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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 28, 2019

Jos Buttler

Birmingham, England, UK

Q. How would you rate Jason Roy's chances of playing? Does he look good?
JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, he looks pretty good. I think he's been progressing nicely. Nice to see him back in the nets and have him back around the group and taking part. I'm sure the medical team know more than I do, but he looks like he's going well.

Q. How important is he for you in this game, and do you think he could play even if he's not 100 per cent?
JOS BUTTLER: I don't know on that, but yeah, he's been a very important player for us for a long time, as the other 11 are who will take the field. We know as a side, we can perform better as a group. Jason as an individual is a fantastic player, so it's always a boost when he is available.

Q. How is Jofra Archer?
JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, I don't know. I think, again, the medical team will be working with Jofra and seeing how he goes. Obviously with having two practice days, whether it's just -- he doesn't need to bowl today, he's a pretty relaxed guy and sometimes doesn't have a bowl, but I'm sure he's, again, working hard with the medical team and they'll keep a close eye on him.

Q. How's the mood in the camp? Are you feeling the external pressure at all?
JOS BUTTLER: The mood in the camp is still very good. I think naturally there's some external pressures, and it would be naÃ¯ve to say, oh, we've got our blinkers on and not aware of things that are going on outside or the pressure of the tournament, so I think we just have to accept those things, that that's what's going to happen during tournament cricket.

We know we're in the situation we're in. Nothing has changed. We're still a very good side, and when we play our best cricket, it gives us the best chance of winning. We know we didn't perform well enough in the previous two games to be beaten, but we've still got the opportunity to put that right, and the guys stand up with smiles on their face and ready for a big week.

Q. Jonny Bairstow and Michael Vaughan had a little bit of a tit for tat. Is there a danger that that can distract from things on the pitch?
JOS BUTTLER: Just typical Yorkies, isn't it. I don't know. I haven't really seen what's gone on. I've been trying to sort of just get on with it. But I think just from that way -- I talk about good weather and people wanting to do well, I think it's been great from the country and everyone wanting, it seems, from my opinion, that everyone has been really behind the team and wanting us to do well, and naturally I think being such a good side when we don't perform to that level, it's frustration, and people in the media or whatever give their opinion and are frustrated that we're not playing as well as we are frustrated as individuals and as a team, as well.

But I think there's been lots of goodwill, walking down the street, people wishing you well and guys hanging out their van saying, good luck for Sunday, so that's a good sign for me.

Q. Jos, obviously with the form coming into the World Cup and having that world No. 1 status, you guys made a point of embracing that favourites tag, I suppose, on home soil. Do you think with how it's gone and India taking world No. 1, is it time to hand the favourites title in and embrace the underdog role for a while?
JOS BUTTLER: I don't know. I think embracing the favourites tag, that's for more your guys and people sort of on the outside seeing that. We know that we're going to be -- whether we're favourites or underdogs, they're going to be very hard matches, especially against teams like India, a great side, who we know are brilliant. But favourites and underdogs I don't think means too much. I think for us we know we need to play better and we know we're capable of playing better. We look forward to the challenge of facing a really strong Indian team.

Q. The sort of sense of occasion of playing this Indian team, the support, the fans they're going to bring into the stadium, does that really get the juices flowing for a game like this?
JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, absolutely, and that's the reason we play the game. We're in a very privileged position to be able to take part in a game like Sunday. It's a massive occasion. You talk about pressures and external pressures -- pressure is a privilege sometimes, we're in a very privileged position to be in this situation, and these are the games that you'll look back on in your career or the start of your career you do hope you're involved in these games, and it's going to be a great occasion. We know that the support the Indian side will get -- wherever they go in the world, they get great support, and we hope we will get some great support, as well, and it's going to be a great game.

Q. Jos, under similar circumstances last year when you played a Bilateral Series against India, you were 1-0 down after the first game, but then you guys made a brilliant comeback. Are you taking any kind of inspiration from that because the way you have read the Indian spinners, that was the key behind the comeback. Are you taking any sort of inspiration into this fixture?
JOS BUTTLER: A little bit. I think looking back to that, as you said, we came back well in that series. But this is a one-off game in a World Cup. We know lots about their side. Like you say, someone like Kuldeep in that series that we hadn't faced a lot, having seen him in the first game, we came back well against him.

But yeah, it's a one-off game. It's going to be a great occasion. As you said, one of those games that gets your juices flowing against a fantastic India side. So we're very excited.

