England routed, but greed wins the day
Jos Buttler spoke out against cricket’s schedule after england’s heaviest ever defeat brought their unloved one-day series in australia to a dismal conclusion in Melbourne. set a whopping 364 to avoid a 3-0 whitewash, they were bundled out for 142, completing their worst oDi result since india beat them 5-0 more than a decade ago. this was a series, tagged on to the t20 World Cup, that said less about the gap between australia’s first-choice team and england’s bit-part players than it did about administrative greed. it should never have been played. ‘lots of people are talking about how to keep bilateral cricket relevant and this series is a good example of how not to do that,’ Buttler told the BBC. ‘i feel a bit for the players, the ones who are young and coming into the game. ‘they want to play all formats, but i don’t think the schedule allows you to.’ the contrast with england’s win over Pakistan in the t20 final at the same venue nine days earlier could not have been greater. then, more than 80,000 fans filled the MCG with life and colour. Now, on a chilly, damp evening, barely 4,000 turned up. Buttler should have spent the last week back home with his family, basking in World Cup glory. Now, facing his fourth ball, he was out aiming a tired swipe at adam Zampa. Chris Woakes was then given lbw and when Moeen ali — a concussion substitute after Phil salt hurt his head in the field — picked out long-off in Zampa’s next over, england were 95 for seven. But Buttler was determined not to forget the real reason for the trip. ‘You don’t need a very long memory to remember the scenes here last week, so we got exactly what we wanted from coming here and we’re very proud of that,’ he told Bt sport. and that, really, is the point. as england turn their attentions to a test series in Pakistan, it is worth remembering that their t20 form has been superb. they won 4-3 in Pakistan, before being denied a 3-0 victory against the australians because of rain. then came the World Cup, where they became the first men’s team to hold both limited-overs trophies simultaneously. that is what will linger in the memory. Which is probably just as well, because england were brushed aside yesterday thanks mainly to an opening stand of 269 between David Warner and travis Head. Had rain not wiped two overs off, the total of 355 — australia’s biggest against england — would have been even more daunting. as the home attack found a line and length that eluded their opponents, england’s innings became a non-event. Dawid Malan fell cheaply, before Jason roy and James Vince were tied in knots in seam-friendly conditions. the rest were barely noticed. if nothing else, the whole exercise ought to remind those who run the sport that the paying public are more discerning than they think.