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South Africa decimate England to march into semi-finals

admin — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 15:49:14 +0000

South Africa 181 for 3 (Van der Dussen 72*, Klaasen 64, Archer 2-55) beat England 179 (Root 37, Archer 25, Mulder 3-25, Jansen 3-39) by seven wickets

South Africa confirmed their spot in the Champions Trophy semi-finals with a commanding victory over a hapless England, who ended the tournament winless, captain-less and on a seven-match losing streak.

After choosing to bat first in Karachi, the most run-laden venue of the event, England played like a side who would rather not. They were bowled out for the lowest total of this Champions Trophy and gifted South Africa wickets in a display of carefree and sometimes reckless strokeplay. South Africa were hit by both illness and injury-enforced absences and were not always at their best, but they caught particularly well in the field, paced their chase perfectly, and have plenty of positives to take into the knockouts.

From a bowling perspective, the form of Marco Jansen, who picked up the first three wickets, continues on an upward curve while Keshav Maharaj was effective through the middle overs and Wiaan Mulder cleaned up the tail. South Africa’s batting line-up was without regular openers Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi (both unwell), and Aiden Markram (hamstring injury in the field). Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen both scored half-centuries in a match-winning third-wicket stand of 127. If anything, it gives South Africa a good selection problem going forward while England just have problems.

Having already exited the tournament after their defeat to Afghanistan and with Jos Buttler announcing he would step down as captain, England had nothing to lose and were expected to play with the freedom. They showed their intent early when Phil Salt cracked Jansen’s second ball over backward point and smashed the fourth one over midwicket to open the scoring with fours. Instead of closing out the opening over quietly, he tried to pull the final ball – a short one – also but top-edged it to van der Dussen at midwicket to end his tournament with a total of 30 runs from 25 balls.

Ben Duckett picked up from where Salt left off and scored two boundaries in three balls off Lungi Ngidi but Jamie Smith repeated Salt’s mistake and tamely pulled Jansen to Markam at mid-on. Duckett settled as he was fed balls on the pads but when he tried to clip Jansen fine, he got a leading edge back to South Africa’s destroyer-in-chief. England were 37 for 3 in the seventh over.

That could have become 38 for 4 when Joe Root cut Kagiso Rabada to backward point and though Mulder got both hands to it, he could not hold on. Root went on to nail the drive and the pull and formed a 62-run stand with a confident-looking Harry Brook and England were building solidly. But they could not keep Jansen out of the game. When Brook belted Maharaj over midwicket, Jansen ran to his right from long-on and slid on his knees to take a wonder-catch. Four balls later, Root was bowled when he missed a leg-side flick off Mulder and the ball hit his back pad on its way onto the stumps.

At that stage, Buttler, playing his last innings as England captain, had only faced a ball and had a big job on his hands. He received little help from Liam Livingstone who charged down the track to meet a Maharaj ball but South Africa’s left-arm spinner saw him coming, tossed it up and had him stumped. Livingstone has only made more than 20 runs once in his last seven innings.

By then, England’s effort looked mostly a case of marking time while South Africa stayed focused on searching for wickets. Rabada was brought back at the halfway stage. He beat Jamie Overton first up, then kept him in check by forcing a defensive shot and then had him caught at mid-on as the batter tried to attack. He looked to whip Rabada over the leg side but chipped the ball towards mid-on where Ngidi ran back and took a one-handed stunner as he hit the ground.

South Africa continued to catch well: Jansen took a low catch at midwicket to see the end of Jofra Archer and Maharaj made a tumbling grab at mid-off to end Buttler’s innings on 21 and give Ngidi his 100th ODI wicket. England were bowled out in the 39th over, and took South Africa’s concerns about a slow over rate with them.

At that stage, South Africa’s semi-final qualification was assured because even if they lost the match, their net run rate could not dip below Afghanistan’s. That took pressure off the chase but not necessarily off South Africa’s batters, who all wanted runs ahead of an important week. Tristan Stubbs, playing his ninth ODI and first in an ICC event, didn’t get any as he tried to play an Archer ball late but deflected it onto his stumps.

Though his first over lasted ten balls as he struggled to find his line, Archer quickly improved and delivered the rest of his opening spell with good pace and better accuracy. He was rewarded with a second wicket, too, when Ryan Rickelton, who looked confident in his 25-ball 27, was bowled by a delivery that nipped back into him and smashed into middle stump.

From there, it was all South Africa. While van der Dussen appeared at times frustrated by his slower scoring rate than Klaasen’s, the pair complemented each other well. Van der Dussen scored largely through the leg side while six of Klaasen’s 11 fours came through the covers. Klaasen reached his fifty with one of those shots off the 41st ball he faced. It was his fifth successive half-century in the format, which is the joint-most for South Africa. Van der Dussen’s came off 72 balls as he rocked back to send Adil Rashid through square leg and bring up a second fifty in the competition. Klaasen departed when he tried to smash Rashid over fine leg but outside-edged to short third. David Miller hit the winning runs off the second ball he faced when he smoked Livingstone over the sightscreen for six.

This is the third successive tournament for which South Africa have qualified for the knockouts, after the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup. Their semi-final opposition and venue will only be confirmed after the match between India and New Zealand on Sunday. They will play the loser of that match either in Dubai on Tuesday (if it’s India) or Lahore on Wednesday (if it’s New Zealand).

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket

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McCullum: Buttler’s successor will need ‘right support’ to lead rennaissance

admin — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 07:39:12 +0000

Sat alongside his departing captain Jos Buttler, perhaps it was telling the first emotion England coach Brendon McCullum voiced was sadness rather than pride. As Buttler announced he was quitting as England’s white-ball captain, expressing his own disappointment at the way events had panned out, McCullum’s initial reaction was to offer sympathy for Buttler and how much he had invested into a role that hasn’t quite worked out.

McCullum suggested that was down to the circumstances Buttler had to lead his side in, rather than any shortcomings in his captaincy itself. Even as England struggled in white-ball ICC events since winning the 2022 T20I World Cup, Buttler often found himself leading sides on bilateral tours that weren’t close to full strength.

On an ODI and T20I tour of West Indies late last year, sandwiched between Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand, none of England’s all-format players were part of the squad. Against Australia in September, Joe Root was rested after a busy Test season, while a number of players, including Root and Mark Wood, sat home while England toured West Indies at the tail-end of 2023. England lost all three ODI series.

McCullum appeared to allude to those circumstances as he spoke of England’s next white-ball captain, and his desire to avoid putting him in similarly unenviable circumstances. “That’s something Keysy [Rob Keys] and myself and the ECB are trying to ensure, that we give every format the most amount of attention that we possibly can,” he said. “It’s a tricky balancing act at times.”

McCullum has been Test coach since 2022, and had his pick of players for that format. But with all three formats now falling under his stewardship, he hinted that full availability for Test cricket may no longer be as set in stone in future.

“Looking back even on these most recent series, you’d argue that you could rest some players for some Test series and try and balance things out across formats,” he said. “Give us a couple of weeks to work things out and digest what’s unfolded here, work out what areas we’ve been short in and done okay in, work out the structure of how we want to do things moving forward. We’ve got a couple of months before our next assignment, so there is a bit of time to work that out.”