Q. You mentioned a couple times external pressures and having your blinkers on. Can you mention what those external pressures are?
JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, I think expectation is one thing. It's something England sides haven't had. I've played in England sides where expectations were very low. I think that's an external pressure, the expectation of playing at home in our own conditions, going into the tournament as the No. 1 side. They're all sort of external, but they are things that are out of their control. They're things that people can talk about in the pubs and in the media, and at the end of the day, I think as people, as human beings, we accept those things. We know that those things are happening, but at the same time, it doesn't happen us perform better, and it doesn't help us perform worse. We focus on the things we can control, the things that have served us well over time, and the things that will continue to serve us well. Those are things we can control. That's always going to be our main focus.

But I think as people, naturally you're exposed to an understanding of what is going on outside the group in social media terms or whatever, but at the same time, individually, some people read more than others or whatever, but I think again, whatever that is, we know as a group and as an individual you come back to the things that do work and give you the best chance for succeeding, and the other stuff is consequential of that.

Q. Obviously the two defeats, have you been able to put your finger on exactly what went wrong in those two games?
JOS BUTTLER: I think against Sri Lanka, we're very disappointed with the way we played. I think we know we should have got over the line in that game. We were in a position, we bowled well and didn't play well enough with the bat.

I think against Australia, I think we unfortunately didn't get the early wickets we were hoping to in that and they did take early wickets, so I think that was a really business phase of the game in that game, and credit to Australia because they played well.

Those two games, we part them, move on. Like you said, we've got the two massive fixtures to come, obviously a huge one on Sunday, which everything is still within our hands and that is stuff we can control, so that's what we'll be aiming to do.

Q. You've been out there and had a look at the conditions, finally got some sunshine for a few days. Do you think these conditions might suit you a bit more?
JOS BUTTLER: I don't know. I think whatever conditions we have to turn up and adapt on the day of, but the weather has been good, and I think it's very hot tomorrow, so I'm sure the guys here prefer the best wicket possible. I think generally Edgbaston does take some spin. We've seen that in the past when we've played here. But it generally is a very good cricket wicket. You talk about wrist spinners generally spin the ball on most surfaces, as well, so we expect the ball to turn a bit, and we know we need to read the conditions well on the day and adapt accordingly.

Q. May I ask your memories of Marcus Trescothick?
JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, some great memories. I think the sort of outpouring of people's opinions of him announcing his retirement, and I think the great thing you read a lot of people saying what a brilliant team man he was and the guy you really wanted to be in the team with. I was just speaking to Joe there on the field about Trez, and obviously they're great mates, but just saying there's no one else you really wanted in your team. So I think that's a great credit to him. It's an honour to share a dressing room with him. He's obviously a hero of mine growing up at Somerset, and in the dressing room he's just a normal bloke. He just loves cricket and a great team player.

Obviously a sad day that another one of the '05 team is hanging up their boots. I think Benny is still going strong, so he can keep going for a while.

Q. Jos, how would you rate your own World Cup so far?
JOS BUTTLER: Okay. Definitely some room for improvement. Obviously it started well and haven't had the impact on the game the last few games that I'd like to have. I think with the gloves I can be a lot tidier, as well. That's something I've been working hard to try and rectify and look forward to trying to be -- just improve. I think my aim all the time going into games is to try and influence the game in a winning way for England, so that's always going to be in the forefront of my mind with the bat and the gloves.

Q. England versus India is like England versus the subcontinent, speaking of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh has a great chance to -- what do you think of the Bangladesh team and a player like Shakib Al Hasan; are you surprised at their performance?
JOS BUTTLER: Not really. I think Shakib has been a fantastic player for a long time, and I think he's played very well in this tournament. All credit to him.

Q. And the Bangladesh team?
JOS BUTTLER: Doing good.

Q. Most of the teams when they play, they tend to focus a lot on the spinners, but in the last couple games we've seen Bumrah and Shami get all the wickets. Is there a danger for you guys to do the same thing, or how do you approach it?
JOS BUTTLER: I think you have to pay respect to the whole bowling attack. I think Bumrah especially has been one of the leading fast bowlers in the world in all formats, but especially in white ball cricket he's had prominence. So a very strong attack, that's what you expect from Indian sides is a very strong team. We pay all of them as much respect and then as individuals do our homework and plan accordingly, but yeah, they're a very balanced attack.

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