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Nightwatchman (cricket)
Cricket role / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batter who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play.[1] The nightwatchman's job is to maintain most of the strike until the close of play.
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The name comes due to the goal of remaining in overnight after the end of the day, a play on words on the watchmen of public safety and law enforcement. In doing so they protect more capable batters from being out cheaply in what may be a period of tiredness or poor light at the end of the day and again the following morning when the early-morning conditions may favour the bowlers who will be refreshed from their night rest. The theory is that losing two top-order batters in quick succession would be worse than losing one top-order batter and a tailender.