McCullum kept returning to the theme of Buttler’s captaincy, and how he felt it would be remembered more kindly than raw results might suggest. He said Buttler had set a solid foundation for his replacement, comparing it to the health of the England Test side following Joe Root’s resignation as Test captain in 2022 after a series of indifferent results.

“I said to the boys tonight in the team room sometimes it’s not necessarily the time that you’re in the post and the results that you get during that time. The impact you have in leadership positions can be felt after you left the post, and I’m sure that’ll be the case. I think Joe Root was a classic example of that with the Test captaincy. He was able to at least hold the fort to a degree under incredibly trying circumstances, and then the uplift of performance when Stokesy [Ben Stokes] took over sort of followed from that, and hopefully it’ll be the same across the white-ball teams whenever we decide on who that person is going to be.”

The ECB had hoped linking up Buttler with McCullum, two preternaturally attacking white-ball players, would help unleash England’s white-ball potential in the way managed by Eoin Morgan following the 2015 World Cup. However, with results spiralling, England and McCullum have been criticised for what has come to be seen as a simplistic approach, not necessarily suited to the skillsets of the specific players England’s white-ball sides have at their disposal.

McCullum pushed back against that notion firmly, pointing out the close margins England had missed out by this tournament. “We’ve had our opportunities and played some okay cricket,” he said, “and both games we could have won, and then we’re sitting here and talking about something slightly different. I genuinely believe we’ve got immense talent in English cricket across all forms.

“If anything, we are lacking confidence. There’s a perception out there that we’re a happy-go-lucky, arrogant type of team. We couldn’t be further from that. These guys are too hard on themselves, they’ve got immense talent they are desperate … to perform. That’s actually stymying the ability of us to get the performance we want. They care too much. That’s not a bad thing. They’re just desperate to perform and do right by all those who support the team, and support them. Until we get to the stage where we’re able to still handle walking out there and playing, without wearing disappointment so heavily, then we’re always going to stymie ourselves. That’s our job over the next little while.”

While Harry Brook is the favourite to succeed Buttler, McCullum said England had not decided on a successor. While that is partly because, in McCullum’s words, Buttler’s resignation “came a little sooner than expected”, he felt it also spoke to the characters in the England side.

“There’s some really good leaders that have developed,” McCullum said. “That’s the mark of Jos’s captaincy, he brought on other leaders within the group. They’re not necessarily seasoned players, but they are young guys who have got good cricketing knowledge and he’s encouraged them to learn and develop as leaders. Whoever we settle on, we’ve just got to make sure we’re giving them the right support so that we can improve our performances.”

Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000

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Buttler goes down with the ship as England journey comes full circle

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 23:29:51 +0000

Ten long years ago, almost to the day, England’s cricketers suffered a humiliation greater even than their Champions Trophy exit at the hands of Afghanistan. It was meted out by none other than New Zealand’s then-captain, now England coach, Brendon McCullum, and it would soon prove to be the most consequential defeat in their white-ball history.

The venue was Wellington, during the 2015 World Cup, where McCullum’s eviscerating 18-ball fifty rushed through the breach that Tim Southee, armed with Test-match slip cordons and a Kiwi crowd baying for blood, had blown with his career-best 7 for 33. England’s eight-wicket loss was completed with a stunning 326 balls of the entire match left unused – more than a single 50-over innings.

Though we did not know it at the time, that was the beginning of England’s Bazball journey. Legend has it how, by degrees, the fates of England and McCullum would entwine and interlock: first, through his close personal friendship with his counterpart Eoin Morgan, who would adopt and adapt his mentor’s aggressive methods to glorious effect for the 2019 World Cup, and then, in 2022, with the relaunch of the Test team under McCullum and Ben Stokes – essentially a transfusion of that new unfettered attitude from white ball to red.

Jos Buttler was not only an integral factor in the Morgan reboot, he had been a cause célèbre in the original 2015 meltdown. He made 3 from 7 balls from No. 7 in the Cake Tin crushing, having once again come to the crease below the likes of Ian Bell, Gary Ballance and James Taylor, tasked with an outdated “finisher” role in an innings that, at 104 for 5 in the 27th over, was already as good as over.

As if to demonstrate the madness of this misallocation, Buttler’s solitary hundred up to that point had come from a near-identical starting point: 111 for 5 in the 29th over against Sri Lanka at Lord’s the previous summer, whereupon he blazed an astonishing 121 from 74 balls but still ended up on the losing side. The path to redemption was plain to see. More power up top, more faith throughout, and a more central role for the best white-ball batter of his generation. In June 2015, in the opening game of the team’s new era, Buttler himself made 129 from 77 balls (against New Zealand, inevitably) to lift England to their first 400-plus total, and it was as if a prophecy had been fulfilled.

And yet, throughout this decade of close alignment – and despite McCullum himself speaking warmly of their friendship on the day he came full circle as England’s white-ball coach – Buttler had never before felt the direct effects of that legendary dressing-room influence. Until, that is, this brief and gruesome alliance that has spanned barely six weeks. Nine defeats in ten matches would have been thin gruel in any context. Add to the mix another global-trophy disaster, and the captain’s position was untenable. It’s little wonder that McCullum’s overriding emotion, as he sat with his captain at his resignation press conference, was “sadness” that their partnership had never stood a chance.

In part, Buttler has been a victim of circumstance, as McCullum also implied. All things being equal, he would have been a glorious addition to the core of generational greats – Stokes, Joe Root, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jonny Bairstow – without whom the original Bazball project could never have got off the ground. Instead, he remained at arm’s length from their capers, charged instead with the solemn duty of upholding the white-ball team’s standards, following Morgan’s sudden retirement in June 2022.

Lest it be forgotten amid the navel-gazing, Buttler did achieve that aim magnificently at the first time of asking. And yet, even as he piloted England to the T20 World Cup in 2022, there were doubts as to whether he had placed his own stamp on the team that Morgan rebuilt, or simply pressed the right buttons and got the requisite response from men that he had already gone the journey with: Stokes and Adil Rashid chief among them.

These doubts were redoubled in 2023, when England’s bid to get the 2019 band back together came such a spectacular cropper at the 50-over World Cup in India. And since then, even though McCullum’s arrival as all-formats head coach implies a renewed focus on white-ball cricket, this winter’s Ashes is surely the more pressing reason for the realignment. Irrespective of the setbacks in the short term, the consistency of messaging to the likes of Harry Brook, Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett, not to mention England’s cohort of hard-worked fast bowlers, could yet be crucial in a legacy-defining campaign.

Where then, did Buttler sit within all that? All under-pressure captains must surely ask themselves the question that he articulated on Wednesday night: “Am I part of the problem, or part of the solution?”. But whereas Morgan in 2015 would have looked first in the mirror, and then at an underutilised generation of hungry young thrusters – Buttler, Stokes, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow among them – and realised that all they needed was a chance, England’s situation right now merits a significantly more pessimistic outlook.

