Rain won’t prove a pain for England, insists Jos
JOS Buttler believes England will be ready to adjust their gameplan if rain interferes in their T20 World Cup clashes against Ireland or Australia at the MCG this week.
The Australian east coast has been damper and cooler than usual because of the ongoing La Nina weather pattern, with downpours at Hobart on Monday forcing a noresult between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
While the Melbourne weather is notoriously difficult to predict, there are showers forecast today and Friday which could impact England’s campaign and lead to shortened matches.
Such an occurrence might benefit Ireland, in particular, as fewer overs leads to more of a shootout, but Buttler is unfazed at the prospect and believes his squad is varied enough to cope with any eventuality.
“The big key is to be able to react quickly to those kinds of things,” the England captain said. “You have a little idea of things you might do if those kinds of things happen.
“But I don’t want to get too sort of preoccupied with what-ifs. I don’t want to spend all night staying awake thinking about what might happen, just try and react to it when it does happen.
“What’s great about the squad is we’ve got lots of different options, and even in the same team you can ask people to fulfil different roles.
“That gives us a lot of options when situations change and change quickly – whether that’s rain or something, and then we can change tack quickly and adapt.”
Buttler accepted there is a delicate balancing act in continuing a match
I don’t want to spend all night staying awake thinking about what might happen, just try and react to it when it does happen.
Jos Buttler
in the rain and bringing the players off – even if one side is on the verge of victory as South Africa were against Zimbabwe. Set a revised total of 64 in seven overs, the Proteas reached 51 for none off three but the rain grew heavier and Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava seemed to injure himself after slipping. Officials attempted to get the game played to a conclusion but the players were brought off and each side claimed a point, with a minimum of five overs each required to constitute a result.
“Whichever side you’re on, you’re probably going to have a little tendency one way,” said Buttler, whose side started the World Cup with a five-wicket win over Afghanistan at Perth on Saturday. “For instance, if we play and there’s a little bit of rain which isn’t that heavy, can we just stay on and keep going?
“Where it’s reasonable if you can continue the game as much as you can, I think that’s the right decision. If it becomes dangerous or unfair then it’s certainly right to stop the game.”
Buttler was tight-lipped about whether England would rotate their bowlers with such a tight turnaround between the Ireland and Australia games. While Chris Woakes and Mark Wood could be rested, with Chris Jordan, David Willey and Tymal Mills waiting in the wings, Buttler was adamant they cannot take it easy.
“In such a short tournament, in must-win games pretty much every time, what’s important is to try and put what we think is our best team on the park,” Buttler added.