ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 25, 2022

Jos Buttler

Melbourne Cricket Ground

England

Pre Match Media Conference

Q. Jos, do you have any team for us, any changes tomorrow?

JOS BUTTLER: No, wait and see how training goes, see how everyone comes through, and hopefully we can pick from a full squad.

Q. Must be delighted with how you started the campaign, obviously to get off with a win, the ball on the field was sensational.

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's always -- you've been building to that point for a long time, as well, which adds to a bit of nerves and stuff when you finally get to that moment, so great to get out there, get a win under our belts, and as you mentioned, the bowling and fielding especially was outstanding.

Q. Just how do you approach the Ireland game? Obviously they've beaten the West Indies to get to this stage. How do you go about that?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, we give them great respect. We expect a really tough game. Yeah, we'll prepare well. We'll try and turn up on the day and assess conditions, see what's in front of you, try and use our talent as best we can on the day to put pressure on them, and try and win the game.

Q. With two games in three days here in Melbourne, are you likely to or discussing rotating some of the bowlers, keeping people fresh for Friday?

JOS BUTTLER: I think what's important is to try and put what we think is our best team on the park as many times as we can. The 11 can change depending on conditions, opposition, which ground we're playing at.

But I think with what's happening with the weather and stuff, if you said we'll target a couple of guys for a certain game and then that game doesn't take place, I think it's maybe a bit tough to try and predict that the weather is going to be perfect. We've seen a few games affected by rain already.

No, in such a short tournament, in must-win games pretty much every time, we try and get our best team on -- what is potentially the best team on the day, as mentioned before, due to conditions, opposition. We try and pick what we think is our best team every day.

Q. A lot of people from the outside looking in would see this Ireland game as perhaps England's easiest of the tournament. I'm guessing there's no complacency from you guys.

JOS BUTTLER: No, certainly not. Anytime you take things for granted or you don't respect the opposition is when you can get hurt. I think in T20 cricket especially, there's the one format where it's as level a playing field as any.

We've mentioned individuals have some fantastic players in their own right who can win the game on their own. You've got to be fully committed, prepared and ready for the challenge ahead.

Q. Is it too early to say that it looks like it's a tournament where the bowlers are going to get a little bit more assistance? Is that something you think might change as we get out of that into summer a little bit here?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, I don't know. I think we've seen the ball move around a little bit. I'd say New Zealand looked like they didn't mind it when they got off to a fast start.

Yeah, watching the game here between India and Pakistan, some quality bowlers on show, but they certainly got some assistance.

Again, I think, like I keep reinforcing to the players, it's about seeing what's in front of us on that day. If the ball is swinging, can we use that to our advantage; if it's not, can we recognise that quickly and change plans if we have to.

I think you've got to try and be as prepared as you can and try and make sure there's no surprises, but I think the real skill of the game is to turn up on the day and be able to assess quickly and then do what's required.

Q. Do you feel pretty well suited to adapt to that with the side you have?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, absolutely. I think we have lots of bases covered in our team, in our squad. We can go with different balances of teams. We can go with different variety of attack, as well. Yeah, we certainly have lots of options.

Q. Following on from that, you guys have played a lot of cricket collectively here at this ground, a lot of local cricket, a lot of Test match cricket in some cases. This track played differently to the normal T20 blueprint on Sunday night; did you have any observations of that? You mentioned being adaptable. Does it sort of change your thinking going in about how much the ball moved around early and how spin didn't grip at any stage really?

JOS BUTTLER: I think, again, you've just got to be very open-minded and ready to do what's required on that night.

I think the balance of the team we had in the last game, we had seven bowling options, four seamers and three spinners, so didn't end up bowling much spin in Perth but suddenly could do if we needed to, and you can sort of skin it either way. We've had the opportunity of playing an extra bowler if we wanted, as well.

We take all that information in, and again, like you said, it's try not to have too many preconceived ideas of this is what's going to happen. It's about turning up on the day, as I keep saying.

Q. Does it change your thinking from a batting approach at all?

JOS BUTTLER: I think on the big scale of batting, again, it's to work out what's happening really quickly. Again, in Perth, it felt like the ball was swinging around. Farooqi was getting it to move both ways, and it felt like you have to change your approach initially and give some respect to those conditions and play accordingly.