“There have been few players of Buttler’s generation whose performances have seemed so dependent on his mood. His famous bat-handle message has long been a prop to remind him to snap out of it, but his innate pessimism was even in evidence in the Afghanistan defeat”

By the time of his ODI debut in February 2012, Buttler was already a star of the county one-day scene, having amassed 854 runs at 71.17 in his first two seasons with Somerset, including two Lord’s finals. In an early example of the ECB’s fretting about attention spans, the format back then was 40-overs not 50, and yet, as Matt Roller and Tim Wigmore noted in White Hot, their book about England’s white-ball renaissance, this had the unexpected benefit of drawing out the players’ aggressive tendencies, but not at the expense of technique and endurance.

By contrast, the advent of the Hundred has taken all such long-haul considerations out of the picture, and with it the very best players. Brook, Buttler’s heir apparent, had not played a single List A game since May 2019 until his ODI debut against South Africa in 2023, and while Smith averaged 63.00 in Surrey’s run to the One-Day Cup semi-final in 2021, his elevation to Hundred marquee status means he may never again feature in a competition that ticks over as a county development project in those overshadowed summer weeks.

It’s hard, then, to blame Buttler if he has struggled to greet the advent of “white-ball Bazball” with anything like the same enthusiasm and optimism that Stokes dredged up for the red-ball project. There’s next to no reason for a player who has achieved as much as he has, and with such a stellar cast alongside him, to believe that the best really is yet to come. Of his 2019 team-mates, only Rashid is performing at anything like the requisite level, and he is already 37. Buttler himself has made three fifties in 15 innings across formats since November, having missed five months with a calf injury.

What’s more, if the Bazball philosophy is, at its heart, a confidence trick – a mindset with which to park the consequences of your actions and just go out and have a go – then Buttler was always an awkward frontman for such a project. For all of his mighty deeds, there have been few players of his generation whose performances have seemed so dependent on his mood. His famous bat-handle message has long been a prop to remind him to snap out of it, but his innate pessimism was even in evidence in the Afghanistan defeat, when he scratched along to 12 from 24 balls before finally nailing a six that briefly snapped him back into the zone.

But it also, perhaps, casts a new light on McCullum’s determination, at his unveiling at The Oval last September, to cheer up his “miserable” captain. It seemed a flippant comment at the time, but it was perhaps a more desperate plea than anyone realised. As indeed, was McCullum’s suggestion on Friday that this might prove as serendipitous as Root’s Test captaincy resignation.

Neat though the parallels may be, if Buttler, of all people, could not be persuaded to suspend his disbelief at the outset of this alliance, then who realistically could fill such a void? Ten years on from that tide-turning loss, this time England’s standards may simply have sunk along with their skipper.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

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Jos Buttler quits as England’s white-ball captain after Champions Trophy exit

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 15:19:21 +0000

Jos Buttler has resigned as England’s white-ball captain after their group-stage exit at the Champions Trophy, announcing on Friday that he will lead the side for the final time against South Africa in Karachi.

England have already been eliminated from the Champions Trophy, after they lost their first two group games against Australia and Afghanistan. They prepared for the tournament with a trip to India which saw them win only one of their eight matches in Brendon McCullum’s first tour as white-ball coach.

“I’m going to stand down as England captain,” Buttler said. “It’s the right decision for me and the right decision for the team. Hopefully somebody else who can come in alongside Baz will take the team to where it needs to be.” Harry Brook, Buttler’s vice-captain, is the early favourite to replace him.

Buttler will continue to play for England, and said he wants to “get back to really enjoying my cricket”. He said: “The overriding emotions are still sadness and disappointment. I’m sure, in time, that will pass and I can get back to really enjoying my cricket, and [will] also be able to reflect on what an immense honour it is to captain your country and all the special things that come with it.”

Buttler was appointed as Eoin Morgan’s successor in June 2022 and won the T20 World Cup in Australia later that year. But England’s results have declined sharply since and after three unsuccessful ICC events in a row – the 2023 50-over World Cup, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy – Buttler has decided to stand down.

He hinted after England’s eight-run loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday – their ninth defeat in 10 white-ball games this year – that he would resign, saying he needed to “consider all possibilities” and work out whether he was “part of the problem or part of the solution.”

“It was quite clear that this tournament was going to be important: results-wise and for my captaincy,” Buttler said. “Two losses and being out of the tournament [was] a bit of a hangover of tournaments before. I’d just reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy, which is a shame and I’m sad about that.

“With Brendon coming in only recently, I was really excited to work closely alongside him and hope for a very quick turnaround and to take the team forward. But it’s not quite worked out that way, so just feels like the right time for me and the team to have a change.”

Buttler’s position came under increasing scrutiny after a sustained poor run of ODI form for England stretching back to the start of the 2023 World Cup. In defence of their World Cup title, England won just three group games out of nine and were the first team to be officially eliminated from the tournament. It began a run that has seen them lose 18 of the last 25 ODIs, including the two that put paid to their Champions Trophy campaign at the first hurdle.

While he will likely go down as England’s best white-ball batter, Buttler’s ODI form, like that of the side he led, had been on a sharp downturn over the last 18 months. He averages 26.40 in his last 21 innings, with a strike rate of just over 100 – down from 115.97 over his ODI career. He managed starts in each of the two games this Champions Trophy, coming into the middle order while England had a platform to build off, but got out for 23 off 21 and 38 off 42.

Brook is tipped to succeed him, though McCullum said England had not yet settled on a candidate. He praised Buttler’s leadership while saying he was “incredibly sad” to see him step down.

“We’ve all seen over the last couple of years how much he’s invested in captaining his country and trying to get very best out of those guys around him,” McCullum said. “People forget that he literally won a World Cup only a couple of years ago, and that can never be taken away from him. It’s incredibly unselfish from Jos to step aside and to leave the post for someone else, and he’s still a huge player for us moving forward. I’m sure we will look at ways that we can get the best out of him in terms of his role, so he can have maximum impact as well”

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Decline and fall: England face up to scale of ODI rebuilding job

admin — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 23:18:55 +0000

When Brendon McCullum promised entertainment from England’s white-ball sides, he probably did not envisage this: with England on the wrong side of the two best games at the Champions Trophy so far, down and out with a match to spare, as the rest of the cricketing world laughs. Brought in to sprinkle some of his Test magic on the limited-overs set-up, the talismanic head coach has lost nine of his first 10 matches at the helm.

The smile McCullum promised to bring back to Jos Buttler‘s face, which the England captain had been practising in the mirror, is not just upside down but on the floor. Buttler spoke disconsolately of his future at the Gaddafi Stadium, an acceptance that this must surely be the end of his tenure. Saturday’s final Group B fixture against South Africa may well be his last ODI.

It is clear both McCullum and Buttler have their share of blame to take from this third successive failure at a white-ball tournament. Most of it is collective, centering around the composition of the squad and the XI.

Two enforced changes through injury highlighted muddled thinking around the initial 15. Tom Banton, a keeper-batter, was brought in for Jacob Bethell, a batter who bowls left-arm spin. Leggie Rehan Ahmed replaced seam-bowling allrounder Brydon Carse. As for the starters, a batting line-up that looked handy on paper did not produce on grass (two 300-plus totals notwithstanding). And a pace-heavy but ultimately one-dimensional bowling attack came unstuck for both a lack of variety against Australia and brittleness against Afghanistan.

