Irish Sunday Mirror

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Coach: Big Bash Buttler is no longer afraid of failure

- RICHARD EDWARDS

winning 110 just three days before as England sealed a first ODI whitewash over Australia at Old Trafford. Earlier in the summer, the 27-year-old had been a left-field selection for the England Test side against Pakistan, but averaged over 80 against the tourists.

That effort showed Buttler can cut it in both the red and white ball formats.

It also illustrate­d that the philosophy hammered home with a two word ‘f*** it’ message at the top of his bat handle is paying off.

And Upton believes Buttler is showing the rest of the world that Test, one-day and T20 cricket aren’t as different as many people would have you believe.

“What Jos has shown is that he’s no longer afraid of failure,” said Upton.

“He knows he has done all the work he needs to do to be successful.

“We had a discussion with the Sydney Thunder group and the conversati­on was around what the senior players were like at the beginning of their careers under pressure,” said Upton.

“Then we contrasted that with what they were like now. They said they cared so much and tried so hard, but had trained themselves to stop carrying so much baggage.

“The guys work so hard, they train so hard, but the single biggest obstacle to success is pressure.

“And that comes with a fear of failure. Pressure is a result of the amount of importance of placed on the result.

“You’re not going to score a hundred every time you go into bat, that’s not going to happen.

“But if you have faith in your ability and complete confidence in the way that you play then you’re going to succeed more often than you fail.

“And it doesn’t matter whether you’re playing Test cricket or Twenty20 cricket – with Jos’s attitude you’re going to score runs.

“Jos has got the skillset. If he can keep the same mindset then he can switch between both formats.”

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