The Bazball school of Test cricket has been changing the way the longest format of the game is played, especially for the England team. In a recent development, they have revolutionized the role of a nightwatchman. Traditionally, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batter sent out to bat when a day’s play is nearing its end and this has been done especially to protect the main batters. But England’s current Test team, under Brendon McCullum's tutelage and Ben Stokes's captaincy, has seen a change in that concept, with the nightwatchman becoming a nighthawk. In this article, we shall talk about this. Ben Stokes Breaks Brendon McCullum's Record of Hitting Most Sixes in Test Cricket, Achieves Feat During NZ vs ENG 1st Test 2023 (Watch Video).

What is Nighthawk in Cricket?

A nightwatchman’s role is to block out deliveries and mostly play defensively in order to preserve his wicket as well as protect that of the frontline batters when play on a particular day is heading towards its end. But the nighthawk’s role is exactly the opposite, wherein the designated batter’s only job is to go out in the middle and swing hard and attack the bowling in order to attempt and add some more runs to the total. For England, Stuart Broad is the person chosen for the role and he certainly showed his intent at living up to the approach, attempting some aggressive shots against New Zealand in the 1st Test. In the process, he also top-edged one such delivery which ended up falling between Scott Kuggeleijn and Tom Blundell, both of whom were watching the ball but did not catch it. Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Blundell Caught Ball-Watching After Stuart Broad Top-Edges Delivery During NZ vs ENG 1st Test 2023 (Watch Video).

Stokes, while talking about this new approach, said, “Looking at every situation we are going to find ourselves in, we’re always looking at what the positive thing to do is,” adding, “For example on Sunday night, we renamed what the nightwatchman is all about. We called it the Nighthawk. That was Broady. He was going out with half an hour left to play to try to literally slog. That’s where we are at the moment, it’s awesome. And the aim of the Nighthawk? “Get 30 off 10, or nought off 1.”'

The Bazball approach to Test cricket certainly has yielded the results for England, with the highlight of that being the Ben Stokes-led side chasing down a massive total of 378 against India last year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2023 01:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).