Ben Stokes reveals ‘the nighthawk’s’ role in England’s bold new approach

It may sound more like a superhero alias than a role in a cricket team, but Ben Stokes has revealed how ‘the nighthawk’ exemplifies England’s mission to change the game.

Since Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum took charge of a mis-firing Test team earlier this summer, they have enjoyed stunning success with a bold, ambitious approach.

Over the course of four successive victories and a quartet of remarkable chases they have attacked at every turn and delivered on their promises to challenge the conventions of their sport.

On Tuesday, they made history by hunting down a record target of 378 against India at Edgbaston – thanks to a stunning stand of 269 between centurions Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. But, when the pair came together on the fourth evening, Stokes was busy hatching an unlikely contingency plan.

Had either of the in-form duo been dismissed late in the day, he was preparing to send Stuart Broad to swing with abandon – subverting the traditional tactic of promoting a tail-ender to block.

“We are looking at every situation we find ourselves in and asking what the positive thing to do is, for example, we’ve renamed what the nightwatchman is all about,” he explained.

“We’ve called it ‘nighthawk’. That was Broady. He was going to go out with half-an-hour left to play to try to literally slog. That’s where we are at the moment, it’s awesome.”

Asked what a ‘nighthawk’ might hope to achieve, Stokes accepted the idea might easily implode, adding mischievously: “30 off 10 balls, or nought off one.”

Stokes’ latest gambit hardly constitutes a revolution in itself, but it offers further insight into a regime that has already changed the structures around the national side. Net sessions now last as long as a batter