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. On Wednesday, Mark Wood, who was carrying an issue with his left knee into the new year, succumbed to it in worrying fashion. Buttler, who had come into the match seeking 10 overs outside his four frontline bowlers, was forced to pick up the pieces and find a few more. Afghanistan duly blitzed 113 from their final 10 overs.

McCullum will have his own sifting to do through the rubble of England’s white-ball dynasty – one which, it should be remembered, won World Cups in both limited-overs formats. There will also be uncertainty over how Wood and Carse (returning home with a toe injury) might be restricted for Test assignments against India and Australia.

Rob Key has a part in all this, of course. The managing director of men’s cricket took the blame for the failure at the 2023 ODI World Cup, citing the focus on Test cricket at the white-ball game’s expense. He subsequently promoted the drive to have the same players – and notably quicks – across all formats, which has backfired. As for the decision to give McCullum the keys to all three teams, time will tell how that pans out. McCullum’s newly extended deal will take him through two more ICC events and two Ashes, which already feel like competing interests.

And what of Harry Brook? The likeliest successor to the captaincy, as the incumbent vice, happens to be England’s busiest multi-format cricket, with the most appearances (89) across all formats since his Test debut in September 2022. With Brook’s white-ball returns trending the wrong way, and blockbuster Test series on the horizon, captaincy would be a risk at a critical juncture in his career. It might have to be taken anyway.

Closer alignment across all teams was supposed to bring clarity. But everywhere you turn there is collateral damage.

Buttler should be considered an unfortunate part of that collateral, never mind his shortcomings as a captain. That the greatest white-ball cricketer England have ever produced was left wondering if he was “part of the problem” was a jarring moment that demanded everyone take stock. A global star has been dulled into confronting his own mortality. Truth is, the problems extend beyond his tactical shortcomings and run deeper than his lack of a poker face.

The fall since the 2019 World Cup success has been sharp. And though large parts of that 2015-2019 machine under Eoin Morgan carried through on fumes to 2022’s T20 World Cup glory, the paint job was chipping and the chains were starting to rust.

It is hard to pinpoint a specific reason for the decline, particularly in ODIs, with 18 defeats in 25 since 2023’s dismal title defence. But there are a few, and most pertain to shifts within English cricket beyond the control of those who have failed so spectacularly over the last 18 months.

There is no longer a meaningful List A county competition because the Hundred clashes with the One-Day Cup by design. The 50-over fundamentals ingrained in the 2015-19 crop were learned in a class that simply does not exist anymore. It was willfully naive – bordering on arrogance – to assume this would simply be passed down to the next generation without any meaningful exposure to the format.

Brook won the first of 24 ODI caps in 2023, four years after his last List A appearance for Yorkshire. Jamie Smith, promoted to No. 3 for the Champions Trophy, had only ever batted there once in 50-over cricket. Banton’s appearance against India earlier this month was his first List A match since he featured against Ireland during the 2020 Covid summer.

Phil Salt may well be the clearest example of the “knowledge gap” all are struggling to bridge. He has only faced more than 30 balls in five out of 30 ODI innings, and only once in his 19 against sides at this Champions Trophy. Encouraged to play his natural game, his returns reflect that of an established T20 opener trying (and failing) to make his mark on a bigger canvas.

T20 cricket has had more far-reaching consequences than simply the returns of one powerplay thrasher. The format’s proliferation through global franchise tournaments has made it as lucrative for boards as players, whether trying to create their own or ensuring it appears regularly in the itinerary. There is a reason the ECB and BCCI agreed on a schedule that featured five T20Is and just three ODIs ahead of this Champions Trophy.

“The last two ICC one-day tournaments have highlighted contrasts between ODI cricket and T20 that are far greater than popular wisdom within the ECB had assumed”

The pull of T20 has pushed ODIs to the bottom of the list as far as broadcasters are concerned. Much of that is to do with the fact teams like England regard them as a nuisance set against their main interests, which in this case is Test cricket.

Only five members of the Champions Trophy squad featured on England’s November tour to the Caribbean, what with it being sandwiched between Tests in Pakistan and New Zealand. It followed a broader pattern of second-string squads for bilateral ODI series.

The warning signs were there even in the afterglow of the 2022 T20 World Cup success. A ludicrously scheduled three-match one-day series against Australia began four days after the final, leading into a rearranged tour after Christmas against Bangladesh.

The vibe of the 2022 Australia tour was off – not helped by a 3-0 pasting – and many of those without central contracts went on to make themselves unavailable for Bangladesh. Given the clash with a two-Test tour of New Zealand, the ECB needed to make up the numbers and several more-senior players who previously waited patiently for their opportunities took a stand. The underlying sentiment was they would be doing the board a favour without furthering their international cases in any meaningful way. Limited-overs caps were quickly being devalued. As one player put it recently, the pride in the ODI shirt disappeared when it became a box-ticking exercise. If the ECB shows the format no love, why should the players?

That sentiment won’t sit well with fans, particularly when so many cricketers chase the franchise coin. Many of the players who spurned that Bangladesh tour, such as Alex Hales, Sam Billings and Liam Dawson, took up lucrative gigs at the PSL instead. Now, what depth there is in white-ball cricket is used to prop up an array of different leagues – particularly the ILT20 and Abu Dhabi T10 – rather than the national team.

It will be tempting to cry “mercenary” at this point, but these are different times. What undoubted loyalty and commitment to the cause there was between 2015 and 2019 was helped by fewer franchise distractions.

The IPL regularly shunned English talent, partly due to the ECB’s reticence to make their players available for the entire season given the clash with the home summer. It was only in 2018 that a significant number of the 2015-19 core were picked up. Even that came with strict caveats when it came to international duty, and prevented them from being mainstays at those franchises.

It is worth remembering the upshot from the Bangladesh tour was discussions at the ECB about upping match fees to make playing for your country more lucrative. That never came to pass, with more money pumped into the central contracts instead.

The IPL is now the only competition which overlaps with the summer where players are granted an automatic No-Objection Certificate to participate, regardless of their red-ball commitments. Even players further down the chain are permitted to take up deals in the winter at the expense of developmental tours. The recent Lions trip to Australia at the start of the year, led by Andrew Flintoff, was noticeably less-experienced than previous squads because of the clash with the ILT20 and SA20.

That brings us to another important factor. Because the knock-on effect of the huge financial shifts has been an intriguing societal phenomenon – a missing generation of players between the ages of 27 to 32. English cricket’s own “yuppie” class, seemingly removed from the pyramid like a Jenga block.

England’s 2019 World Cup winning group had 12 in this bracket. This Champions Trophy group has seven, of which only Ben Duckett and Jofra Archer had any worthwhile 50-over experience.

Even beyond the squad, the gap is noticeable. Can you, reader, name another top-six batter capable of pacing an ODI innings, a seamer who has the craft to operate in three phases of the innings, or a balancing allrounder who would have guaranteed England a better chance? The most popular answers – Sam Hain, Luke Wood (both 29), Sam Curran (26) – carry their own uncertainties.

