Captain Buttler has continued England’s proud recent record, as the only side to reach the last four in every global tournament since 2016
Before England’s T20 series in Pakistan, Jos Buttler addressed his squad.
“I reminded people that it’s very much a new era for English white-ball cricket,” Buttler recalls. “We’re at the start of something. Lots of us in the room had been part of the previous bit, some of us were just about to make our debuts for England in Pakistan. Throughout your career you go through life cycles of teams that you’re in, and eras in different teams – and it’s due a new one.
“Matthew Mott and I as a captain-coach partnership are very new. It’s a new time for us as a group, even though we’ve got a lot of experienced and very well-established players.”
For seven years from 2015, there was a remarkable continuity to England’s side. Ten members of the 11 who won the 2019 ODI World Cup – all bar Jofra Archer – featured during the 2015 home summer. Yet, with Mott’s arrival, Eoin Morgan’s retirement and a series of other changes, perhaps more has changed in England’s limited-overs set-up this year than in the previous seven.