Jos Buttler talks to the Times of India on cricket’s new stimulant, the churn in England’s coaching management and himself grappling with injury…
It’s not good time for Jos Buttler. He is England’s main white-ball captain and currently battling with a right calf that has forced him to limi sited practice which Barry Brook’s side seems up in arms for a cricketing showdown with the Australians in the upcoming ODI series.
Buttler, however, is not the type one would expect to warm the bench for long. In between continuing his rehab, he has been actively strategizing on how the team operated under the new head coach Brendon McCullum, who will come in January next year.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview…
Status of your injury?
However, what I want to do is recover quickly and get back on the pitch. I have not attached a clock to my return, but I’m feeling well. And I have had few useless incidences within the course of performing rehab, which are unfortunate, but I must resolve those. I simply want to get it 100 percent. It doesn’t feel like I have played some high competition level game for a while now and there is probably the need for some catching up to do.
So many teams seem to be in a transition phase. Do you perceive any difference in terms of approach, intensity and skill set in the younger crop of players who’ve been shaped by a lot of franchise-based T20 cricket?
It’s that bravery, which these lads possess, which is commendable. They come out looking the part, ready for international matches, despite having no games under their belts or time for any adjustment. This has also been predominant for all nations, really, since such franchise competitions came on board. Participation in such events has really made it easier for players to make the transition from playing within their own countries to playing in other countries.
These (franchise events) are compact competitions providing superior cricketing skills and somehow getting junior variations ready for what to expect in international games – crowd attendance, media presence, TV cameras, and so on. Therefore, these guys are making it easy for them to fit into the game, which is a good thing.
England has a selected a number of multi-dimensional athletes in the T20I series against Australia. But is the IPL’s ‘impact player’ rule, considering this trend?
There were many cricketers before the impact player rule came in who wanted to be able to do the bating and bowling. All-rounders have historically been important part of cricketing teams in order to reinforce the batting order, add stability and more variety in the bowling department. The lack of all rounders is not where the problem lies, it’s not having them at all. Having multi-skilled players is a big big plus. I know in the IPL people think the ‘impact-player’ rule is kind of grabbing something from the all rounders, but they still are a very important part. How ever, they are very important in order to even balance the side.
Once England’s all-format coach Brendon McCullum went on record saying, ‘You said you’ve been a bit miserable at times’ alluding to injury and form trouble that often beset athletes.
No I read that, it’s a joke! I have had some very good conversations with ‘Baz’ and looking forward to be able to work with him. We had the admiration and respect towards him. He has done tremendous job for the Test side and now being the all format coach is good for the English cricket too.
Are we going back to an era of one coach for all formats rather than different coaches for white and red ball games? Do the positives outweigh the negatives or in which way?
Well, there are pros and cons for both, I guess, At least there can be that one guy who is familiar with the messaging across formats. When Brendon stepped up as Test coach together with Matthew Mott (the former white ball coach), the English cricket schedule was nuts. There seemed no way one person could do it all. That had to be compensated. But it has also done a full circle and now there is, once again, that single head coach, but you are going to have to think about the calendars. If it comes to that, there may be occasions when ‘Baz’ is required to sit out a particular series and one of the assistants will pick up the reins.
With a wealth of people willing to express their thoughts, do you think the captain’s role will become even less prominent in the future, particularly in T20 format?
I don’t think so at all. There’s more data but still those calls on the field are necessary. And that is beautifully short, every ball counts and we know winning or losing a game can come down to saving one run or two runs here and there. Calls like that as a captain are very important. There’s just more information for the captain, if you want information there is a lot of it.
(Tune in to see the first ODI of the Australia tour of England on September 19th at 5:00 PM IST and live on Sony Sports Ten 5 SD, Lexxis GC and SD channels)
