England’s T20 World Cup title defence is over – and it ended in rather tame fashion.
Chasing 172 against unbeaten India in Thursday’s semi-final in Guyana, Jos Buttler’s side surrendered to 103 all out. They needed Jofra Archer’s late 21 off 15 balls to reach three figures.
While this tournament was nowhere near as distressing as their 50-over World Cup title defence in India last autumn, at which they lost six of their first seven games and were bundled out in the group stage, it still raises a series of questions. Most chiefly about the futures of captain Buttler and coach Matthew Mott.
England were only able to beat one of the four Test-playing nations they encountered at the T20 World Cup, with the win over West Indies surrounded by losses to Australia, South Africa and, finally, India. They were also sloppy against Scotland before rain intervened.
So, as the dust settles, we look at where England may go from here…
Buttler, speaking in the immediate aftermath of the defeat to India, promised a large-scale review of personnel and style of cricket as England now build for the next global ICC event, the 50-over Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February 2025.
The vibe was not one of a man looking to leave his job, although Buttler did say he had “not thought past today” in terms of what his future holds. The review, if undertaken properly, will assess whether Buttler and Mott are the right men to take England forward.
The litany of awful errors seen in the previous 50-over World Cup – including opting to field first against South Africa in sweltering heat in Mumbai – were not replicated in the T20 version in the Caribbean but that is not to say mistakes were not made.
One of them was arguably opting to bowl first against India on a slow Guyana track that only got more difficult to bat on.
As England folded batting second against a high-quality attack, on the sort of surface that usually causes them problems, it was hard not to think they had mucked up.
Against Australia in the group phase, England were too slow to realise bowling pace-off was the way to go as David Warner and Travis Head hammered 70 inside five overs.
Buttler’s decision to deploy part-time spinner Will Jacks also backfired, to the tune of 22 runs in an over.
That said, Buttler and Mott were able to rally England from a parlous position in this World Cup – the rain-off against Scotland and loss to Australia had left them on the brink of elimination – and were at the helm when the side won the T20 title in Australia in late 2022.
There is also no obvious successor to Buttler as white-ball captain – Harry Brook might be one currently in the team, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope contenders if you look further afield.
Mott would probably be easier to replace – head coaches often are – although the role may come too soon for Andrew Flintoff, who has been with the side’s backroom staff. Freddie’s first foray into head coaching will come with Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.
Former England batter Jonathan Trott has impressed at Afghanistan, helping the Asian nation to their first T20 World Cup semi-final, while ex-New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori, currently an assistant coach at Australia, has led T20 franchises, including Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Perhaps Eoin Morgan may even fancy the job…
Captain or not, Buttler – arguably the best white-ball batter in the world on his day – will still be a key man, probably at the top of the order in T20 and in the middle in 50-over cricket.
Buttler smashed five sixes in an over to lead England to victory against USA at the T20 World Cup
T20 opening partner Phil Salt can likely look forward to kicking off innings in the Champions Trophy early next year, while Brook, Liam Livingstone – even though he can often be a peripheral figure down the order – and Jacks may also be around for the long haul.
Joe Root will surely slot back in at No 3 in 50-over cricket and with Test captain Ben Stokes’ reason for missing the T20 World Cup down to “building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket”, England will be hopeful he can return, too. They missed his run-chase nous against India.
Other batting names to keep an eye on are Crawley, Pope, Surrey’s Jamie Smith and Warwickshire’s Sam Hain.
With the ball, 36-year-old leg-spinner Adil Rashid is bowling beautifully, bagging 10 wickets at an economy rate of 6.64 in the T20 World Cup. He appears to have plenty left in the tank.
Jofra Archer, meanwhile, is a white-ball-only player for now as England tread carefully with the paceman following his horror run with injuries. He recently joked that the only thing his bosses had not planned out were the showers he took.
Archer will lead England’s limited-overs attack for now before hopefully stepping up into Test cricket ahead of the 2025-26 Ashes.
Reece Topley, Mark Wood – unless England want him to focus entirely on Test cricket – and Sam Curran seem set to play roles going forward. Chris Woakes could return for the Champions Trophy.
Surrey’s Gus Atkinson, Hampshire’s John Turner and fit-again Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire) and Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire) offer further seam options. Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley provide spin bowling and boundary hitting.
Fielding extraordinaire Chris Jordan, 36 in October, may well have made his final England appearance. He is a T20 specialist – his last ODI was in 2022 – and the next short-form World Cup is in 2026.
Moeen Ali, who recently turned 37, has already quit the Test scene and has said previously that he might be done in 50-over international cricket as well. If this is goodbye, his spin bowling and languid left-handed cover drives will be missed.
As will his sharp sense of humour.
And then comes Jonny Bairstow. A man who appears to have been battling for his place through his entire international career. It’s a battle the 34-year-old has often won but he might not on this occasion, with his scores at this World Cup largely underwhelming.
With Bairstow’s Test spot also in jeopardy after a lean series against India, the Yorkshireman is scrabbling on many fronts. Perhaps taking Bairstow out of the red-ball team and letting him focus purely on the white-ball game is a way to extend his England career.
However, his international days could conceivably be over – much like England’s T20 World Cup title defence.
Watch the T20 World Cup final between India and South Africa, at Kensington Oval in Barbados, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 3pm on Saturday (3.30pm first ball).
England return to white-ball action in September with three T20 internationals and five one-day internationals against Australia, with all games live on Sky Sports.
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