With the Buttler-led side suffering three consecutive losses, head coach Matthew Mott speaks on England’s back-to-back defeats in the World Cup 2023.
Matthew Mott on England’s back-to-back defeats
England had suffered their fourth defeat in the World Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka on October 26. They were beaten in the low-score encounter where England bowlers failed to stop Sri Lankan batters from chasing the target.
This leads to a critical situation where their chances of reaching the semi-finals are mere mathematical possibilities.
Mott said he is not sure of what’s wrong with the side in the tournament as they traveled to India after a series win against New Zealand. Speaking after the loss, he said, “Not great. Coming into this match, we knew it was do or die.”
“I thought we started really well with the bat, looked quite positive. But we kept losing wickets in quick succession and we were at least 100-120 short of a good score on that wicket.”
“I don’t know [what’s going wrong]. I’ve had a quick chat with Jos; it’s really hard to explain. We had a good series leading into this against New Zealand. We came over here full of confidence with some world-class players who have won World Cups.”
“But for whatever reason, we seem to have a few players out of form at the wrong time and it has hurt us dearly,” said Mott.
On the other hand, England skipper Jos Buttler was disappointed with their defeat and said, “We’re a really good team, we’ve done a lot of really good things in the recent past in white-ball cricket and 50-over cricket,” he said.
“We got on the plane with high hopes and a lot of confidence and belief that we can challenge for the title. So to be sat here now, with the three weeks that have been, is a shock. It’s a shock to everyone.
I’ll walk back in the dressing room and look at the players sat there and think: ‘How did we find ourselves in this position, with the talent and the skill that’s in the room?’ But that’s the position we’re in, it’s the reality of what’s happened over the last three weeks, and that’s a huge low point.”
“It’s never for a lack of hard work or preparation. It’s not a lack of talent,” he said of his team. “A lot of the team are experienced guys who are fantastic cricketers. It’s a huge frustration.
This tournament’s gone nowhere near the way we wanted to. But there’s no secret, I don’t think. There’s no one else who can score your own runs or take your own wickets. That comes from the start, from the captain at the front. As a leader, you want to lead through your own performance, and I’ve not been able to do that.”
Buttler said that their side will face other challenges with caution and will play together as a team instead of playing as individuals.
“Whoever we play next, we want to focus on ourselves as individuals and as a team,” Buttler said. “Absolutely, you keep asking questions to try and find out what the problems are and how we can fix them.
And there’s a hell of a lot of pride. There are a lot of guys who are disappointed with the way they’ve played. Whatever happens from here on in, whoever we play, we want to get back to playing the way we know we can. For the games that we have left, we want to play the cricket we know we can play,” he concluded. England will be facing India on October 29 at Ekana Sports City, Lucknow.
