Buttler flays England’s packed schedule, says it’s left him frustrated
England white-ball skipper Jos Butler has flayed the team’s packed cricket schedule following the washout in the ODI series decider against South Africa at Headingley on Sunday, saying it’s frustrating to see the boys not geting enough training days for “team cohesion” and “camaraderie”.
Recently, unable to take the pressure of all three formats of the game, England Test captain Ben Stokes announced he was quiting the 50-over game due to “unsustainable” schedule, shocking the cricketing world. In his retirement statement, Stokes had said, “I feel that my body is leting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us.”
Butler too made similar comments, saying ater the abandoned game against the Proteas at Headingley that, “There’s no geting past the fact that the schedule makes it tough. It’s also a frustration of mine we don’t have any training days. Those training days are really important for that team cohesion, the energy within the group, the fielding drills and the camaraderie around the guys without the pressures of a game.”
The third ODI at Headingley was England’s
Ater taking over from Morgan, Butler is still waiting for his first series win as England’s full-time white-ball captain ater rain washed out the series-deciding third ODI against South Africa
ninth limited-over game in 18 days.
“A lot of the time around training is when you can do some of your best work, being able to have good conversations and having a feel for where the group is at and not just always being in game mode,” the 31-year-old bater was quoted as saying by Dailymail.
“To get the highest standard of cricket possible, you need to prepare properly. Hopefully, that’s something we can look at going forward. As a new captain, it would be nice to have that time to bed in and do that work around your players and with your coaches. That’s been a frustration of mine to be truthfully honest.”
Meanwhile, Butler expressed confidence over senior players in the side to step up as the ODI team look to cover for the absence of Stokes, following his retirement from the 50-over format.
Englandhaveloststokesfromodisaterthefirst match against South Africa, citing unsustainable workload. This is a second big blow for England ater their talismanic skipper Eoin Morgan retired from all forms of international cricket in June.
Ater taking over from Morgan, Butler is still waiting for his first series win as England’s fulltime white-ball captain ater rain washed out the series-deciding third ODI against South Africa at Headingley on Sunday. With less than 18 months let for their ODI World Cup title defence to happen in India, England need for their seniors to stand up till the time they find worthy successors of Stokes and Morgan in the set-up.
“We have to be realistic with where we are as a team in the ODI format. It is about building towards that World Cup in India (in 2023). What will we need in the conditions out in India? We have had a bit of change in the recent past, but we’ve also got a lot of very experienced players as well, who are natural leaders in the team anyway.”
“It’s about drawing a line in the sand, looking forward to that next World Cup and building a team to try and win it. When you lose a genuine all-rounder in Ben you are probably always going to feel short in either bating or bowling. Now we have time to work out which way we want to go and give guys an opportunity to stake a claim for that place,” said Butler ater the match to Sky Sports.
Before the ODI World Cup next year, there is a Men’s T20 World Cup happening in Australia in October-november this year. Till the mega event, England have 13 T20IS let to finalise their combination, starting from the three T20IS against South Africa at Bristol on Wednesday.
“Hopefully they’re going to be some great matches. Looking at some of the grounds we’re playing at, there should be some really high-scoring games as well, which will be exciting.”
“I think some of the baters are hoping for some really good wickets, as we’ve had some challenging white-ball conditions this year, whereas England in recent years has generally been very favourable for bating. That has been a good learning curve. With a World Cup just round the corner, we have guys trying to stake a claim for a place in that 11,” stated Butler.
The wicketkeeper-bater signed off by praising tall let-arm quick Reece Topley for being a standout bowler for England, picking 15 wickets in white-ball matches in the ongoing home summer. “Reece has been the obvious one who has been outstanding. It is great to see him take all those wickets. He has got all of the atributes and it’s fantastic to see him fit and playing so well.”