England head coach Matthew Mott has faced down his critics, claiming he and captain Jos Buttler are the right men to make the side “bigger, badder and better” after their T20 World Cup semi-final exit.
The days of England being able to boast about being the kings of limited-overs cricket are officially over as they surrendered their T20 crown in a 68-run thrashing to India on Thursday, having already lost their 50-over title in abject fashion late last year.
Mott, who is halfway through a four-year contract, has faced scrutiny over his position, with Buttler also under pressure.
Speaking after their 50-over World Cup failure last November, England director of cricket Rob Key Key said: “I feel this should actually be the making of those two as a partnership. If it isn’t, it isn’t, and you move on.”
Mott told reporters on Friday: “Obviously we’re in a results driven business and you guys [in the media] will have your fun at our expense I’m sure.
England captain Jos Buttler says they were outplayed by India and fully deserved the win against his side in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup
“But when you wake up in the morning and have a crack, do your best, you can sleep at night knowing sometimes results are out of your control. I absolutely love what I do, I’m excited about where we can go.
“We’ll lick our wounds in the next week or two and then I’m sure we’ll get back to planning. We’ll take time to reflect when we get back and then hopefully come back bigger, badder and better.
“Jos and I as a partnership have been galvanised in the last six months. You learn more about leadership in times of adversity.
“I think if you asked around the dressing room, we’ve got a lot of people in the support staff that have given credit to the leadership group for the way we’ve stuck together in tricky circumstances. Sometimes it’s not all about results.”
Test captain Ben Stokes believes England should be proud of reaching the T20 World Cup semi-finals and that they are progressing as a side
While England were ruthless against their associate opponents in the T20 World Cup, hammering Oman, Namibia and the United States, their efforts against full member nations were less than stellar in the Caribbean – losing to Australia, South Africa and India, and winning just once against the West Indies.
Former England captain, Sky Sports‘ Michael Atherton, believes Mott’s future “is in the balance” as a result.
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“I don’t feel it has been like the 50-over tournament where England made every wrong call virtually and you could point the finger at management and say ‘why have you done this?'” Atherton said.
“Buttler hates it when you hark back to the 50-over World Cup but that is part of the context.
“England have lost nine and won three against full member nations in those two World Cups, which to my mind is a reflection that the side is not as good as it was. Semi-finals is about their level and they are not quite measuring up to the top teams.
“Mott’s future is in the balance. I think Buttler is in a much stronger position because players are less expendable than coaches. You can get coaches but there are not many Jos Buttlers around.
“I don’t believe it’s a case of turning the side around. I believe they have got a lot of things right in this tournament but they were completely outplayed by India”
“That said, Mott is two years into a four-year contract and if you do make a change, you’d better be damn sure you make a change for the better and that is not always straightforward.
“Coaching national teams is not the plum job it once was. The best candidates want franchise jobs as there is less impingement on their family time.”
England endured a curious T20 World Cup campaign, coming within 45 minutes of exiting in the first round as a result of two washouts before progressing on net run-rate. They never quite put a complete performance together, with their best result against the West Indies wiped out less than 48 hours later by a mis-managed chase against South Africa.
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“I think we were good without being great. If we’re being honest, we weren’t quite at our best, and we were hoping to peak at the right time,” Mott added.
“We’ve had a funny tournament, it’s a hard one to digest in terms of how good we’ve been or not been because it’s been so disjointed.
“As the defending champions coming in here, we’ve made a semi-final. That’s not where we want to be, but it’s not a disaster either.”
Watch the T20 World Cup final in Barbados from 3pm on Saturday (3.30pm first ball), live on Sky Sports Cricket.
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