Jos Buttler Backs England to Learn Lessons from 50-Over World Cup Debacle for the Glory
Jos Buttler, England’s cricket captain, has expressed his confidence in the team’s ability to rebound from their disappointing performance in the 50-over World Cup as they prepare for the T20 World Cup.
Captain of England defends leadership in futile campaign, confident ‘blended’ group will perform well.
England’s captain, Jos Buttler, has urged his team to get over the setback of their 50-over World Cup defense and focus on defending the 20-over title they won in Australia two winters ago. That being said, he maintained that their defeats in India before to Christmas could not be entirely ascribed to a “lack of clarity” on the part of the team management.
Even though England was picked as one of the favorites for the 2023 World Cup, they lost six of their opening seven games, including the tournament’s opening nine-wicket loss to New Zealand, their historic maiden loss to Afghanistan, and their record-tying 229-run loss to South Africa. They also lost seven out of ten overall. They were only able to avoid the shame of needing to pre-qualify for the 2027 Champions Trophy thanks to two late victories over Pakistan and the Netherlands.
Despite making nine appearances and scoring 138 runs at a clip of 15.33, Buttler himself had a dismal season with the bat. Some have suggested that his personal struggles with form had affected his ability to communicate with the team. Speaking to Sky Sports following the disastrous opening Twenty20 international match against Pakistan, he did, however, defend his leadership style and assert that England’s issue had been straightforward: “We just didn’t play well enough.”
He remarked, “The big learning for me is to try not to confuse freedom with maybe a lack of clarity,” following the Headingley abandonment. “You don’t want to interfere too much when you’re trying to give people freedom to play. However, you need to be careful not to overlook anything.
To ensure that everyone is aware of what is expected of them, perhaps there should have been occasional greater communication. However, there are times when I reflect on the past and realize that, in certain situations, I would have made a similar choice, but for some reason, it didn’t work out.
“I would have expected us to do better than we did, even in the event of a misunderstanding or other issue. It’s simple to look at the results and declare that there are some things you would say or do better. We simply weren’t good enough players.
“It’s a chapter in the book, it was obviously a really disappointing World Cup and your pride and confidence gets dented a bit, but time moves on, and this a really exciting opportunity now with this World Cup coming up.”
When questioned by fellow 2019 World Cup winner and former captain Eoin Morgan about whether England would have the resilience to overcome hardship in their 20-over defense, Buttler was upbeat. This is similar to what they had to do after losing to Ireland in a rain-affected group match at the MCG during the 2022 campaign.
“I don’t see why not,” he remarked. “It appears that none of you are aware of the situation as you sit here discussing. There are perhaps a few seasoned players there who are proficient in both T20 cricket and cricket mechanics.
It’s not about trying to invent the wheel or try to tell people something they haven’t heard before, in my opinion. It’s all about playing cricket well. You have to play at your very best when it counts in tournament cricket. You have to overcome misfortune with grace. You must be able to understand the game, play it well, and adjust as needed.
“There might be games where you need to score in excess of 200, there might be games where you need to scrap and try and defend 140, on a wicket that’s holding up and it’s tough for batting.”
Also Read: England’s T20 World Cup Triumph: Stokes and Curran Shine Bright
Before Christmas, England played a hard-fought five-match Twenty20 International series against the hosts, the West Indies, which gave them a useful preview of the tournament’s anticipated circumstances. England had to rally from a 2-0 deficit before West Indies won the series 3-2 in the decider. Their star player was Phil Salt, who scored back-to-back hundreds to solidify his place as Buttler’s opening partner. Since then, he has continued that form into an outstanding IPL season with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Buttler remarked, “Actually, we have a really nice blended squad.” “We have a lot of experience, but there are also certain guys, like Will Jacks, Harry Brook, who is still very early in his international career, and Phil Salt, who are really moving up the ladder. These individuals are truly driving this squad ahead and heading in the right path.”
At the beginning of his international career, Salt often gave away his innings following strong opening performances. But a run of three fifties and a 48 in five innings in the middle of the tournament—all at strike-rates ranging from 189 to 342—confirmed his newly discovered capacity to combine strength and endurance.
“One of the great things about him is he’s got that insatiable appetite to learn,” said Buttler. “He doesn’t hesitate to pose inquiries. He is constantly seeking criticism. It’s obvious that he’s attempting to get better every training session.
“Personally, I see he’s really improved his off-side game,” he stated. He has always had incredible strength through the leg side. However, after seeing him play in the IPL in particular, I believed that he would be extremely difficult to bowl against because he scored runs so easily off of off-side and would never lose a leg-side match.
“One of his strengths in the past has been to score 30 off of 15 or 25 off of 10, but he has shown tremendous maturity by continuing to play those innings out.” He might be one of our most important players.”
On June 4, England’s campaign begins against Scotland in Bridgetown, where they played their first Twenty20 International match in December. Since then, England has hired Kieron Pollard to assist with batting strategy, and Buttler is certain that the team’s preparation will allow them to perform well.
“The conditions out there, the wickets can be a little bit slower,” Buttler stated. “In addition to additional pace, spin will be important there. On those island grounds, I believe wind plays a significant role as well. However, one factor that will force fans to adjust fast during that World Cup is an extremely early start, with games starting at around 10 or 10.30. It tries to learn from the fact that you play night cricket in T20s a lot of the time.”
