Paul Nixon
The former wicketkeeper talks about the art of finishing
It’s not just the captaincy that Jos Buttler has taken off Eoin Morgan, albeit just for one series – the wicketkeeper is now seen as England’s designated finisher. There have been some great finishers over the years. Recently AB de Villiers and MS Dhoni have been among the best but, in the past, Michael Bevan and Darren Lehmann were great at getting games over the line.
It’s a brilliant role, and being out of the game now, that’s the one thing I miss from playing. To cultivate your way through a tricky pitch and win is a great feeling.
You want to be on the pitch when the winning runs are scored or the winning catch is taken and there’s no better feeling.
It’s not about pressure. Pressure is having three kids, a low wage coming in and you live in a one bedroom flat.Yes, you’ll put pressure on yourself to win the game but it’s about understanding that you’re playing the game because you love it, that allows you to play with more freedom, too.
In preparation you’ll know your areas you want to hit and you’ll know the bowlers you want to target. In the 2007 World Cup against Sri Lanka myself and Ravi Bopara preferred different bowlers. I didn’t want to face Lasith Malinga but I enjoyed facing Muttiah Muralitharan, whereas Ravi was the other way.
I preferred the ball coming in to me rather than going away and you need to work out early on where you can get the twos.
You need to be mentally strong. Ideally you have time to get yourself in and keep the required rate under control. Being able to get yourself in, take a few singles, is crucial before you have to start going at more than a run a ball. Even when you need eight to ten an over, you can still play proper shots. It’s very rare there is reverse swing at the end of an innings so you’re unlikely to actually be got out.You might get an absolute beaut of a yorker straight up but as long as you play straight early on, and even later when you’re set, you’ll be all right.
Yorkers don’t tend to be the go-to delivery anymore with so many variations but that’s where your preparation comes in key. Batsmen have go-to shots when they’re under pressure and bowlers have their options when they bowl.You just need to try to be one step ahead as a batsman.
Chris Gayle would never be seen as a finisher because of how long it generally takes him to get his eye in
You want to stick to your plan but your batting order needs to be slightly flexible depending on the position you are in.You can’t have too much rigidity and as long as people are aware of it then you’ll be fine. Of course it’s the same with the bowlers. The man who will generally bowl three of your final five can’t always do that if he’s been hit around earlier in the game so there needs to be flexibility. Your finisher can’t just be an out-and-out power hitter because turning ones into twos is crucial. Chris Gayle will never be seen as a finisher because of how long it generally takes him to get his eye in and settle.
We used to think of how many boundaries do we need to win it. Can we hit five fours in six overs? Yes we can. If not then can we hit ten twos? Yes we can.
It’s only when you need 14 or more an over that you’ll tend to think it’s out of your hands, but it’s not rare anymore to see 20-25 runs in an over. So a couple of sixes in one over and it can be game on again.
T20 cricket helps every other form of the game, for both batsmen and bowlers. I recall Phil DeFreitas trying to hone his yorker skills at 37. He’d never really needed it before but you have to keep evolving.