The only clear answer as an improvement to the squad is Dawson, though his patience with the current management group has long gone. The Hampshire allrounder recently revealed he had been told by England men’s selector Luke Wright that he was going to be picked in the 2023 World Cup squad. The next day, he received a call informing him he had not made the cut.

So, what now? The good news is England will be fine in T20Is, as they have been. But the last two ICC one-day tournaments have highlighted contrasts between the formats that are far greater than popular wisdom within the ECB had assumed. Making up those differences requires actual change - none straightforward, some improbable.

The One-Day Cup will only fade further into the background as the newly monied Hundred flexes further – unless counties take the initiative to rejig the schedule and move it to the beginning of the season to prevent a clash from 2026 onwards. New Hundred owners would be amenable to clearer real estate in the calendar, and counties get something more to offer their members. Longer term, everybody wins.

Of course, franchise competitions will continue to offer players lucrative alternatives to international cricket. And the 50-over format will not suddenly enjoy a resurgence in context, certainly not while McCullum’s focus is primarily on the Test side. Just as red ball performances suffered during the 2015-19 cycle, the white will continue to be an afterthought with priorities are flipped.

At least until the next 50-over tournament rolls around. By then, if English cricket is lucky, the 2027 ODI World Cup will be part of a redemption arc that will start with next year’s T20 World Cup.

For now, the first steps towards that rest with a coach who may have bitten off more than he can chew, and a captain who has had enough.

Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Zadran 177, Omarzai five-wicket haul knock England out

admin — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 07:00:59 +0000

Afghanistan 325 for 7 (Zadran 177, Omarzai 41, Archer 3-64, Livingstone 2-28) beat England 317 (Root 120, Omarzai 5-58, Nabi 2-57) by eight runs

The politicians hadn’t wanted this game to go ahead, but who could have wished to deny the scenes of raw euphoria that unfolded in Lahore as Afghanistan completed the double they had set in motion at the 2023 World Cup, dumping England out of the Champions Trophy in a wildly undulating, anxious scramble for glory.

Eight runs was the margin when – with Mark Wood hobbling and all the recognised batters gone – Adil Rashid swung for the hills off the penultimate ball of the match and picked out the man of the hour, Ibrahim Zadran, whose take in front of the dugout was completed with the same coolness with which he had compiled his exceptional 177 from 146 balls – an innings that had simply been too good to fail.

Much the same could have been said for England’s main man of their 326-run chase, Joe Root, whose 120 from 111 balls was his 17th in the ODI format but, remarkably, his first since the 2019 World Cup. Had he had a bit more support, and had he not been racked with cramp going into the final push, his run-a-ball tempo might have been more than sufficient to seize the day. Instead, he was undone by an effort ball from the indefatigable Azmatullah Omarzai, whose five-wicket haul followed a priceless knock of 41 from 31 balls that had helped to pull his own team out of a tailspin.

Speaking straight afterwards, a shell-shocked Jos Buttler insisted he would not be making any “emotional” statements about his future as captain, but acknowledged the fundamental lack of confidence that had contributed to his team’s downfall.

After Afghanistan had opted to bat first, Jofra Archer’s three-wicket powerplay onslaught should by rights have settled the contest there and then. And yet, from 37 for 3 in the ninth over, Zadran and his captain Hashmatullah Shahidi focused solely on survival until the point that their 103-run fourth-wicket stand had, almost imperceptibly, transformed itself into a platform for a thrillingly smooth acceleration.

Ultimately, Afghanistan’s scorecard told the exact tale of their innings. Three single-figure scores at the top – for a combined total of 14 runs from 28 balls – then a trio of 40s, at ever increasing tempos, from Shahidi, Omarzai and the forty-something himself, Mohammad Nabi, whose 24-ball onslaught was a typically ageless display from a player who has been on every step of this Afghanistan journey, right from their exploratory tour of England as a de facto club side way back in 2006.

And then, underpinning it all, a performance of rare majesty from Zadran, whose sixth hundred in 35 ODI innings was not only the highest by an Afghan in the format, but the best in Champions Trophy history, trumping the 165 that Ben Duckett had posted against Australia in the previous fixture at Lahore.

It was a controlled explosion of an innings, and one of the most impressive ODI performances that can ever have been compiled. Zadran showed the tenacity to hang tough while England’s quicks were dominating the early exchanges, but after reaching his first fifty from 65 balls, he marched through to his hundred from 41 more, then clattered along at a near 200 strike rate thereafter.

By the time he holed out to square leg at the start of the 50th over, Zadran had worked his way so smoothly through the gears that England had been left with scarcely any agency in their predicament. This was summed up when Wood, who had already spent 38 minutes off the field after his left knee gave way midway through his fourth over, was forced to leave the field once again, this time for good and with two overs of his allocation unused.

It had been a typically masochistic effort from Wood, whose willingness to bust a gut for the cause has never been in doubt. But England’s desperation to get him back into the fray there epitomised their threadbare resources. In a throwback to the sort of bit-part tactics that dominated ODI cricket in the 1980s and 1990s, Root and Liam Livingstone had been charged with cobbling together 12 overs between them. But when, with nowhere else to turn, Root’s offspin was served up to the hard-swinging Nabi, two massive leg-side sixes ensued in a 23-run 47th over.

Not even Archer could stem the tide. He’d already been crashed for a six and three fours by Zadran, now in overdrive, who then launched a slower ball in Archer’s final over over long-on to seize Duckett’s record.

England’s target of 326 was daunting but not insurmountable, as they themselves had discovered on this same ground on Saturday night, when their own hefty total of 351 for 8 had been hunted down by Australia with 15 balls to spare. And yet, it was close to double the sort of target that England might at one stage have envisioned.

The scoreboard pressure was quickly brought to bear. Phil Salt started with a confident thump for four that telegraphed the trueness of the surface, but then lost his off bail as he tried to pull a skiddy length ball from Omarzai. And though Jamie Smith is undoubtedly a name for the future, it’s debatable whether he is the No. 3 for the present. Certainly, his dismissal was guileless in the extreme: a no-look gallop at the irrepressible Nabi, who skidded his offbreak through a touch quicker, to claim a wicket with the first ball of his spell for the third ODI in a row.

Where there was Root, there was hope, as he and Duckett set about rebuilding the innings much as they had done from an identical starting point against Australia. But after what ought to have been a costly drop from Shahidi at mid-off, when Duckett had 29, Rashid Khan stepped up with a skiddier full length, and sent his man on his way via DRS, just nine runs later.

The errors thereafter came with wearying inevitability. Harry Brook looked a million dollars for his first 20 balls, then got caught in two minds as he popped a tame return catch to Nabi for 25, whereupon Buttler – a player whose form seems so overwhelmingly dominated by his mindset – barely survived his first 12 runs before finally landing a slap for six to seemingly ignite his stay. But then, after one more slog-sweep for six off Nabi, Buttler was undone by Omarzai’s energetic lengths, as he spliced a pull straight to midwicket for 38.

