Nightwatchman (cricket) the role up to that time. Nightwatchman (cricket) 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
Nightwatchman (cricket) tactic; Steve Waugh, for example, abandoned the tactic during his captaincy of Australia. 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. Sometimes, in the right circumstances, a nightwatchman might be sent out to protect openers. An example of such a tactical move comes from 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and England in 2018 – on 15 November,