The England White ball captain Jos Buttler has opened on the rise of new young talents and transition in the team, the churn in England’s setup, and the injury.
Buttler has been struggling with a right calf injury that has ruled him out of the White Ball series against Australia. Phil Salt took over the captaincy in the T20I series which ended in a tie while Harry Brook will lead the ODI squad for the upcoming ODI series.
With his rehabilitation in progress, Jos Buttler has been planning to move forward for the team as will have a new head coach Brendon McCullum next January.
While speaking about his injury, Jos Buttler said, ” I haven’t set a timeline for my return but I’m feeling good. I’ve had a couple of setbacks along the way in my rehab, which is a shame. I just want to get it completely right. It’s been a long time now since I’ve been at the intensity of playing some top-level cricket.
While asked about the team’s transition phase. he said, “It’s that fearless nature these youngsters have. They seem very international-ready without having had games behind them or taking the time to adapt. That’s been one of the things for all countries, really, since the franchise competitions began. Playing in these tournaments has sort of bridged the gap between domestic and international cricket.”
These condensed tournaments offer a higher standard of cricket and sort of prepare younger players for what international cricket will be like, even in terms of playing in front of big crowds or media interactions, etc. So, these guys seem ready-made for international cricket and they aren’t taking that long to adapt, which is a great sign.
Even before the impact player rule came in, there were a lot of cricketers wanting to be involved, wanting to impact the game with both bat and ball. All-rounders traditionally have been crucial for cricket teams, to lengthen the batting lineup, and provide balance and different bowling options.
Allrounders are not a luxury but a necessity. Having multi-skilled players is a huge benefit. I know in the IPL people think the ‘impact player’ rule is sort of taking something away from the all-rounders, but they still play a huge part. They’re crucial to balancing the side.
I saw that, it’s tongue in cheek! I’ve had some good chats with ‘Baz’ and I’m really excited to get the chance to work with him. He was always one of those players that I looked up to. He’s had a huge impact on the Test team and now, being the all-format coach is great for English cricket.
There are pluses and minuses to both. Having that one guy across formats can have that consistent messaging, of course. At the time Brnedon took over as Test coach along with Matthew Mott, the schedule for England cricket was incredibly busy. It looked impossible for one man to do it all.
We had to balance that out. Now it’s obviously gone back to having that single head coach, but you’ll still have to be smart with schedules.
There might be times when ‘Baz’ needs to step out for a series and one of the assistant coaches can take charge.
I don’t see that at all. There’s more data but making those calls on the field is still crucial. It’s such a short game, every ball is important, and saving one run or two runs here and there can go a long way to winning a game. Making those calls as captain is vital. There’s just more information for the captain if you need it,” said Jos Buttler.
Coming to the ongoing tour, England and Australia will be playing their first ODI match on September 19 at Trent Bridge.
