ENGLAND’S KEY MEN ON A MISSION
ENGLAND’S attempt to unite cricket’s World Cup titles begins in earnest here today when they welcome back their big guns for the first of three Twenty20 warm-up internationals against Australia.
Captain Jos Buttler returns for his first England game since his unsuccessful first summer at the white-ball helm after the sudden retirement of Eoin Morgan, while Ben Stokes looks set to join him for his first T20 game for England in 18 months.
But Liam Livingstone remains out with an ankle injury and could be a doubt for the World Cup opener at the Optus Stadium against Afghanistan in two weeks’ time.
England enjoyed a 4-3 victory over Pakistan without their captain and talisman, but they know the serious business will begin here today in front of an expected crowd of 30,000 in the first of four warm-up games in total ahead of the World Cup.
And Buttler will be back at the top of the order, probably alongside Alex Hales, and claim the gloves back from Phil Salt after missing the whole series in Pakistan due to a calf problem.
‘The body is feeling good,’ said Buttler yesterday as England trained at Perth’s impressive new stadium staging its first match in three years.
‘I’m back to 100 per cent and I’m excited to get back out there. I had a good time in Pakistan rehabbing and getting back to where I need to be.
‘I’ve been taking it slowly and cautiously and I probably could have played before now but it just felt, with the World Cup round the corner, this was the right thing to do.’
The return of Stokes, whose whiteball focus is now solely on T20 cricket, is significant for England. His last memory of a short-form World Cup came in Kolkata five years ago when Carlos Brathwaite deposited him for four successive last-over sixes to win the tournament for West Indies, and England are desperate now to get the best out of their prize asset in this form of the game.
So Stokes is expected to bat at four, behind Buttler, Hales, who is favourite to edge out Salt, and Dawid Malan, with England looking to give him more time to make an impression rather than coming in at five or six.
‘Ben’s a superstar of the game and someone you want in your team,’ said Buttler. ‘We know what a brilliant player he is and we will give him as much responsibility as possible to get the best out of him.’
England’s mission here is to become the first side to hold the 50-over and T20 world titles at the same time and the only team other than West Indies to have won the shorter version twice, Paul Collingwood’s success coming in Barbados in 2010. It is Buttler’s chance to make history.
He added: ‘There’s a possibility of making history but I don’t see us as favourites coming into the tournament. I see us as a dangerous side that opposition teams will be wary of playing against.’
Australia, the defending champions after their triumph against the UAE last year, will start as favourites for the World Cup on home soil but will be weakened today after finishing their series against West Indies in Brisbane only on Friday.
Meanwhile, Stuart Broad will not tour Pakistan in December after informing selectors he is unavailable due to personal reasons.
England are due to play three Tests but Broad, 36, and partner Mollie are expecting their first child in midNovember and the Mail On Sunday understands he has put family first.