Now it was all on Root. For the first 90-odd balls of his innings, England’s anchorman might as well have been on a serene stroll in Iqbal Park, with his innings scarcely deviating from a run-a-ball tempo. But then, after reaching his 50 from 50 and his hundred from 98, he felt the early onset of cramp, and with 58 still required from six overs, he inverted his stance into a Buttler-style ramp, and pinged his only six over the keeper’s head.

But it was too much to ask for Root to walk the innings home. He kept looking for the angles, and found one final sublime deflection for four through backward square, but at the precise moment at which Afghanistan’s own innings had gone into overdrive, he attempted a flick over deep third off another skiddy Omarzai lifter, and was sent on his way via a scuff of the gloves to the keeper.

Overton seemed to have got the memo with the long-levered finish that he had so long promised but rarely delivered, but having brought the chase within reach with 32 from 28 balls, he attempted another takedown and found long-on with 17 still needed. And though Archer seemed to be riding his luck with an under-edge for four and a sprawling reprieve at deep cover, he was unable to close it out either. Thirteen from eight was needed when he flung his hands through an Omarzai slower ball, for Nabi in the deep to make no mistake.

Minutes later, it was all done and dusted. Afghanistan march on to what could have been another politically charged showdown with Australia, with a place in the semi-finals at stake, having already crushed the hopes of their new favourite tournament bunnies. Irrespective of the situation in their homeland, a remarkable set of players have once again epitomised the hope and escapism in tough times that only sport can provide.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

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Buttler on captaincy future: ‘You’ve got to consider all possibilities’

admin — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 22:50:12 +0000

Buttler won the 2022 T20 World Cup, his first ICC tournament as captain, but England have underperformed ever since. They lost six out of nine games at the 2023 ODI World Cup, were thrashed by India in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in 2024, and have now gone out of the Champions Trophy with one group match remaining, following back-to-back defeats to Australia and Afghanistan.

Matthew Mott lost his job as England’s coach after last year’s T20 World Cup and Buttler admitted that he had feared for his own job at the time. He has since captained the team on a tough tour to India where they won only once in eight games, and appeared to concede that his time in charge was likely up in the aftermath of Wednesday night’s game.

“It’s tough to say, stood here right now, and I don’t want to make any sort of emotional statements,” Buttler told Sky Sports. “But I think it’s fair to say that you’ve got to consider all possibilities.

“I’ve enjoyed it [the captaincy]. I’ve seen lots of people say it doesn’t sit well with me, but I do enjoy it. I enjoy the challenge. Obviously I don’t enjoy losing games of cricket and the results. And of course when they’re not going well, you do look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Am I part of the problem or am I part of the solution?’ I think that’s what I’ve got to work out.”

Buttler admitted at his post-match press conference that his future may not be in his own hands. “You [the press] are probably not the first people I’d discuss that with,” he said. “I’ll take a little bit of time to work out, personally, what I think is right, and obviously the guys at the top are in charge, and they’ll have their own views as well.

“I enjoy leading. Even before, when I wasn’t captain, I’d like to think of myself as a leader in the team, but results are tough and they weigh heavy at times. Of course, you want to be leading a winning team, and we haven’t been that for a while now, so obviously that brings some difficult moments.”

Harry Brook captained England in their ODI series against Australia in September and is their official vice-captain at the Champions Trophy, while Liam Livingstone (ODI) and Phil Salt (T20I) have also deputised in Buttler’s absence. After Saturday’s game against South Africa, England’s next white-ball fixtures are against West Indies in June.

In Lahore, England fell just short in pursuit of the 326-run target set by Afghanistan despite Joe Root’s first ODI hundred since 2019. Buttler said that their failure to reach the target on a flat pitch was a reflection of the team’s wider struggles.

“I think a confident team would’ve romped home tonight,” he said. “That’s the way sport goes sometimes. When you’ve been short of results in those 50-50 games, you probably find ways to lose as opposed to win when you’re a really confident, flying team.

“The last 10 overs with the ball got away from us: they scored 113 runs in that phase. If we could have restricted them, that would’ve made the chase a lot easier. Joe Root played an unbelievable innings, full of class and character as usual, and we needed one of the top six to go longer with him.

“Everyone is going to be very disappointed and it is going to be raw… You’ve got to allow things like this to push you forward and drive you forward in your future – as an individual, as a team, and, as an England white-ball side, to get back to the level that we want to be at, competing in these tournaments and being here to win.”

Buttler fell for 38 at a critical time in the run chase after an 83-run stand with Root, opening up an end for Afghanistan to target. He has been short of runs in 50-over cricket for some time, with 352 ODI runs at 22.00 since the start of the 2023 World Cup.

“I think when I’m at my best, I’m one of the best players in the world,” he said. “I’m not performing at that level at the moment. I’ve felt in good touch, but I’m not getting the scores that I’ve been used to over time, so that’s frustrating.”

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

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England, Afghanistan put politics aside with tournament on the line

admin — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 14:49:35 +0000

Big Picture: Politics takes back seat in high-stakes match-up

For several febrile weeks at the turn of the year, it was impossible to ignore the political mission-creep of England versus Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy. And yet, it’s not impossible that a cricket match will be allowed to take centre stage, after all, in Lahore on Wednesday. A potentially fascinating one, too.

To deal with the frivolous keep-politics-out-of-sport top line first, this is now a must-win clash for the two winless sides in Group B. Australia’s washout against South Africa in Rawalpindi has changed little in that regard, except that it guarantees that, if either team loses in Lahore, they will now be sunk without a trace, rather than relying on snookers and net run-rates when they play the table-toppers later this week.

And, before we get bogged down in the baggage that this contest has acquired, there’s plenty of recent on-field intrigue to drill down into too. Afghanistan’s historic victory in Delhi at the 2023 World Cup has seen to that. It wasn’t the result that ended the reign of the 2019 champions – the tournament’s drawn-out itinerary meant no swift end to their humiliation – but it did unquestionably show them up as plodding, timid and past their collective sell-by date.

Eighteen months on, similar concerns endure for England, even as they embark on their white-ball Bazball reboot. On the one hand, their five-wicket loss to Australia was a game of fine margins, none more galling than Jofra Archer’s glaring miss in the deep at a pivotal juncture of the chase. On the other hand, they put an apparently hefty 351 on the board yet still got steamrolled with almost three overs to spare. Not even Ben Duckett’s tournament-record 165 could suffice for a side whose reticence runs deep, no matter what positive messaging may have been carried across from Brendon McCullum’s Test dressing-room.

On balance, therefore, would you rather be in England’s shoes – confused as to why your best is still not enough and, in the case of their captain Jos Buttler, vaguely cognisant of the implications of another early tournament exit – or Afghanistan’s – fresh from a shoddy display against South Africa that was so far from the new standards that they set themselves that the only way, surely, is up?

Afghanistan’s 107-run loss in Karachi was studded with shoddy fielding, including a glaring missed run-out, and capped by a batting effort that was sunk inside the first 15 overs. Rahmat Shah showed the requisite mettle with a 92-ball 90, but Rashid Khan’s breezy 18 from 13 balls at No. 9 was their second-best score. After their march to the T20 World Cup semi-finals, not to mention four wins at the 2023 World Cup which secured them their Champions Trophy berth, this squad expects better of themselves these days.

