Mott must block out noise and kickstart a new era

ENGLAND must look beyond the emotion of Ben Stokes’s last 50-over game today and attempt to recover from a chastening start to the white-ball reign of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott. The packed schedule that has hastened Stokes’s retirement from one-day cricket sees England facing South Africa at Durham less than 48 hours after ending a series against India that threw up more questions than answers for life after Eoin Morgan — and now Stokes.

It was perceived that Mott had the cushier end of the deal when England reverted to two coaches but the Australian finds himself dealing with the threat of the end of a white-ball era. Mott has to prove Rob Key was right to appoint an experienced coach knowing England would need a reset after Morgan’s departure and this three-match 50-over series followed by a T20 one gives Mott a chance to start again. He admitted he was surprised by the timing of the departure of the captain he was brought in to work with.

‘I won’t lie, I didn’t think Eoin would go this quickly,’ said Mott. ‘But when I was going through the process he was quite open that he was trying to get through to the T20 World Cup (in October) and then reassess. ‘I knew he wouldn’t go on for ever but I felt lucky he was on that first trip to Holland to show me the ropes. He’ll be a great sounding board for Jos and myself outside the team.’ England will today welcome back Adil Rashid after he missed both series against India and are set to give Matthew Potts a oneday debut on his home ground.