On another day, the pitch will feel great, and there won't be any swing, and then you change your plan, as well.

It's about trying to assess that as quickly as you can. Again, doing your preparation to hopefully get a decent idea, but not being sort of so hung up on this is exactly how the game is going to pan out, and then working it out on the day.

Q. Jos, even with the T20 that you played before against Australia, the warmup, does it feel to you like the white ball is swinging a lot more in Australia than you've experienced in the past?

JOS BUTTLER: Potentially, yeah. I think, is it the last game at Canberra, the ball felt like it was swinging, as well? Yeah, there was good movement in Perth. Whether it was more or less, and sure, I think right now for whatever reason, whether it's the weather, the conditions, a bit of moisture feels like maybe keeps the ball quite new -- I think Sam Curran got the ball to swing in the last over at Perth.

Yeah, potentially, unless certain things you will probably pick up through the tournament as it goes on. But that can change the other way, as well.

Q. Just on -- we saw what happened last night with South Africa and Zimbabwe and there has been a lot of rain around. I know you say you play what's in front of you and you're open minded, but how much planning is going into different scenarios if you do face shortened games?

JOS BUTTLER: I think the big key is to be able to react quickly to those kind of things. You have a little idea of things you might do if those kind of things happen. But again, don't want to get too sort of preoccupied with what-ifs. When a situation arises, let's try and adapt as fast as we can, try and make quick decisions that we feel is in the best interest.

I think what's great about the squad and our team is we've got lots of different options, and even in the same team you can ask people to fulfill different roles.

I think that gives us a lot of options when situations change and change quickly without -- whether that's rain or something, and then we can try and change tack quickly and adapt.

Again, don't want to spend all night staying awake thinking about what might happen, just try and react to it when it does happen.

Q. You talk about thinking about what might happen. Last year the way you started the tournament against West Indies, got massively ahead on that run rate, kind of tilted that group. South Africans ended up getting knocked out on that run rate. Obviously New Zealand are massively ahead now. To what extent do you think about that ahead of games, and to what extent do you think about it during them?

JOS BUTTLER: Most time potentially during a game. I think you have to, first and foremost, try and win the game. That's the most important thing. Net run rate doesn't matter much if you lose games of cricket, and you're not going to progress the way this tournament is set up.

So you have to try and put yourself in a position to win games of cricket, and then if the added benefit of you might be in a situation where you can try and really improve your net run rate, then you've got to try and take that.

Q. So you don't go into a game thinking, this might be an opportunity for us? You think about that like three quarters of the way through the game?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, you don't want to trip yourself up being too clever and end up losing a game.

Q. Andy Balbirnie said when they qualified in second place, the first fixture his eyes went to was the England game for obvious reasons. What's it like being on the other side of that when you know because of the local rivalry and the familiarity that Ireland are probably really going to bring their best for the contest against you?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, it's a World Cup, so you expect every opposition to bring hopefully their best cricket. We're the same. We want to play our best cricket against every single opposition.

I know England playing Ireland obviously from the outside adds extra storylines or can add extra motivation for certain people, but for our team, we respect every opposition. We expect a really tough game from everyone we play. We're very much taking one game at a time, and we don't expect Ireland to sort of not bring their best cricket. They're going to be fired up for the game. They're going to want to try and beat us, and we want to beat them.

Q. Do you have any thoughts on whether a ball should be a dead ball if a batsman is out on a free hit?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, it's a tough one to work out, I think, and there's a lot of laws of cricket which are quite unique. You know, if someone -- I don't think -- it's far from perfect. I think that is -- and I can see lots of other flipsides. Say the third umpire calls the front foot no-ball, you might get caught at deep mid-wicket and cross for a run and then you get called back, and then you actually go back on strike and it's just a dead ball, whereas if the umpire had called no ball on the field, you wouldn't have been out and you'd have scored an extra run.

So I think that's maybe something else that is not quite ideal. I don't think the review system is perfect. Say you need one to win in the World Cup final; you get given out LBW and you cross, and they've completed a run, and then you review it, you're not out, it's just a dot ball. So I don't think that's quite ideal, either.

Again, I think whether it's a dead ball after a free hit is -- again, if you got caught -- if you hit it and got caught and run two, that's fine, but then off the stumps whether you should be able to run or not, I don't know.

