Although England made it to the semi-final in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, their campaign lacked the mojo title defenders are known to carry. The English team returned to the hunt quite late and were almost knocked out from the group stages by their northern neighbor, Scotland. Now that it is all in hindsight, many pundits are examining the reasons behind England’s not-so-good days at the office. While everyone is coming up with their own reasons, England’s leadership has been brought under the radar of criticism by many.
While many might deem the reaction a little far-fetched, when you think of it this is the second title defense gone wrong for England in less than a year, the first one being the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. Led by Jos Buttler and coached by Matthew Mott, the English side finished 7th on the table. Buttler-led men managed to win only three out of nine games during the mega-event and their uncouth defeats against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka tolled the death bells back home.
This time the Three Lions were a tad better but without any significant victory to write home about, the criticism has only grown louder. England’s ODI World Cup-winning captain, Eoin Morgan who made no bone about his disappointment in the leadership, seems to have taken a U-turn. Talking in an interview for Wisden Cricket Monthly (WCM), the Ireland-born cricketer threw his support behind Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott. Morgan said,
“I do think Jos and Motty should stay on. Given they came into the tournament with the least amount of expectation, they made the semi-final and you have to acknowledge that. You shouldn’t take that for granted – it’s not a given you can get there, with the likes of Australia not making it and New Zealand being knocked out in the group stage. There were various challenges other teams couldn’t overcome and England did, so a lot of credit has to go to both of them in that instance.”
One of the reasons behind backing Buttler to carry on as the skipper is that the English team has no one to replace the 33-year-old yet. The same notion was shared by Morgan, expressing which he said,
“The addition of Andrew Flintoff and Kieron Pollard in the backroom staff, I believe that’s aided both of them and the team. It was a good decision to get them on board. One thing that will be flagged is that they only beat West Indies out of the Full Member nations but, still, they managed to get to a semi-final. So, for me, Mott and Buttler stay in their positions, particularly when I don’t see any obvious replacements. Giving them more time to get better and grow is the decision that should be made.”
With Champions Trophy 2025 inching closer each day, England are likely to see some tweaks or perhaps a complete overhaul. Many seniors might need to bid farewell and make place for the youngsters as the management would be interested in investing in the players who can be counted on until the next ODI World Cup at the very least.
“The likes of Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jonny Bairstow, guys coming towards the twilight of their career, a plan will have to be drawn up by the leadership group and the selector Luke Wright as to what’s the best way forward for the team,” opined Morgan.
He further said,
“Phil Salt and Harry Brook have played a second World Cup now and seem to be growing in stature, which really bodes well, so they’re key members for me. There’s a Champions Trophy next year and another T20 World Cup the following year and you need players better equipped to deal with the challenges in the latter stages of a tournament. That’s very important. The most successful sides in the world have players who have been there and done that. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’ll win but it positions you to overcome the same pressures and the same challenges.”
England are slated to face their arch-rivals Australia in September for a white-ball series and they would fancy finding answers to their questions.
