England white-ball captain Jos Buttler feels recharged and fully motivated to improve in all areas after a disappointing 2023.
Buttler oversaw the abject defence of England’s 50-over World Cup crown in India in October, which raised questions about his captaincy and the credentials of white-ball head coach Matthew Mott.
A 3-2 T20I series defeat in the Caribbean followed but Buttler has managed to unwind since with a string of strong displays in South Africa’s franchise league helping him move on and turn the focus to putting things right at this summer’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States.
“I am really enjoying my cricket again and that was a big part of South Africa. Finding that love for batting again and spending time in the middle or on the field,” Buttler reflected.
“Weirdly in that time in India going through really tough periods, there are actually levels of enjoyment with that of, ‘can we fix it, can we make it better, can we get back to the level we know we’re capable of’?
“So all those things are quite motivating even though they are very tough at the time. Looking ahead to the World T20 is really exciting and has a lot of full focus but for me beyond that, I still feel as a batter this should be the best years of my career.
“I still feel fit, still feel motivated and as a leader and captain. I am still pretty young in that journey so I certainly have lots and lots of motivation to carry on for a while yet.”
Buttler’s next assignment will be the Indian Premier League, which starts next week, but he will be back in England before the franchise tournament ends to firmly begin final preparations for the World Cup with a four-match T20I series against Pakistan.
After England won the T20 World Cup in Australia at the end of 2022, Buttler’s white-ball team have experienced a big fall from grace, losing series in South Africa, Bangladesh and the West Indies alongside the crushing World Cup defence in India.
View this post on Instagram
He admitted: “I think it’s important to recognise we haven’t won as many games as we’d have liked.
“I look at my own performance and even if there were certain things going on and I was feeling terrible, I would still back myself to play a bit better than I did individually and the same goes for us as a team (in India).
“You can fall off a little bit but how poorly we did play is and always will be a little bit of a mystery.
“It has been my sort of want as a player the whole time I have been playing to improve and get better – to always chase something more and that’s got to be exactly the same for my captaincy. To learn from those really tough moments.
“It probably took a lot more out of me than I realised and from the outside, maybe my image of how I was looking probably was even worse than it was in the inside, so that’s an interesting learning. It is just about putting things in place to learn from that and to get better.
“There is always something coming around the corner as well in cricket so it’s about moving on, planning, looking ahead and just improving.”
Buttler revealed he watched some of England’s recent Test series in India and expressed his delight at seeing Ben Stokes with the ball in hand again, acknowledging it would be “really exciting” if the Test skipper could become a genuine all-rounder again with the T20 World Cup in mind.
Buttler, holder of 57 Test caps, did also field more questions about his own red-ball prospects after he last played the longest format in 2021.
“No real ambitions at the minute,” the 33-year-old admitted.
“I am just really fully focused on white-ball cricket and all the stuff I am doing there, captaining England in that format.
“Never say never to anything but I’ve had no communication with anyone about red-ball cricket.”
New York Mets will play Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2024 on June 8-9 at London Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at: http://ticketmaster.co.uk/MLB.
Brandon King named captain as West Indies squad named for three-match T20I series against South Africa
Brandon King has been appointed captain of the West Indies squad named to face South Africa in the upcoming three T20 International series at Sabina Park in Kingston starting Thursday, May 23. The squad has been gearing up for this exciting and highly anticipated series with a training camp held at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. The selection panel has confirmed that Brandon King will have Roston Chase as his vice captain. Both appointments are on an interim basis.
King was set to lead the West Indies A-Team on the recently concluded T20 tour to Nepal before he was withdrawn due to injury. Chase, appointed instead, went on to lead the A-Team to a series win against Nepal.
The West Indies Men’s squad for the series is as follows: Brandon King (Captain), Roston Chase (Vice-Captain), Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd and Hayden Walsh Jr.
Alzarri Joseph and Sherfane Rutherford will be added to the squad if their respective franchises do not reach the Indian Premier League (IPL) Final. Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran are both rested for the series and will join the squad in Trinidad on Monday, 27 May.
“These are among the last competitive T20 International matches before the start of the World Cup,” said lead selector Desmond Haynes. “Players have the opportunity to fine-tune their skills and ensure they are as prepared as they can be for the World Cup, whether they are in the final squad or reserve pool.”
White Ball Head Coach Daren Sammy also commented on his objectives for this series stating, “We have not played together as a team since the Australia series, but we just completed a very high-intensity training camp in Antigua. Now we have the chance to integrate some of our players returning from the IPL and build some momentum as a group going into the World Cup.”
Tickets for the T20I Series against South Africa at Sabina Park, Jamaica are available now to buy online from the Windies Tickets service, at WINDIES TICKET PORTAL. Fans who purchase online will benefit from a 20 per cent discount compared to the box office prices, with tickets ranging from the most premium seats with the best-shaded views in the stadium through to affordable standard seats or mounds/grounds entry.
Match schedule:
- 23 May 1st T20I West Indies v South Africa at Sabina Park, Jamaica 2:00 pm JT/3:00 pm ECT
- 25 May 2nd T20I West Indies v South Africa at Sabina Park, Jamaica 2:00 pm JT/3:00 pm ECT
- 26 May 3rd T20I West Indies v South Africa at Sabina Park, Jamaica 2:00 pm JT/3:00 pm ECT
West Indies won the last T20 International played at Sabina Park against New Zealand in August 2022, which was the last time international cricket was played at this historic venue.
IPL: Royals miss top-two chance after washout against leaders KKR
Rajasthan Royals were denied their shot at a top-two Indian Premier League finish after rain saw a clash with Kolkata Knight Riders abandoned without a ball bowled on Sunday.
The Royals finished third in the group stage of this year's IPL after four straight losses preceded the washout in Guwahati.
In-form Royal Challengers Bengaluru awaits in the Eliminator for Rajasthan on May 22, with the former on a six-match winning streak to reach the playoffs.
Pat Cummins' Sunrisers Hyderabad will face leaders Kolkata, whose last two games have been abandoned, in the first qualifier in Ahmedabad the day before.
IPL: Sunrisers cruise to victory to boost second-place hopes
Sunrisers Hyderabad eased to a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Sunday to boost their chances of finishing second in the Indian Premier League.
Prabhsimran Singh helped Punjab set a target of 215, but Hyderabad chased that down with relative ease to go second, a position they will finish in should Rajasthan Royals lose to the table-topping Kolkata Knight Riders later on Sunday.
After the Sunrisers won the toss and put Punjab in to bat, Prabhsimran top scored with 71 runs from 45 deliveries, while Atharva Taide (46 off 27) and Rilee Roussouw (49 from 24) also impressed as the Kings, already out of playoff contention, finished on 214/5.
Hyderabad's chase got off to a terrible start as Travis Head was bowled with the first ball of the innings, but the Sunrisers' other opener Abhishek Sharma helped to steady the ship alongside Rahul Tripathi.
Abhishek smashed his way to 66 off 28 deliveries before he was dismissed, while an important innings from Heinrich Klaasen (42 from 26) set the Sunrisers up for victory.
Abdul Samad and Sanvir Singh finished the job as the Sunrisers reached their target with five balls to spare, and they can now look ahead to their playoff campaign.
Data debrief: Abhishek wastes no time
The Sunrisers overcame Head's second IPL golden duck thanks to a brilliant innings from Abhishek, who reached his half-century in just 21 balls and finished with a strike rate of 235.71.
Tripathi and Klaasen achieved strike rates of 183.33 and 161.53 respectively, while Nitish Kumar Reddy also finished with 37 from 25 deliveries as Hyderabad made light work of a daunting target.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
