We’ll prepare well, we’ll try and turn up on the day and assess conditions – Jos Buttler
England Skipper Jos Buttler warned his strongly fancied side on Tuesday they risk getting “hurt” if they misjudge Ireland at the Twenty20 World Cup while Buttler was inflexible it was essential to handle the most ideal side and keep away from any setbacks.
England Skipper Jos Buttler warned his strongly fancied side on Tuesday they risk getting “hurt” if they misjudge Ireland at the Twenty20 World Cup.
England launched their title charge by beating Afghanistan by five wickets in Perth on Saturday, with their bowling and fielding remarkable.
Sam Curran was the star with an incredible 5-10 — the first England bowler to take five wickets in a T20I. In contrast Ireland, who got through the starter round, was whipped by nine wickets by Sri Lanka in Hobart.
Despite the apparent gulf in class England is ranked world number two and Ireland 12 there will be no complacency with only the top two from the six-team group progressing to the semi-finals.
“We give them great respect, we expect a really tough game,”
Buttler said ahead of Wednesday’s clash at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“We’ll prepare well, we’ll try and turn up on the day and assess conditions, see what’s in front of us, try and use our talent as best we can on the day to put pressure on them, and try and win the game.”
With Group 1 games to come against defending champions Australia, last year’s beaten finalists New Zealand and 2014 winners Sri Lanka, there could be an impulse to rest players or turn bowlers.
However, Buttler was inflexible it was essential to handle the most ideal side and keep away from any setbacks.
“In such a short tournament, in must-win games pretty much every time, we try and get our best team on… the best team on the day due to conditions, opposition,”
he said.
“Any time 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.”
Buttler said he was confident the squad could handle any situation and he wasn’t going to
“spend all night staying awake thinking about what might happen”.
“I think the big key is to be able to react quickly to those kinds of things. You have a little idea of things you might do if those kinds of things happen,”
he said of the weather.
“But again, don’t want to get too 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 are 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.”
