Batting order (cricket)
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- This article is about the term "batting order" as used in cricket. For other uses of the term, see Batting order.
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen go to the crease to bat. All eleven players in a cricket side must bat, unless a declaration is made. The batting order is usually subdivided into:
- Opening batsmen or openers (the two batsmen who start, or open, the innings.
- Upper or Top order (batsmen at positions three and four in the order)
- Middle order (batsmen five to seven)
- Lower order or tail (batsmen eight to eleven)
The order in which the eleven players will bat is established prior to the commencement of a cricket match. The decision is based on factors such as each player's specialities, the position each batsman will feel most comfortable in, each player's skills and attributes as a batsman and possible combinations with other batsmen.
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[edit] Changing the Batting Order
The captain of the team can change the batting order during the game at their discretion. There are no rules about the nature or number of changes made, and if more than one innings is played the orders for each need not be the same. It has even been known for a captain to completely reverse his batting order for the second innings after following on. This has made it possible for a bowler to take a hat-trick across three consecutive overs of a match, including the same batsman twice [1].
There are various reasons that the captain might make a change from the established order. Often, however, captains and coaches prefer not to adjust the batting order unless necessary as it can have a destablising effect.
[edit] Pinch Hitter
If the state of the game requires runs to be scored quickly, a captain will often promote a batsman who is known to score quickly up the order. This is usually a lower-order batsman, as their wicket is not regarded as being so valuable. A batsman who is promoted up the order with the intention of scoring quick runs is called a pinch hitter.
[edit] Nightwatchman
When a wicket falls near the end of the day, a nightwatchman (a lower order batsman used to protect more capable players) might get sent in to bat.
[edit] Injury
A batsman might be injured or unwell and unable to take his place in the batting order. The batsman may return further down the order if he recovers or if the situation of the game requires it. For example, if a game is nearly won and a top order batsman has a slight injury, then a few batsmen who usually bat lower than him in the order may go out to bat first. If they win the game, then the injured batsman's health was not further damaged. If however more wickets fall and he is able, the injured batsmen may then go out and try to score enough runs to win the game. In this case, he may opt to use a runner (cricket).
In some circumstances, if a player has been off the field during the opposition's innings for a long time, then he is not allowed to come in to bat until a certain number of overs have passed.
[edit] Opening Batsmen or Openers
The opening batsmen or openers are the batsmen who "open" the innings. The position is important as the openers must get the innings off to a good start. The early fall of wickets can have a psychological impact on the rest of the team, affecting their performance with the bat. The opening batsmen also get the first experience of the pitch and conditions, and must be able to adjust to them quickly.
Most importantly, the opening batsmen must face a new ball, which is hard and has a pronounced seam. This makes it more liable to travel fast, bounce high, seam around (bounce unpredictably off the seam) and swing (deviate sideways when travelling through the air). These early conditions favour the bowling team, so the opening batsmen should have a strong technique and be good defensively. As the ball gets older, its condition starts to favour the batting team. Therefore, the openers will ideally stay at the crease long enough to protect the batsmen further down the order.
In First-class cricket, the rate at which the openers score runs is not as important as "taking the shine off" the new ball. This is the process of softening and roughening the cricket ball. By occupying the crease for a long time and taking the shine off the ball, the openers themselves are able to score more freely later on. This also makes batting easier for the rest of the order. Because of the defensive technique required early on, openers traditionally have been less fluent stroke-players than the specialist batsmen who follow. An example of a classic opener in this mould was Geoffrey Boycott.
In limited overs cricket, the role of opening batsman is slightly different. In this type of cricket a high run rate a necessity. Also, in the early 1990s, fielding restrictions were introduced in the early overs of the game, limiting the fielding side to only two players on the boundary. To start the innings effectively and take advantage of the fielding restrictions, it became beneficial to have an aggressive batsman opening the batting.
Martin Crowe's New Zealand team in the 1992 World Cup took to promoting Mark Greatbatch up the order to take this role. Ian Botham undertook the same role for England in that competition. After Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana destroyed bowling attacks in the 1996 World Cup through aggressive batting in the first 15 overs, the position of one-day opener began to be regarded as one reserved for individuals capable of clean hitting against fast bowling.
[edit] Top Order
The batsmen who bat at positions 3 and 4 in the order are typically the most technically proficient batsmen with the best stroke play. As they are likely to face an older ball that is easier to score runs against, they must aim to make large number of runs. They may be exposed to the new ball if an opener loses their wicket early on, and so must be equipped to deal with this scenario as well.
[edit] Middle Order
The middle order usually consists of versatile batsmen who must continue to build an innings. Again, defensive abilities are crucial and it is likely they will face a much older ball bowled by a spin bowler. Middle order players should also be adept at making runs when playing with the poor quality batsmen in the lower order.
[edit] Lower Order or Tail
The lower order is considered to be made up of the specialist bowlers in the side who are not renowned for their batting skill. Therefore the start of the lower order may vary in position depending on the balance of the side. This part of the batting order is often referred to as the tail and batsmen who play in it are known as tail-enders (particularly weak batsmen are known as rabbits or ferrets if they are even worse).
It is likely that these batsmen will be dismissed for low scores. However, as expectations on these players are low when batting, they often play aggressive, carefree shots in the hope of achieving as many runs as possible. On occasions, the scores posted by the lower order have made a difference to the outcome of a Test match.
[edit] References
- ^ Cricinfo Ask Steven Column - see the last question - retrieved 16 November 2006.