Cue England, then, the perfect opponents for teams in need of a little extra incentive to raise their games.

In truth, the protests about this fixture have dissipated in recent weeks, but that’s not to say there won’t be more discussion as the contest gets underway, or that the underlying issues are no longer worthy of airtime. On the contrary, when the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi wrote to the ECB protesting the “sex apartheid” of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, on whose watch women’s sport has effectively been banned since 2021, she was merely articulating the same unease that many individual boards were already feeling – including both England and Australia, who had previously pledged to suspend bilateral ties while the Taliban remain in power.

That letter had been signed by a cross-party group of 160 British MPs, but the UK prime minister Keir Starmer echoed the ECB’s line, that this is a matter for the ICC as a collective body, not for individual boards. And that, broadly speaking, has been the final word on the matter for now. Certainly it’s a far cry from the situation that Nasser Hussain’s World Cup squad found themselves in back in 2003, when – amid similar political posturing – it was left to the players themselves to debate, and ultimately carry out, a unilateral boycott of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.

Besides, as Buttler reiterated on the eve of the game, there is still a place for sport as “a source of hope and enjoyment” in tough times … much as was the case on the eve of the 2023 clash, in fact, when Afghanistan’s own aim had been to bring a bit of joy back to their country after a devastating earthquake in Herat had killed several thousand people. The issues may be different, but the underlying truth remains the same. When there are forces beyond your control, whatever they may be, all you can do is produce your best and hope it contributes to the greater good.

Form guide

England: LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan: LWWWL

In the spotlight: Mark Wood and Rashid Khan

To judge by its early showings, white-ball Bazball is distinctly Route One. Stack the side with the rawest pace imaginable, and let guile and subtlety go hang. It’s a policy that you can imagine being utterly explosive on its good days, but these have been all too infrequent so far in McCullum’s tenure. Mark Wood‘s display against Australia epitomised this. His ferocious powerplay spell featured barely a delivery below 150kph, and landed the key early wicket of Steven Smith. But by the back end of Australia’s 352-run chase, Glenn Maxwell was making room to leg with impunity, safe in the knowledge that any sort of connection would go the distance. Eight of Wood’s ten ODIs since the start of the 2023 World Cup have now come in ICC events. Nine wickets at 58.44 and an economy rate above 6.5 imply that the Aussies aren’t the only team who are ready for what he’s being primed to unleash.

England’s struggles against high-quality spin have been protracted across formats, and few spinners come more highly rated than Afghanistan’s gun leggie Rashid Khan. Last week, he was knocked off the top of the ICC’s ODI rankings by Maheesh Theekshana, largely due to inactivity, and though he went wicketless in Afghanistan’s opening Group B loss to South Africa, he has happy memories of his most recent outing against England: figures of 3 for 37 in that famous World Cup encounter in Delhi included the winning moment itself, a slider to Wood that sealed a 69-run success, their first over England in any format. As Adam Zampa demonstrated in Australia’s high-scoring win in Lahore on Saturday, stump-threatening wristspinners can unlock even the flattest conditions.

Team news

Brydon Carse had been one of the breakthrough bowlers of England’s winters, but his battered toes contributed to an untimely breakdown against Australia, as his seven overs were dispatched at a tick below ten an over. He has now been ruled out of the tournament, with Jamie Overton the likeliest like-for-like replacement – and if Lahore’s conditions remain as true as in the first match, this might even include the impact that his powerful lower-order hitting has often promised, but rarely delivered.

England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jamie Smith (wk), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (capt), 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan’s captain, hinted that the same XI that tripped up against South Africa would take the field in Lahore – unsurprising in light of his pointed but uncontroversial observation that “the England team struggles a bit against spinners”. In Rashid, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad, they will have to negotiate 30 overs of the finest, and most varied, slow bowlers in subcontinental conditions, although they will at least be spared a reunion with their chief destroyer at the World Cup, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who has been managing injury in recent months and is not currently involved in the 50-over format.

Afghanistan: (possible) 1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Rahmat Shah, 5 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Pitch and conditions

England got a clear idea of Lahore’s run-laden conditions in their tournament opener, and more of the same is in prospect on a pristine new surface. The weather, however, could be decidedly cooler. There’s been rain around on the eve of the contest, and while it is not expected to be a factor during the match, the cloud cover could remain in situ … a possible boon for England’s pace-dominant attack.

Stats and trivia

England have lost five ODIs in a row, their joint-worst run since losing six in a row in their home ODI series against Australia in 2009. Auspiciously, they followed that performance with an improbable semi-final place, weeks later, in the Champions Trophy in South Africa. (Although they did then get crushed by the eventual champions, Australia, once more…)

Rahmat Shah, who made 90 in defeat against South Africa, needs 41 runs to become the first Afghanistan batter to reach 4000 in ODIs.

Rashid needs two more wickets to become the first Afghanistan bowler to reach 200 in ODIs.

Duckett, England’s centurion in defeat against Australia, needs four runs to reach 1000 in the ODI format. Phil Salt isn’t far behind, on 968 runs, while Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone are both in the 900s too.

Quotes

“We are cricket players, we are sportspersons, we are sportsmen. So, we control what we can do inside the ground. We don’t worry about what’s happening out of the ground.”
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi plays a straight bat to the political chat

“Any time as an England captain you want to perform well, and you want to lead your team to winning games of cricket. We haven’t been doing that enough in the recent past. But as soon as you catch yourself thinking about any negative things, you try to completely flip that and focus on all the positive things that could go right, and where you can take the team. I’m very much focused on that.”
Jos Buttler, England’s captain, isn’t thinking of the implications of an early tournament exit

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

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Should Buttler promote himself from No. 6 in England’s batting order?

admin — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:38:57 +0000

Jos Buttler should promote himself in the batting order with his England captaincy on the line in Wednesday’s Champions Trophy game against Afghanistan, according to former England opener Nick Knight.

Buttler walked out to bat in the 35th over in England’s five-wicket defeat to Australia on Saturday, hitting 23 off 21 balls from No. 6 before holing out to deep midwicket. He explained before the start of the Champions Trophy that he saw that position – where he has batted more than any other in ODIs – as his “super-strength”.

But Knight, who played exactly 100 ODIs between 1996 and 2003, believes that England are not getting the best out of Buttler in his current role and must give him the chance to have a bigger impact on games. “I have really strong feelings about this,” Knight said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day show.

“Jos Buttler, for me, is not taking enough part in the construction of an innings,” Knight said. “He’s one of the best in the world, simple as that, let alone one of the best in the team. He’s the best player. With your best player, you want them to play as much of a role within the outcome of the innings as possible.

“I thought England made an error in the last game when they had that partnership broken between [Joe] Root and [Ben] Duckett and they brought in Harry Brook. Harry Brook is a very fine player but is a little bit out of touch at the moment. I personally would have just sent Buttler in. As soon as it ticks over to 20-25 overs, Buttler’s in next… Be flexible with your batting line-up, get your best player in.”

