Buttler must find a new route for England after Morgan successes
It hasn’t been a dream start for Jos Buttler’s tenure as England’s white-ball captain. His side’s 90-run loss in the third match decider in Southampton against South Africa yesterday leaves the 31-year-old without an aggregate win in his opening four series.
A 2-1 loss to India in the shortened Twenty20 format was followed by a loss of the same scoreline in the one-day game. Thereafter England drew 1-1 in one-day matches against South Africa before losing 2-1, thanks to the result in yesterday’s decider, in T20s to the Proteas.
The limited overs team hasn’t exactly been at its pinnacle of late, not since the T20 World Cup semi-final run last year yesterday anyway. But there’s an aura around England after they focused – first with Chris Silverwood and now with Matthew Mott – heavily on the shortened formats.
Buttler must find own success
It reaped rewards in the form of the 2019 Cricket World Cup at Lord’s and it’s now for this England side under Buttler, full of potential, to find its own success story.
The sheer amount of cricket being played both internationally and domestically could have taken its toll on the team – there’s little doubt after Ben Stokes’ retirement from one–day cricket that it might become untenable for more and more players.
The Proteas set England a target of 192 despite being 0-1 when David Willey bowled opener Quinton de Kock in the first over.
Reeza Hendricks’ brilliant knock of 70 and Aiden Markram’s 51 not out spearheaded South Africa’s charge in Southampton – but England’s batting tail is one that usually poses a threat to any side. Not yesterday, though.
Jason Roy fell for 17, captain Buttler for 14, and bar Jonny Bairstow’s team-high of 27, just one other batter – Chris Jordan – hit double figures.
Buttler’s England were bowled out for 101 in the 17th over, and were thumped by 90 runs – largely thanks to Tabraiz Shamsi’s 5-24.
“We lacked intent and confidence and didn’t manage to put the opposition under pressure,” Buttler said. “We were never able to wrestle the initiative.”
But little matters in the here and now if the major tournaments earn major rewards – England have a Twenty20 World Cup later this year in Australia before India hosts the next edition of the one-day World Cup, where England will be defending championships, in 2023.
It hasn’t been a great start for Buttler, but it wasn’t for former captain Eoin Morgan either.
And very few will need reminding of what his limited overs team managed to achieve.