Nightwatchman (cricket)

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.

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.