Tail-end batting is as much in the head as any other batting. The blokes at the bottom of the order might not have as much talent as their more stylish counterparts, but they can partly make up for that with guts,
dedication and common sense. The fact is that everybody in the team has to bat (whereas not everybody has to bowl)
so they might as well make as good a job
of it as they can.
Winning the match
The days when the quick bowlers could just slip a couple of straight yorkers under the crooked bats of the lower order are getting rarer. Tail-end batting, like other neglected areas of the game, is now the
subject of both physical and mental coaching. The reason for this is that, in fact, tailenders often win Test matches. Teams that make 450 in the first innings rarely lose the game and more often than not they win it. And the opposite is generally true for teams that are dismissed for less than 250. Frequently, the difference lies in the contribution made by the last five batsmen – as opposed to the first five.
The most successful Test teams have taken this on board. In the process of
achieving world domination, Australia, for example, frequently eked out an extra 200 runs from
Ian Healy, their no.7, assisted by Shane Warne and the other bowlers following him. South Africa's lower order, featuring Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher, were so consistently successful people often wondered why they didn't reverse the batting order.
Playing England, however, bowling attacks felt that they only had to get five out and the rest would fall down. When they took the field with Giddins, Tufnell and Mullally at The Oval in 1999, they were effectively playing with eight batsmen and three rabbits.
 Yorked
The fate of many a tailender, yorked by a ball he just
can't dig out. The departing batsman may be able to bowl
a yorker but not play one.
It's one of the weaknesses Duncan Fletcher addressed when he took over as England coach at the end of that year and in recent tests the English tail has shown a bit more confidence and grit.
The tail will have a mixture of styles and techniques, often not very
orthodox. There will be those who want to swing at everything and those who only want to block.
Some defensive ability, and the
necessary concentration, is vital because often the time taken up by these last batsmen at the crease is as important to the balance of the
game as any runs scored.
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