi

He does have what it takes to fill that role. He can block yes/

[Fazal]

You need a nightwatchman who can score a bit more?

our infamous Abul.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Fazal
You need a nightwatchman who can score a bit more?

our infamous Abul.

No, not really. But if he do that then it's a bonus.

[PoorFan]

Not just a nightwatchman, but our tail enders batting been an issue for a long time [all format]. Our batting coach or whoever responsible for should address this issue ASAP and should start working on this regard. Champions trophy is not far away and should be an area of improvement before going into.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by PoorFan
Not just a nightwatchman, but our tail enders batting been an issue for a long time [all format]. Our batting coach or whoever responsible for should address this issue ASAP and should start working on this regard. Champions trophy is not far away and should be an area of improvement before going into.

I do hope the Head Coach is aware of this and more. You need runs from your lower order.

[Tigers_eye]

Why not the batsmen take more responsibility and not give away wicket at the close to end of the day play? (AND YES, THEY JUST GIFED THEIR WICKETS) Why can't they control their urge? Why does a bowler have to do their dirty work? The established batsmen muck up the situation and bowlers have to fix it?

Why do we even need a night watchman?

[Rifat]

3 strong candidates:

1. Mehedi Hasan Miraz
2. Kamrul Islam Rabbi
3. Abul Hasan Raju

[RealSports]

Easy. Abul Hasan. He is suited for tests. This is common sense. Also, I agree that all XI of our batsman should be capable of batting even if the last 3 batsman can score 30 runs between them – it will be fine. The key question is can they stay at the crease, and play more than 50 balls.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
Why not the batsmen take more responsibility and not give away wicket at the close to end of the day play? (AND YES, THEY JUST GIFED THEIR WICKETS) Why can't they control their urge? Why does a bowler have to do their dirty work? The established batsmen muck up the situation and bowlers have to fix it?

Why do we even need a night watchman?

That's a question I can't answer. We see the nightwatchman in almost every test playing nation.

[Vepu]

We already have the best tailender batsman. Shakib al hasan

[Fazal]

I think we need to approach both ways: a) Specialized batsman and all rounders should do their job and not expect for tailenders to do their job; but at the same time b) in today's world tail-ender needs to bat a little better than the past. It always helps if tailenders save the team once in a while.

[aklemalp]

Going by this table, Mark Boucher is the greatest nightwatchman of all time:

Score	Batsman	Match	Location	Year
201*	JN Gillespie	Australia v Bangladesh	Chittagong	2005-06
125	MV Boucher	South Africa v Zimbabwe	Harare	1999-2000
108	MV Boucher	South Africa v England	Durban	1999-2000
105	AL Mann	Australia v India	Perth	1977-1978
101*	SMH Kirmani	India v Australia	Mumbai	1979-1980
101	Nasim-ul-Ghani	Pakistan v England	Lord's	1962
99*	AJ Tudor	England v New Zealand	Birmingham	1999
98	H Larwood	England v Australia	Sydney	1932-33
95	EE Hemmings	England v Australia	Sydney	1982-83
94	RC Russell	England v Sri Lanka	Lord's	1988
87	PL Taylor	Australia v New Zealand	Wellington	1989-90
85	Wasim Bari	Pakistan v India	Lahore	1978-79
85	IA Healy	Australia v New Zealand	Perth	1997-98
85	N Boje	South Africa v India	Bangalore	1999-2000

Most runs in an innings by a nightwatchman
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/con...ds/282904.html

[aklemalp]

This is what I pulled up from Wikipedia:

In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batsman who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play. The nightwatchman's job is to maintain most of the strike until the close of play (remaining in overnight, hence the name) and so protect other, more capable batsmen from being out cheaply in what may be a period of tiredness or in poor light at the end of the day, and then again the following morning when the batsmen have not yet `got their eye in,' or when the early-morning conditions may favour the bowlers. The theory is that losing two top-order batsmen in quick succession would be worse than losing one top-order batsman and a tailender.

However the nightwatchman's effort is not considered to be wasted, nor is he expected to play foolishly; otherwise he would not last very long. The role of nightwatchman is generally given to players who emphasise defensive technique over quick run-scoring. However, there have been occasions when nightwatchmen have made a big score, and six have made centuries in test matches. Generally speaking, the nightwatchman plays conservatively on the night, but the next day may be allowed a freer role to score runs.

The tactic has its drawbacks; in particular, if the nightwatchman does survive until the end of the day, the beginning of the next day's play will see refreshed bowlers with better light facing a less capable batsman. As a result, not all captains utilise the tactic; Steve Waugh, for example, abandoned the tactic during his captaincy of Australia.[1]

The nightwatchman is not to be confused with the pinch hitter, a lower- or middle-order batsman who is promoted up the order in limited-overs games, or in tests where their team is looking for a quick declaration, in the hope of scoring quick runs without too much concern for their wicket.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightwatchman_(cricket)

[Nadim]

bring back SRK, AKA Sahadat Hossain Rajib

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Nadim
bring back SRK, AKA Sahadat Hossain Rajib

He gotta first try to get past the 2 R's; Rabbi and Roy

[Fazal]

Originally Posted by Nadim
bring back SRK, AKA Sahadat Hossain Rajib

Sure Rubel, Shahadat and Arafat will be make Bangladesh cricket great again.

[mufi_02]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
Going by this table, Mark Boucher is the greatest nightwatchman of all time:



Most runs in an innings by a nightwatchman
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/con...ds/282904.html

not sure how CI is defining nightwatchman (coming up the batting order at the end of the day perhaps?) but Boucher was no tail ender batsmen. He was a more than decent batsmen and played many good knocks.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by mufi_02
not sure how CI is defining nightwatchman (coming up the batting order at the end of the day perhaps?) but Boucher was no tail ender batsmen. He was a more than decent batsmen and played many good knocks.

If you look carefully at the date, it was in 99-00 season. Boucher wasn't that much of a recognized batsmen back then, which might be one of the reason for the case.

I've gotten hold of both scorecards...Boucher made that 125 whilst batting at #6, so it might be wrong to call him a nightwatchman. The 106 against England also came batting at #6, Cricinfo messed up big time. Cooking the numbers.

Jason Gillespie was the ultimate nightwatchman though, he is Mount Everest compared to everyone else/.

[SportingBD]

Subashis Roy didn't look that bad too be honest.

remained not out on ZERO of 14 balls first innings...

Could have used him..

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by SportingBD
Subashis Roy didn't look that bad too be honest.

remained not out on ZERO of 14 balls first innings...

Could have used him..

Was he comfortable facing the bowlers tho? Like the opposite of Taijul?

[SportingBD]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
Was he comfortable facing the bowlers tho? Like the opposite of Taijul?

He looked decent, blocked solidly.

You would expect them to struggle a bit...

but from what I saw... knows how to block...

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by SportingBD
He looked decent, blocked solidly.

You would expect them to struggle a bit...

but from what I saw... knows how to block...

Hmm, if we are looking for a blocker, Rabbi might be the perfect guy. But let's not forget that he can open his arms when called for, as was the case in the victory versus England.

He is the guy who would be an ideal nightwatchman for BD.

[NoName]

Lol @ Abul. That just means going into the match with one less bowler