Buttler struggled in the 2023 50-over World Cup and averages 26.16 in ODIs in Asia, but Knight played down the relevance of those stats. “I’ve seen him destroy attacks in the IPL – very good, high-quality attacks,” he said. “He can play in Asia, don’t worry about that. He’s scored hundreds galore in one-day cricket in those conditions. Really, it’s just about finding the best balance for him.

“When you look at the best of Jos Buttler, he gives himself five, ten, 15 balls to get in… He’s one of England’s finest players of all time. He’s one of the world’s greatest in this format. Of course, he will have areas where he might get a little exposed from time to time but get him out there. Let’s give him that chance to really shine.”

Nasser Hussain, Knight’s England captain at the 2003 World Cup, also believes that Buttler was wasted down the order against Australia, with England posting 351 for 8 having been 200 for 2 after 30 overs. “The damage that Buttler could do [higher up] compared to what he can do at the end, I think I would have him up the order,” Hussain said on the Sky Sports cricket podcast.

“If he bats at No. 3 or 4… he could get out for ten or 20, but if he gets in, Jos Buttler at his best – one of England’s, if not England’s, greatest batter – on that surface, could go on and get 150 because he’s so talented. If, on a pitch like that, England’s best white-ball player of all time is sitting and watching 40 overs of cricket from the pavilion, as an opposition captain, I’m thinking, ‘That’s good, I’m enjoying that’.

“And also, this is a defining tournament now for Buttler. If they don’t get through the qualification here, the group stages, he could well lose his job. For that reason, if I’m Jos Buttler, I’m thinking, ‘My job is hanging on the line here, I have to have a massive impact on this game and on this tournament right now’. As opposed to, at the end of the tournament, wishing, ‘Why didn’t I promote myself and give it a go?’ They see it differently. They see him as the finisher.”

Buttler is expected to continue batting at No. 6 when England face Afghanistan in Lahore on Wednesday. He conceded on Tuesday that he was “absolutely” under pressure. “Any time as an England captain you want to perform, you want to perform well, and you want to lead your team to winning games of cricket. We haven’t been doing that enough in the recent past.”

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Jos Buttler plays down toss factor ahead of game with plenty riding on it

admin — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 22:38:52 +0000

There were barely enough spin bowlers in the nets to go around. Ben Duckett was first to the practice pitch on the edge of the main square. A left-arm fingerspinner operated in tandem with a right-arm leggie, with Duckett keen to use his feet or clear his front leg at the slightest opportunity. Perhaps it’s easy to do that to net bowlers, but Duckett had scarcely shown more respect to Adam Zampa three days early; this match-up had produced 50 runs in 36 balls as Duckett ran up a Champions Trophy record score. Here, under the lights, it looked as if his form hadn’t deserted him.

It is perhaps how he shapes up around this time of evening tomorrow, the floodlights having set in and the first signs of dew emerging, that determines England’s fate. England were vocal about the disadvantage dew had put them at in the dying stages of Australia’s romp to victory on Saturday after Australia won the toss and made sure England would bowl second. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi admitted earlier today Afghanistan have a greater chance of winning when they bat first; indeed, it was a game model they executed to perfection in Delhi at the 2023 World Cup, posting a par total before squeezing England out by 69 runs. Perhaps, when they meet at the toss, both sides’ interests will align.

“In the Australia game, the dew did come in and second innings skidded on a bit better,” Jos Buttler, speaking ahead of the game, said. “Each game is individual, you’ve got to play well, and the toss doesn’t guarantee a result either so whatever happens at the toss, we need to put in a level of performance to win the game.”

While it is just one individual result that puts England in the precarious position of needing to win tomorrow to keep elimination at bay, England’s collective performances under Buttler’s full-time captaincy makes England’s situation unsurprising. The defeat to Australia was England’s 21st ODI reversal under Buttler’s leadership against just 12 wins.

Since the start of the 2023 World Cup, their form has been even more dismal, with seven wins against 17 losses. Defeat to Afghanistan tomorrow would guarantee first-round elimination in two consecutive ODI events after England were the format’s best side between 2015 and 2019, making official that title when they lifted the 2019 World Cup on home soil. With the 2027 World Cup on the horizon, it is unlikely to strengthen Buttler’s case to lead England into one more ODI ICC event.

Buttler acknowledged the result tomorrow could come with wider implications for his future. “I think any time as an England captain, you want to perform, you want to perform well and you want to lead your team to winning games of cricket. We haven’t been doing that enough in the recent past. But as soon as you catch yourself thinking about any negative things, you just try and completely forget that and focus on all of the positive things that could go right and where you can take the team.”

Shortly after Duckett was done, the England captain took his place in the nets. This was altogether a more circumspect performance: the confident stride out followed by tentative pushes down the ground, more defensive blocks than the nonchalant pickups over midwicket. And though he had a bit of a hit against the spinners, Jamie Overton lined to have a bowl against his captain, while the coach threw several down at pace.

For, despite Afghanistan’s prodigious spin ability, they may find targeting Buttler with pace the cannier move. While Buttler has enjoyed pace outside Asia, the slower conditions through the middle overs in the subcontinent have seen his performances degrade sharply. He averages 22.75 in Asia in ODI cricket since 2017 at just under 98, his average and strike rate 40 and 11 points down respectively. No batter since 2023 has been dismissed against pace in the first ten balls as frequently; it has happened to him in five of his last 13 innings, with a particular susceptibility against hard lengths.

If there is consolation, though, Afghanistan may be the side you’d want to face if you’ve got Buttler’s specific set of vulnerabilities in Asia. Afghanistan’s spinners were uncharacteristically off-colour against South Africa in Karachi in the opening game, with Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed combining for 175-3 in 29 collective overs. It included a wickless day out for Rashid Khan, the first time that has happened to him in nine games.

Shahidi put it down to the Karachi wicket offering “no support” for spinners and said “even one ball didn’t turn”. Should conditions in Lahore be similar on an overcast day tomorrow, facing up to spin in Asia isn’t one of Buttler’s problems. The England captain has struck at 107.46 against spin in Asia since 2023 at an average of 36. Given Afghanistan’s proclivity for using spin to asphyxiate sides in the middle overs, this could prove an opportunity for Buttler to turn the tables on them, and the tide around for his side.

As his stint in the nets drew its conclusion, he was facing spin once more. He picked length early, transferring weight back every time it dropped shot and launching it into the netting that prevented it from flying to cow corner. Some of the fuller deliveries were met with reverse sweeps – a few out of the middle, a handful that flew up. In these circumstances and in his form, it is a brave shot, but from the player that perhaps epitomises this England white-ball generation, you would expect little else.

“From the start of the tournament, we knew pretty much every game is a must win,” Buttler said. “We’ve got two games left and to progress further, we know we have to win those games. So that’s a very clear situation for us to be in. There’s little areas we want to improve and chase that perfect game.”

England’s confidence under Brendon McCullum means they always keep the faith they will find the lock to such perfection. Buttler, however, has been around long enough to know if they are to find it under his stewardship, it probably has to be tomorrow.

Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000

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