I think whether all of those things can be cleaned up a little bit would be beneficial. But where that ball goes off the stumps, as we saw India managed to score three runs off that ball, which is a huge swing in the match. For them, they'd obviously be like, yep, that's a perfect rule, but for Pakistan, it obviously hurts them. Hopefully it doesn't affect us.

Q. You talked a bit about the weather and how that may affect things. We've seen thus far, we saw in the game between South Africa and Zimbabwe the umpires really trying to get the game to five overs even though it was raining significantly, in the end they kind of came off. Has the approach of the ICC spoken to you as captains about how umpires are going to try and deal with that because obviously it can affect everything?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, it can, absolutely. I think where it's reasonable, if you can continue the game as much as you can, I think that's the right decision. If it becomes dangerous or becomes unfair, then it's certainly the right decision to stop the game. Whichever side you're on, you're probably going to have a little tendency one way.

But I think as much as we can, if we can get the game moving, get the game continuing, I think if it's -- say for instance we play tomorrow and there's a little bit of rain which isn't that heavy and it looks like it's going to blow through, can we just stay on and keep going.

But yeah, certainly if it gets to a point where it's very unfair or it's dangerous, then it's certainly the right decision to stop the game.

Q. Harry Brook has had an amazing year this year. From a technical standpoint, what do you think he's so good at that allows him to succeed?

JOS BUTTLER: Well, I'm not great at the technical side of the game, but from watching, he's very still. His head is very level. He plays the ball right underneath his eyes, which I think is a great skill. I'm sure being a Yorkshireman, he's got a great idol in Joe Root as someone who has got the fantastic technique to try and copy a little bit.

I think what I find amazing is how he's got options all the time, as well, especially talking in the T20 game. From a very balanced position, from the same position, he can let the ball get really close to him and drop it at his feet, and the same ball he's got the ability to use his power and clear the ropes. I think that sort of clarity of mind is something that he's got the huge strength of, as well.

But certainly his basics are very strong, and if you watch him prepare in the nets, he spends a lot of time working on the very simplistic basics of his batting, which I think in any format of the game will always serve you well.

Q. You two are probably two of the best rampers in the England team. Have you spoken to him at all about that process? Do you go about it in a different way at all? Have you found it interesting speaking to someone who has that same option that you do, which is quite a unique one?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, certainly we talk a little bit about it. I think all the guys sort of share ideas in the nets, and it's probably one of the things I like most about the game is sharing ideas around the nets and trying to imitate and copy other players.

Yeah, he's a fantastic explainer of that. He's a real 360-degree player. He's got that power game to be able to clear the ropes. He's got touch game, like I mentioned, and then he's got a solid basic technique to fall back on, as well, which is obviously allowing him to play all three formats, whether it's white ball or red ball. He's I think going to have lots and lots of success.

Q. The template that we saw the other day -- well, is that a template is my question, excepting about the adaptability? Are we likely to see Woakesy bowl three at the front, then one at the from, Sam bowl 18, 20 roughly?

JOS BUTTLER: I think it's impossible to say. If Woakesy bowls one over for 30 the first one, then we probably wouldn't bowl him again.

So I think -- that's why I've tried to get, again, across to all our players, I don't want to pigeonhole people in certain areas.

It's down to me as captain and using Moeen on the field, as well, to try and pick who we think is best at a certain time to bowl, and I've sort of encouraged everyone to practise all phases of the game, whether that's new ball, middle overs or at the end. As a captain it's fantastic to be able to call on whoever you feel is best suited at that moment. Sam Curran is someone who is a good exponent of swing bowling, as well, so he's certainly someone you can use with a brand new ball, as well.

So we might do it differently on different days.

Q. I think I'm right in saying you're a big rugby fan, and you see England-Ireland rivalries in those games. What does this mean for cricket, and what do you see this rivalry like?

JOS BUTTLER: Well, I think anytime we play sort of nations close to home, that brings natural rivalry. It brings some history of certain things into the game. Just seeing a really exciting game of cricket. I think we look forward to the match. I know Ireland will be really excited and looking forward to the match, as well. But again, as I keep saying, it's about preparing to play on the day and playing a good game of cricket to try and beat a really tough opponent.