CRYSTAL CLEAR

Buttler says England’s Twenty20 World Cup game plan must be...

JOS BUTTLER has promised greater ‘clarity’ to his players as england prepare for their second World cup defence in nine months.

the first, in india in the autumn, nosedived badly, with the 50- over side winning only three games out of nine amid suggestions of mixed messaging from both Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott.

now, ahead of tonight’s first t20 international against Pakistan at headingley — the start of a four-match warm-up series for next month’s World cup in the caribbean and USA — Buttler has pledged to avoid the kind of introspection that drained the one-day side of confidence.

‘For my own sake, as captain, it’s about making sure you act on things,’ he said. ‘Sometimes you think you’re trying to give players freedom, but maybe you’re not giving enough clarity at the same time. So it’s making sure people are clear about what is expected of them and that they’re happy.

‘the question to ask yourself is: what’s best for the team? and making sure you act on it. When results don’t go your way, it’s easy as an individual or a group to go a bit internal, so keep putting the team first and make decisions based on that.’ in india, despite repeated promises to recreate the aggression that had helped eoin Morgan’s side win the World cup in 2019, england regularly retreated into their shells, as if theory and practice had gone their separate ways.

But Buttler (below) and Mott are understood to be keen to tap into the instinctive approach that has made england’s test team so compelling to watch under Ben Stokes and Brendon Mccullum. they perhaps need quick results: managing director rob Key may find regime change hard to resist if they tank at another tournament. ‘there’s not extra pressure, but that pride was obviously dented and it was a really disappointing competition,’ said Buttler. ‘But life moves on. We’re presented with a new opportunity, a different format. We want to give a better account of ourselves.’ rain may yet have the final say today, but england have already ruled out Liam Livingstone and Mark Wood from selection, as both recover from knee niggles. Buttler knows, too, that his own World cup could be interrupted by the impending arrival of his third child. ‘My family comes first,’ he said. ‘i’ll be at the birth.’ Moeen ali is primed to take over when the moment arrives.

after failing to pass 43 in nine innings at the 50-over World cup, the captain insists he is ready to rumble with the bat after an IPL in which he made two hundreds for rajasthan royals. he also confirmed he will keep wicket in the caribbean.

‘i feel in a really good space,’ he said. ‘Sometimes i feel like a victim of my own expectations. But i worked on some different ideas at the IPL. What’s important at this stage of my career is to always be trying to improve and add new things to my game.’

Pakistan will be fielding largerthan-life wicketkeeper azam Khan, who weighs 17 stone — having already shed five stone in response to criticism.

and azam, who made his debut against england three years ago at trent Bridge, can give it a clout. During Pakistan’s series win in ireland recently, he belted 48 runs in two games from just 16 balls. it is the kind of strike-rate england may need to achieve if they are to make a success of their World cup defence. ENGLAND (possible): Salt, Buttler (capt, wkt), Jacks, Bairstow, Brook, Ali, Curran, Jordan, Archer, Rashid, Topley. PAKISTAN (possible): Ayub, Rizwan, Babar (capt), Fakhar, Azam (wkt), Iftikhar, Imad, Hassan, Shaheen, Rauf, Amir.

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