The official motto for the tournament is “out of this world” but it should be “this really matters” because a World Cup tests character far more than the homogeneous franchise leagues that dominate the modern landscape
Just ask Jos Buttler, who is still having to explain his team’s tepid World Cup defence in India six months ago and knows this T20 tournament will define the legacy of his regime with coach Matthew Mott. Was the 2022 victory in Australia the last twitchings of the Eoin Morgan team and the India campaign a reflection on this management’s ability, or will we see a new England emerge under Buttler and Mott, who has been given more backing? We will find out.
Buttler has been a little brusque showing the pressure he is under, and is obviously fed up of being asked about India. “I am focused on this World Cup,” he said when asked about it. He emphasised at every opportunity his side will adapt after criticism of being too rigid in India, but gave little away about the team. “I am not going to tell you the team, am I? I am pretty settled with what we are trying to do as a team. I don’t need to sit here and tell you.”
Starting well against Scotland on Tuesday will ease the mood and Jofra Archer will be thrust back into the public eye in the most eagerly awaited comeback since Ian Botham served his drugs ban. Archer played two-low key T20s against Pakistan to warm up for the series but it is how he holds up over the next month in tournament cricket that will either give England great heart for their Ashes attack in 18 months’ time, or if he breaks down again, invoke sadness at a talent blunted by injury.
Playing in Barbados will play with his emotions too. It is the first time he has represented England on his home island since leaving for Sussex in his late teens and indeed his first T20 matches in professional cricket in the Caribbean. He gave glimpses against Pakistan of his pace and wicket-taking potential and gives Buttler a genuine option in all three phases – new ball, middle overs and death.
Archer’s record in T20 is exceptional. In all matches – domestic and international – he averages 22.4 with a strike rate of 17. The pitch for the Oman-Namibia game on Sunday night at the Kensington Oval was up and down and will be used for England’s match with Scotland. The associates are not used to high pace and Buttler will likely pair Archer and Mark Wood together in the hope of blowing them away, leaving Reece Topley on the sidelines.
At the captains’ press conference on Saturday, Buttler was sat next to Australia’s Mitchell Marsh. When Buttler was asked if he would go for the pace duo, Marsh whispered to him “just pick one please”. Buttler, unlike Ben Stokes, prefers to give nothing away about his playing XI in a data-rich format of the sport.
Buttler badly lacked an X-factor bowler in India, and Archer can be the difference between making or breaking his campaign. England have done everything to make him as comfortable as possible. He is staying at his own house this week rather than the team hotel, and was last year allowed to fly between Barbados and the UK to work on his rehab. He played for his club side, Wildey, without England’s knowledge which sparked a bit of a commotion behind the scenes, but the ECB recognised the mental benefits of being at home with his friends because of the long, boring nature of rehab.
He was reunited with his beloved dogs, buying five pitbull puppies on landing, and has set up JA Kennels in his home parish of St Philip, which bills itself as Barbados’s home of the American Bully XL and French Bulldog (“worldwide shipping available”). Cranking up the pace in the nets at Wildey and walks on Crane beach on the island’s wild east coast away from the English winter appear to have worked.
Buttler and Mott hope to reap the benefit over the next month. How much they pick him will depend on results but even if England reach the final the workload is not exactly onerous. If he plays every game Archer will bowl a maximum of 36 overs in 25 days but they will be cautious and cagey about how to use him.
Rob Key, the director of cricket, is here for the first week to oversee things. He selflessly took the blame for the India shambles but really the fault lay at the door of those on the ground who made poor decisions over tactics, sent out mixed messages and were unable to stop the rot.
Key has given Mott every tool this time. Kieron Pollard and Andrew Flintoff improve the ‘vibe’ as assistant coaches; Pollard to give local knowledge and Flintoff to pump up tyres. David Young, the sports psychologist who was part of the 2019 World Cup-winning set-up, is back to help the communication. Mott has his usual retinue of coaches too. It is a sharp difference to the Bazball set-up in which Brendon McCullum has cut out the noise so the players only listen to two voices that matter: the coach and captain.
This is an England squad that could go all the way or bomb out in the most unpredictable of formats. A semi-final place is the minimum required. They have the bases covered in power hitting, pace in their attack, two left-arm seamers, as well as experienced spinners in Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali.
They are right-hand dominant in their top order which could be a match-up issue in T20, limit hitting to the shorter boundaries and exploiting the strong cross winds, although it is not as breezy at this time of year. It is the wetter season and more still and humid than when England usually tour between November and April, but Buttler still expects wind to play a major role. Most of their batsmen are able to access all areas with reverse hits so it should not be insurmountable.
But for all the data and preparation, it is performing under the pressure of a World Cup that is hard to predict. There is so much low-scrutiny franchise cricket these days in which players bounce from team to team, league to league, when there is always another match to put right a previous failure.
World Cups are different. Just look at India, who have not won one of these since the IPL’s inception, or South Africa, who boast enormous talent but freeze when it hots up.
There are no excuses for England this time. Everyone is fit, it is hard to think of a player sat at home who should be here, they have an army of coaches and Archer is back – but can they handle it when it really matters?
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