Jos Buttler hails ‘new beginning’ to restore England’s tarnished white-ball image،
Jos Buttler has declared his desire to return white-ball cricket in England to its former heights, saying he feels personally responsible for “shaping the next period” of the format’s evolution.
Speaking after England trained for the second day in a row at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Buttler reflected on a difficult two months, before jumping in and highlighting the talent and enthusiasm at the start of a “new beginning”.
“There’s some really exciting talent on this team,” Butter said. “Young guys keen to take their opportunities and perform. There are guys who haven’t had much exposure to ODI cricket, but have a lot of experience in Test cricket, so not necessarily new to the international game . It’s a good mix.”
One player who particularly impressed in training was fast bowler John Turner, who bowled a barrage of bouncers to both Buttler and Harry Brook in a period of breathtaking high-quality fast bowling. Turner is currently not in contention for a starting place in the first ODI, but Buttler said he was more than happy to have faced half an hour of bouncers from England’s new quick on the block.
“It was good. That’s what I want him to do,” Buttler said of the battle between the two. “There’s some exciting bowlers, guys with good pace, good athletes and it’s a nice time to look forward to, give the guys an opportunity and see what they’ve got.”
Another such seamer is Reece Topley, who has joined the squad to continue his recovery from a broken finger he suffered during the World Cup and to prepare for the T20I series next week. There is no suggestion that Topley will be available for the ODI series.
Buttler also confirmed that Phil Salt and Will Jacks will open the batting on Sunday, but kept his cards close to his chest when it comes to the balance of the bowling attack that will line up on what appears to be a wicket that could turn prodigiously. England coach and former Test player Richard Dawson played throughout the session, at one point putting the ball through Brook’s gate and clearing the IPL millionaire.
“We are getting a lot of information from the few days of training here,” Buttler said, although he did not go further on whether England would choose to field the two specialist spinners, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley.
Referring to this tour as “definitely a fresh start“, Buttler was more holistic about the context of the series than his teammate Ben Duckett had been when speaking a day earlier, with Duckett instead preferring to consider the series a little more. than the here and now.
Buttler’s macro approach can be attributed to a player who has been there, seen it and done that. An international first that occurred when David Cameron had just finished a year at No. 10 Downing Street. You can forgive Buttler for speaking in the knowing tone of someone who knows more about this subject than you.
We’ve had a bad tournament,” Buttler said of the standing of English white-ball cricket, as well as what’s left to motivate a man with more than 300 international caps and two World Cup titles to his name .
“It’s been in a great place for a long time and you see the depth of talent in the guys that are emerging and you want to help shape this period of white-ball cricket. It’s something that I feel responsible and motivated for… to Let England be white. -ball cricket back to where it has been for a long time.”
When it comes to his own learnings, Buttler highlighted the need to find a balance in his own preparation, which mainly involves focusing on himself as much as the team: “It’s a big learning for me, managing my own game is vital to the team. and just finding different ways of doing it to allow me to move towards the middle with a clear mind.
“[And] realize that this kind of tournament does not define you. I have to use it as motivation and appetite to push myself and the team forward and learn from it. Use it as a positive experience to further my career… I always think of Ben Stokes’ words to Jofra. [Archer] about [2019] Great finished. “What happens here doesn’t define you,” and I certainly feel like the World Cup isn’t a defining moment for me.
“I’m at a stage in my life and my career where I have good prospects. I come home and I have two children who don’t really care about the World Cup. It certainly gives you a good concentration as a father and those things, but I’m also a very proud guy and I have disappointments. But you know, life goes on, the world moves pretty fast. There’s always something to hope for. It doesn’t is never as bad as you think and it’s never as good as you think.
