18 February 2023 , 14:16
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David Gower was left "completely bemused" after England deployed Stuart Broad as the NightHawk, a 'Bazball' take on the traditional nightwatchman role.
The role was dreamt up by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, with the former stating in July they want Broad to "go out with half an hour left to play to try to literally slog" instead of simply trying to see out the rest of the day's play and protect a frontline batter.
The NightHawk was first used in Pakistan when Rehan Ahmed filled the role while Broad was on paternity following the birth of his daughter Annabella. However, in Broad's first Test back against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui he was sent in at number four after McCullum approached him and simply said: "Hawk, it's time. You're going in next."
And while Broad may not have been as effective as he would have hoped, he certainly caused some chaos after a comical mix-up between Scott Kuggeleijn and Tom Blundell saw him dropped second ball after he slogged it straight up in the air.
Most were delighted by his appearance as the NightHawk, with the term trending on Twitter in the UK, but England legend Gower was not a fan of the ploy. "I was blissfully unaware of the term 'NightHawk'," he said on commentary.
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"Stephen Fleming looked at me and said 'it is NightHawk time'. I said 'fine, where is the bottle'. I am completely bemused by the point of the NightHawk.
Broad got his first outing as the NightHawk in the first Test between England and New Zealand in Mount Maunganui (Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)"I am very happy to be told what the point is but when you come in, and on the second ball, you lob it up in the air, it is totally odds with the nightwatchman or morning watchman or whatever it might be.
"I mean, yes, it was the one mistake Blundell made, obviously the communication between him and Kuggeleijn went horribly awry. But they should have had the NightHawk back in the falcon's layer, with the hood over its head, back to sleep within seconds."
Broad ended day two having scored an unbeaten six off 13 balls and failed to make an impact when he resumed his innings on day three, holing out off Neil Wagner in just the third over of the day.
He followed up his NightHawk cameo by picking up 4-21 in a brilliant ten over spell on day three (Phil Walter/Getty Images)However, he was outstanding with the ball as he picked up 4-21 in a magnificent ten over spell to leave New Zealand 63-5 in their pursuit of 394 and England on the verge of victory. And while praising Broad's exploits with the ball, Gower said he would be "very glad to see the end of this NightHawk thing".
"When Stuart gets on a roll like that, as we know, it's almost written in the stars," he told BT Sport. "You can see his confidence levels go up and you can see him bristle at the chance of taking more and more wickets.
"If you're at the other end you feel the pressure from Broad coming towards you and from everyone around you and it gives the impression that every ball is doing something. The first couple of overs he seemed to be slightly off the pace, but as soon as he took that first wicket the whole thing changed and then he just keeps going.
"That's the clever thing. When you know he's on a roll like this, if you're Ben Stokes you say 'carry on as long as you want'. Personally, I'd be very glad to see the end of this NightHawk thing and just concentrate on the fact that he is a super bowler."
However, Broad has fully embraced the role, updating his Instagram bio to read "Official NightHawk for @englandcricket", and sees it as a "free hit". He explained: "It's a pretty simple game plan – try and hit the ball to the boundary and try and cause chaos really.
"I think it's going to be used at different times. If it's nipping about and the bowlers are holding length it's a great time for the NightHawk to be used because you can hit them off length and make them bowl a different style. It's sort of a free hit, it doesn't matter if you get out first ball, create a bit of chaos and make people smile and it certainly makes our changing-room smile."
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