This can be the start of a new era
Buttler looks to World Cup as an England launchpad
JOS BUTTLER visualised the rare and special moment that could await him at the MCG today when he was growing up in a cricket-mad family in Taunton.
‘I’ve certainly had a few dreams about that sort of thing,’ said the England captain when asked here yesterday if he had imagined what it would be like to hold the World Cup aloft.
‘I think it goes back to what you were like as a kid, the kind of things you’d be doing in the garden with your brother and sister, pretending to lift the trophy.
‘To be able to have the opportunity to live that kind of thing out for real would be incredibly special. They’re certainly feelings I don’t feel I need to block out or push away.
‘You accept the things that come with a World Cup, like the dreams and the noise surrounding the final. You accept that it all just feels a little bit different.’
Not many English captains know what it’s like to lift a World Cup in a major sport. Even fewer know what it is like to do it in their first tournament in charge — and on the hallowed turf of the old enemy at the Australian cathedral of cricket.
Buttler has the opportunity to make history today as England attempt to unify the 50-over and Twenty20 world titles when they face Pakistan at the climax of a tournament that has been full of unpredictable cricket but also blighted by the wet Australian spring.
The most gifted white-ball batter in the world looks increasingly comfortable at the helm, the shadow cast by his World Cupwinning predecessor Eoin Morgan growing shorter by the day.
If Thursday’s spectacular semifinal success over India was the moment this really did become Buttler’s England team then today could be his crowning glory, as long as the heavy downpours forecast for Melbourne do not rain on his parade.
‘It’s part of my journey as a player and person to be at the stage where I’m a captain learning something very new that I haven’t done before,’ said Buttler. ‘It’s exciting to get the chance to do that. It does keep things interesting.
‘I certainly feel I’m improving day by day, really getting the job now and feeling more comfortable in the role as it goes on. I feel as though I’m growing as a captain.’
Victory over Pakistan would be proof of that but the question remains whether this really is the start of a new white-ball era under Buttler and coach Matthew Mott or the start of the end game for the side built by Morgan after the 2015 World Cup. Buttler said England had ‘one more dance’ to come when they thrashed India by 10 wickets in Adelaide to reach this final but, with seven members of today’s side in their 30s, it is legitimate to ask whether they will soon be taking the floor for ‘The Last Dance’.
It was Moeen Ali, himself 35, who said before the semi-final that England needed more titles to make the most of their talent in this golden white-ball generation because ‘a few of us are not getting younger’. Buttler, 32, prefers to think of it as the beginning.
‘Yes a few of us are getting a bit older but in this professional age you can probably play a bit longer,’ he said. ‘You’re never quite sure how long things are going to last for you as a player or for the era but that just gives you added drive and determination.
‘Of course, we are still reaping the rewards of Eoin Morgan’s tenure and the changes that have happened in the white-ball game in England and that’s clear to see in the strength in depth we have.
‘We’re right in the back of that wave but there is a new direction as well.’
Chris Jordan, one of England’s most experienced players, may keep his place today even though Mark Wood bowled quickly in the nets yesterday after his hip injury and he has seen the growth of Buttler’s captaincy at close hand.
‘One of his greatest strengths is staying in the moment and thinking outside the box,’ said Jordan. ‘He definitely backs every single bowler to execute whatever plans they feel are best.’
Today will decide whether that new direction will earn England’s second T20 World Cup and second world title of the post-2015 era after a string of near misses that include a T20 final loss and two other semifinal defeats in global white-ball tournaments.