St John’s [Antigua], December 2 (ANI): Ahead of England’s first ODI against West Indies, England skipper Jos Buttler said that there is a lot of exciting new talent in the team and he will personally take the responsibility to bring back the Three Lions to the previous days of glory following a disastrous World Cup campaign in India.
England and West Indies will kick off the white-ball series from Sunday onwards with the first ODI.
After the disastrous World Cup campaign, England has once again done a white-ball reset by introducing new, young talent in the team, marking the start of a new era.
Speaking to the media after practice at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Buttler reflected on the two difficult months endured by England and how the WC does not define him and the team.
“There is some really exciting talent in this team. Young guys are eager to get their opportunities and perform. Some of these players have not been exposed to ODI cricket a lot, but have a lot of experience in Test cricket, so not necessarily new to the international game. It’s a nice blend,” said Buttler as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Buttler admitted that England has had a bad WC, but there is still a lot of talent and depth coming up in the team and he feels responsible and motivated personally to bring England back to its best.
“We have had one bad tournament. It has been in a great place for a long time and you see the depth of talent of guys coming through and want to help shape that period of white-ball cricket. That is something I feel responsibility and motivation for….to get England white-ball cricket back to where it’s been for a long time,” said Buttler.
A player that impressed Buttler was pacer John Turner, who threw a spell filled with bouncers at both the skipper and Harry Brook. Though Turner is not in contention to be in the starting playing eleven for the first ODI, Buttler is more than happy to face this bowler.
“It was good. It is what I want him to do. There are some exciting seam bowlers, guys with good pace, some good athletes and it is a nice time to look forward to, give guys an opportunity and see what they have got,” he added.
Another seamer is Reece Topley, who joined the group after recovering from the broken finger sustained during the World Cup. There are no suggestions if he will join the ODI squad.
Buttler also confirmed that Phil Salt and Will Jacks will be opening the batting on Sunday, but he has not revealed what the bowling attack would be for the wicket that could spin prodigiously.
“We are gaining a lot of information from a couple of training days here,” Buttler said, though he did not reveal whether England will have both specialist spinners in Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley.
Buttler said that the World Cup campaign was a big learning from him.
“[And] realising that sort of tournament does not define you. I have got to use it as motivation and hunger to push myself and the team forward and take the learnings from that. Use it as a positive experience to go into the rest of my career….I always think of Ben Stokes’ words to Jofra [Archer] about the [2019] Super Over. ‘Whatever happens here doesn’t define you,’ and I certainly feel that the World Cup is not the defining moment for me,” said the skipper.
“I am at the stage of my life and career where I have a good perspective. I get home and have two children who do not care much about the World Cup. It certainly gives you a nice focus as a dad and those things, but I am a very proud guy as well and have disappointments. But you know, life moves on, the world moves on pretty fast. There is always something to look forward to. It is never as bad as you think it is and is never as good as you think it is.” concluded Buttler.
ODI squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Matthew Potts and John Turner.
T20 Squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Matthew Potts, Reece Topley, John Turner and Chris Woakes. (ANI)
