ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 26, 2022

Jos Buttler

Melbourne Cricket Ground

England

Post Match Media Conference

Ireland - 157, England -105/5

Q. Jos, where was the game lost today?

JOS BUTTLER: I think especially in the first ten overs with the ball. I think we were a long way short of the standards we set ourselves the game before. We let Ireland get away from us, and I thought we dragged it back well in the second half, but that put a lot of pressure on us right from the start.

Q. Was there any disappointment at that time you came off? Do you think you maybe could have put a couple more balls in?

JOS BUTTLER: Not really, to be honest. It was getting quite heavy. Of course we'd love to stay on and try to hit a couple of sixes if we could, but it got heavy.

I think the game was lost before that point. I think we were a long way short of where we needed to be right throughout the game, and Ireland deserved to win.

Q. What do you say to the lads to kind of get them up? Or do you need to say much at all?

JOS BUTTLER: I think we should let it hurt, to be honest. I think days like today are really, really disappointing, and you've got to feel that. There's no point in saying let's sweep it under the carpet and move on.

I think we've got to reflect -- we've got to do it quickly obviously with a game soon after, but today should hurt.

Q. You've had World Cup setbacks before, most notably in 2019. Can you lean on that at all, or because it's such a different tournament with the games coming thick and fast, is that something you can rely on or not?

JOS BUTTLER: The character in the group is strong. We'll be hurting today, and we'll be disappointed, but no doubt I expect a reaction from the team.

Q. Jos, while the bowling, you say, was a bit lacklustre in those first ten overs, you did manage to drag it back in the halfway stage. Did you still fancy 158 was a very gettable target?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, I think we were favourites at that stage as well, obviously with the benefit of winning the toss to chase when there is weather around. We could see what the goal was the whole time.

But we lost early wickets and never managed to sort of bridge that gap quickly enough to make sure that, if it did start to get heavy, we were in a position to either be ahead or try and get further ahead.

Q. And what are your thoughts about the batting? You said you lost early wickets again. The batting has really kind of sputtered a bit over here in Australia. Do you feel that's an area that's hurting you at the moment?

JOS BUTTLER: I wouldn't say it sputtered in Australia, maybe one game against Afghanistan. I think the games before that, we've batted well. There's a lot of excellent batters on our team.

Obviously a disappointing start today. I take full responsibility myself. To lose wickets like that, it puts pressure on us. Ireland showed us how to bowl on that wicket. They found a movement and created problems.

Yeah, I think that's just a really disappointing day. Why.

Q. Hi, Jos, result today makes Friday's game bigger than it was already, a virtual eliminator where the loser is probably out of the tournament. But you're confident this group of players can deal with that stress and that pressure and come through the other side?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, of course. That's what World Cup cricket is about. Of course we wanted to be going into that game having won 2 games from 2, but at some point in this tournament, the way it's set up, you're in must win games the majority of the time.

Of course Friday is already a big occasion playing Australia at the MCG, and it takes on that extra bit now with both teams having lost one game.

Q. David mentioned 2019. That was a tournament where you had zero margin for error with about four or five games to go. Does that experience for the guys who were there, like you and Ben, will that be something you can draw on over the next few days and kind of gain inspiration from? You've done it once before?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, of course. There's a lot of experienced cricketers in our dressing room who have been set back certain times in their career, whether it be the 2019 World Cup, whether it be in a franchise tournament, whether it be before in international cricket.

Certainly guys who understand how to deal with the emotions of great disappointment like today, got to deal with it. There's no point in trying to hide away with the feelings you have. You've got to deal with those very quickly. Tomorrow we sort of get over it and look forward to the Australia game.

Q. Yesterday you spoke a lot about reacting quickly, especially looking at different scenarios and weather in shortened games. Was that a factor at all today in maybe not adapting or reacting or realizing things quickly enough?

JOS BUTTLER: I think we're a long way short of just the skill level today. We didn't perform well enough. You try and react to situations, but we didn't show a good enough reaction at times.

I guess with the benefit of hindsight and when the weather did come, to have the two guys in who were in, you know, for those guys only to face 12 or 13 bowlers in a game, you're obviously hoping the game goes all the way, and they will hopefully see it home.

Obviously it feels, certainly sitting here now, Livingstone and Moeen Ali only facing very few balls in the game, two guys with immense power and finishing ability. Is there a way we could have gotten them more involved in the game if we knew the game would be shorter?

Q. Just on the group itself, talk about Friday being big, still weather around, New Zealand-Afghanistan, we don't know what will happen there, but just a word on how this group looks at the moment?

JOS BUTTLER: I don't understand the question.

Q. The fact that it's still so wide open.

JOS BUTTLER: Oh, of those in the actual group, okay. Yeah, it is open. I think the teams beating each other with weather around, we don't know exactly how things are going to pan out. Again, that just makes it probably more disappointing with today actually, the fact that we had everything in our favour today in terms of winning the toss. So we knew exactly what was required of us. To not take advantage of that certainly hurts.

Yeah, the group is wide open. There's plenty of things that could happen, whether it's due to weather or teams beating each other. But we have to dust ourselves down and get back to playing better cricket.

Q. To be fair to the bowlers in that first bit, were the conditions very difficult? Was it hard to hold the ball, keep footing? Is that some sort of mitigation?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, I think it's certainly a factor. The outfield was very wet the whole game. I've never bowled a ball really in my life, but I'm sure running up with a bit of unsure footing, maybe it doesn't allow you to commit to that landing and stuff as much as you'd like to.

Still, we've got some brilliant players there, some guys who have experienced conditions like that before. We weren't -- it wasn't we were a little bit off. I thought we were just too far off, mostly that first ten overs. Post that, I thought we were excellent, but it took us a bit too long to get to the level we needed to be.

Q. Was the plan to go a bit shorter, go just back at the length and let the wicket do the work really, which is kind of what Ireland did?

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, that was certainly what we were trying to do. I think, as you saw when Ireland bowled those movements, there was a bit of uneven bounce in the wicket, and I think it's probably our lines that hurt us a little bit with that. Then just not being consistent enough. Credit to Ireland, they used the conditions well.

Q. They were also two overs behind with the over rate. They're drying the ball, no doubt, but is that something that should be looked at? I think, if Moeen had hit the very next ball for six, you'd have been ahead.

JOS BUTTLER: Yeah, it's certainly something, whether it's gamesmanship. I knew the rain was coming and could slow the game up. I think we had lost the game before that point. As I mentioned, we had all the things we needed in our favour. If we were ahead, they wouldn't have been slowing the game down.

So I think we should take responsibility ourselves, and we should never let it get to that kind of situation.

Q. You have won the toss today, and you knew that the rain was expected. So it could be better that you bat first to get to a target for Ireland?

JOS BUTTLER: No, I disagree. I think we did the right thing. We just didn't play well.

Q. The word you used earlier to describe the group was hurting. I'm just curious if the opposition, does that increase that emotion given that it's Ireland? Or if this scenario was happening on Friday against Australia, would the feeling be any stronger or weaker?

JOS BUTTLER: No, I think certainly the expectation was on us to win the game today. I think we should be expecting to beat an Ireland team. We expected a tough challenge, but we should be expected to win that game. So of course that adds extra disappointment.

I think whether you say we're favourites or not going into an Australia game is more of a different conversation. So I think that adds extra hurt especially.