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In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if the innings does not close early due to a declaration or other factor).
The batting order is colloquially subdivided into:
The order in which the eleven players will bat is usually established before the start of a cricket match, but may be altered during play. The decision is based on factors such as each player's specialities; the position each batter is most comfortable with; each player's skills and attributes as a batter; possible combinations with other batters; and the match situation whereby, for example, the team may require a more defensive or attacking player at that point in the innings. Also, a middle order batter in Tests may open for ODIs and Twenty20 due to their aggressive approach to the game.
There are various reasons why the captain might make a change from the established order. Usually, however, captains and coaches prefer not to adjust the batting order unless necessary, as for example when South Africa moved Imran Tahir up the order against India because the South African top seven batters were poor against spin bowlers. In 2017, Faf du Plessis, who returned to the side as Test Captain after paternity leave, decided to make many changes to the batting lineup before the second test against England after being handed a heavy defeat. Du Plessis replaced JP Duminy at no. 5, and moved Quinton de Kock from 5 to 4 (de Kock already moved from no. 7 to 5 between the 1st and 2nd innings of the first Test), and due to the suspension of Kagiso Rabada due to demerit points, so Duanne Olivier replaced him, Philander moved up a spot to no. 7, while Theunis de Bruyn was replaced by Chris Morris at no. 8.
The Indian cricket team also shuffled their batting order in the first ODI of the India tour of West Indies and United States, 2023.
In the days before covered pitches, a particularly bad sticky wicket might see each team reverse the batting order to trade the wickets of their inferior batters for the time it could take for the unpredictability of the pitch to die down. Don Bradman has the highest test score as a #7 batsman after such an reversal of the order.
However, some nightwatchmen do go on to make big scores, most notably Jason Gillespie's 201Not out at number three (he usually batted at nine or ten) against Bangladesh in 2006.
Most importantly, the opening batters must face a new Cricket ball, which is hard and has a pronounced seam. This makes it more liable to travel fast, bounce high, Seam bowling around (i.e., bounce unpredictably off the seam) and Swing bowling (i.e., deviate sideways when travelling through the air). These early conditions favour the bowling team, so the opening batters must have considerable patience, a sound 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 batters 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, whose condition tends to degrade the longer it is in play. 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 are sometimes less fluent stroke-players than the specialist batters who follow.
In limited overs cricket, the role of opening batter is slightly different. In this type of cricket a high run rate is 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 batter opening the innings. Due to these differences, there are examples of batsmen who would ordinarily play down in the lower order, such as a wicket-keeper batsman in First Class and Test Match cricket or heavy hitting all-rounders, being elevated to open in limited overs cricket. Adam Gilchrist batted in a 6, 7 or 8 position batter for all but a handful of his Test innings but in One Day Internationals he opened over 260 times.
If an opening batter remains not out at the end of the team's innings, after all 10 other batters have been dismissed, he or she is said to have carried the bat.
Players who are designated as an all-rounder often bat in the middle order (e.g. Garfield Sobers usually batted at number 6; by contrast, W. G. Grace always opened the innings). Wicket-keeper generally bat in the middle order as well, often at number 6 or 7 (e.g. Adam Gilchrist throughout his Test career usually batted at number 7; however he predominantly opened the batting in limited-overs cricket). One reason for placing all-rounders and wicket-keepers in the middle-order even though they may be more skilled than those who batted above them was because such players would be tired after bowling or keeping wicket during the preceding innings. Another reason, with the trend of wicket-keepers opening the innings in limited-over cricket, batters at positions 6, 7 and 8 tend to be at the crease when the second new ball is due, so they can function just like an opener and know how to wear out the new ball, or play aggressively to score quick runs to chase victory or to build the innings quickly towards a declaration. It is also plausible to see substitute wicket-keepers batting at number 5 or 6.
In One Day International cricket, middle order batters are generally able to change their game depending on the conditions. If their team loses wickets early, they must be able to play a long careful innings. Conversely, if they are not required to bat until later in the game, they must be able to attempt to score quickly, often attempting to hit many fours or sixes, and if they only have a short period to bat, they are expected to be innovative and able to settle after a short period. In run-chases they are required to be good at calculating and minimising the risks needed to reach the target, by scoring at close to the rate required. If they score more quickly than is required, they run the risk of getting out and exposing the weaker, lower-order batters to the pressure situation, but if they score too slowly, then they fall behind schedule and the pressure again increases.
Middle order players who become known for proficiency in batting for long periods and with the lower order are often said to be "anchor" players or "finishers" who can rescue the side from poor batting performance and can win a match with careful play to reach a target in the second innings or post a defendable total in the first innings. Australian player Michael Bevan was known during his player career by the nickname of "The Finisher", leading the ICC batting rankings multiple times, and helping Australia to numerous wins from his bat. Examples of this finishing style include the 1996 World Cup Semi-Final against the West Indies where Bevan and Stuart Law were at the crease with Australia having lost 4 wickets for just 15 runs in the 9th over. Law stayed in until the 41st over scoring 72 and Bevan the 44th over with 69 as Australia eventually scored 207 and the West Indies collapsed late in the match to fall 5 runs short. Bevan was the catalyst for one of the most famous victories in Australian cricket, scoring 78 and ending the game hitting a four off the final ball of the rain shortened one-day international against the West Indies on the 1st of January 1996 in Sydney, batting with Healy, Paul Reiffel and with Glenn McGrath helping Bevan by scoring a vital quick single off the penultimate ball of the match.
It is likely that these batters will be dismissed for low scores. However, as expectations of these players are low when they are batting, they often play aggressive, carefree shots in the hope of scoring as many runs as possible. On occasion, the scores posted by the lower order have made a difference to the outcome of a match. If a significant contribution has come from the tail-enders, it is often said that "the tail wagged".
On occasions in which the batting team is a long way behind its opponents, the lower-order batters may attempt to salvage a draw by playing defensively until the end of the match. An example of this would be the first test in the 2009 Ashes series, in which England bowlers James Anderson and Monty Panesar were able to remain at the crease for 11.3 overs, denying Australia the chance to win the match.
The last batter in the order (at position 11) is sometimes referred to as Last Man Jack, a term that has passed into everyday parlance. This is because if the batting order were arranged as a pack of playing cards numbers 9 and 10 would be followed by Jack. Those batters who bat at positions 8 and 9 are also known as middle–lower order batters.
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Nitschke's score of 81 and Smith's 42 in the 2005 Women's Ashes in a partnership of 139 is the highest last wicket partnership in women's test cricket.
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