Batting with the Tail in Cricket — Strategy, Challenges & Famous Partnerships
When the top order is gone and lower-order batters come in, the strategy changes completely. Learn how batters protect tail enders, the famous tail-end partnerships, and the tactics that decide tight matches.
The 'tail' in cricket refers to batting positions 8 through 11 — the lower-order batters who are primarily bowlers and fielders, with limited batting ability. When a batting lineup loses its top 7 batters, the last 4 (or the 'tail') must make whatever contribution they can. How a set batter at positions 6–7 manages the tail can be the difference between posting a competitive total and collapsing 30 runs short.
How Batters Protect the Tail
- Farm the strike: the set batter aims to score off the last ball of each over, taking the strike at the start of the next — keeping the tail ender facing as few balls as possible
- Run hard for singles: a single on ball 5 of an over moves the better batter back on strike for the next over
- Control the singles: avoid risky second runs that could get the tail ender run out
- Call clearly: tail enders are often nervous runners — the senior batter gives decisive, early calls
- Bowl the tail ender out of the attack: captains exploit tail enders by bowling specific lines (short-pitched, wide of off) that force errors — the set batter must shield their partner from these plans
Attacking with the Tail
Some teams — notably England under Ben Stokes — take an opposite approach: rather than protecting tail enders, the set batter attacks aggressively themselves to push the score, accepting that the tail might fall quickly. This 'positive' approach removes the mental burden of calculating when to farm the strike and puts the opposition under pressure with aggressive scoring. The risk: the set batter gets out trying to score fast and the tail has no senior partner.
Famous Tail-End Partnerships
- Ashton Agar (98) + Phil Hughes (81*) for Australia vs England, Trent Bridge 2013: 9th wicket, 163 runs — Agar scored 98 on Test debut as a #11 batter, the highest debut score by a number 11
- Mark Boucher + Lance Klusener for South Africa: multiple famous late-order partnerships in the 1990s
- Ben Stokes (135*) + Jack Leach (1*) for England vs Australia, Headingley 2019: 9th wicket, 76 runs — Stokes hit the winning runs off the last ball despite Leach surviving just 17 balls
- VVS Laxman + Harbhajan Singh for India vs Australia, Kolkata 2001: late-order partnership that helped India complete the famous follow-on win
Stokes and Leach — The Partnership That Won the Ashes Test
Headingley 2019, 3rd Ashes Test: England needed 359 to win in the fourth innings. When Jack Leach joined Ben Stokes at the fall of the 9th wicket, England needed 73 more. Stokes protected Leach almost entirely — Leach faced just 17 balls — while Stokes hit 11 of Australia's attacks for boundaries or sixes. England won off the last ball when Stokes hit a six off Pat Cummins for one of cricket's greatest individual performances.
Frequently asked questions
What is 'tail wagging' in cricket?
'Tail wagging' describes the lower-order batters (tail enders) scoring more runs than expected. When the tail 'wags', they add valuable runs that transform a decent score into a challenging total or save a match from a disastrous total. Teams with 'long tails' — lower-order batters who can contribute 20–30 runs — are at a significant advantage.
Can tail enders actually affect match results?
Absolutely. The difference between 270 and 300 in a Test innings can be decisive. Tail-end partnerships of 30–50 runs are common match-influencing contributions — and exceptional partnerships of 70–100+ runs (like Stokes/Leach at Headingley) are genuinely match-winning.
Why don't teams bat their tail enders higher to avoid this problem?
Teams bat in order of batting ability. Bowlers who bat at 8–11 are in the team for their bowling, not their batting. Moving them up the order would waste valuable batting positions on players who are unlikely to build significant innings — and the team's top batters still need the lower numbers for when wickets fall late.