England have chosen to sack their white-ball coach, Mathew Mott. It wasn’t surprising at all given the performance of the team over the last couple of years under Mott and Buttler. What was unexpected however was the retention of Jos Buttler as the captain. From the heady days of the ODI World Cup win followed by the T20 World Cup win, England have gone down the abyss. There wasn’t a way out of it. The team still remains the same with the obvious exception of Ben Stokes. Under Buttler and Mott, things have taken a nosedive which has now resulted in the sacking of one. This is about Mathew Mott’s sacking.
Assistant coach, Trescothick has taken over as the interim coach of the white-ball team. His first assignment will be against a powerful Australian side through three T20s and five ODIs.
The defence of the ODI title
England were just blown away during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The defence of the title that was won in 2019 was shambolic. England could win only 3 games out of 9 which included wins against The Netherlands and Bangladesh. From being one among the favourites to win the title, not least because of the way England had been playing white-ball cricket for close to 9 years, to one to finish among the bottom teams, must have been soul-crushing for every England fan. It should have been the last straw. Somehow Mott and inexplicably, Buttler survived only for another disaster at the World T20 in England. This time they atleast reached the semi-finals before losing to the ultimate champions, India.
These reverses convinced Robert Key, the managing director of the ECB to decide enough is enough and to make a move away from Mott, for now atleast. England have series of ODIs lined up over the next year culminating with the Champions Trophy later next year. They need to find a coach rather quickly.
“After three World Cup cycles in a short space of time, I now feel the team needs a new direction to prepare for the challenges ahead,” Key said. “This decision was not made lightly, but I believe it is the right time for the team’s future success. With our focus shifting towards the Champions Trophy early next year and the next cycle of white-ball competition, it is crucial that we ensure the team is focused and prepared.”
Record under Mott and Jos Buttler
In both white-ball formats England’s record since Mott’s arrival was not as good as it was before he was appointed. England won 16 of the 34 completed ODIs played under Mott. A 47% win rate. In the three years before his appointment they had won 18 or 64%, of their 28 games. They won 23 of 42 completed T20s under Mott or 55%, down from 23 out of 38, or 61%, in the previous three years. To the credit of Mott, England did win the T20 World Cup in Australia when he was the coach. However, there was a nagging suspicion that that was achieved on the back of the foundation laid by his predecessors, Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss. Not to mention the clinching contribution by Ben Stokes.
Jos Buttler is the most essential batsman in the England white-ball setup. His returns have not been that impressive. It has directly contributed to England not performing to its optimum capacity. His captaincy hasn’t been that great either. The decision to open the bowling with Will Jacks in the T20 group game against Australia or the selection of four seamers on a pitch that helped the spinners. He even failed to turn to his only spinner on that game, Moeen Ali.
Buttler is 34 and by the time the next ODI World Cup comes around, he will be 37. I doubt whether he will continue to be the captain till then, leave alone the fact that with diminishing returns, he may not even be in the squad. For the moment though, he is surviving because of lack of options in the squad. Joe Root may not be interested in the job any longer and Johnny Bairstow is a pale shadow of the relentless assaulter just a couple of seasons ago.
The future
England are overdue a revamp of their white-ball squad. The cramped schedule means that some of their Test cricketers, namely Harry Brooks, may not be able to play both Tests and ODI. Trescothick, if he is interested in a full-time role, is likely to become the next coach. We all know about his mental frailties and hence, he is likely to be contented with supporting role. He and Buttler has been together since their Somerset days. Other names to do the rounds are Kumar Sangakkara, Buttler’s Rajasthan Royals director of cricket. Michael Hussey, who was England’s consultant during the successful campaign in Australia. Kieron Pollard and Andrew Flintoff who has just returned to cricket and has started coaching one of the team in The Hundred. Whoever becomes the coach, it is time for Buttler to step up or step down.
Wrapping up Mathew Mott’s sacking
It was longtime coming. It now remains to be seen whether Buttler will still be the captain in next year’s Champions Trophy or will England turn to a new face.
Other blogs about England
https://icricketcritique.com/michael-vaughan-about-england/
https://icricketcritique.com/dont-discard-bazball-england/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-series-from-englands-perspective/
https://icricketcritique.com/englands-series-against-india/