Jos Buttler is “frustrated” by his lean run at the T20 World Cup but has insisted that he will not compromise his attacking intent to play himself back into form in the Super Eight stage.Buttler went past 4,000 T20I runs during England’s win over Italy on Monday but only 53 of those have come in his four innings at this World Cup. He has had a lean run with the bat since the end of the English summer, with a single half-century across his past 16 T20 innings for England and Durban’s Super Giants, and a top score of 38 in five ODI innings this winter.
He started the World Cup with scores of 26 and 21 against Nepal and West Indies respectively, and was out for 3 against both Scotland and Italy with near-identical dismissals, caught at mid-off trying to hit a seamer over the infield in the Powerplay.
“I’m a bit frustrated, to be honest,” Buttler said on his For the Love of Cricket podcast. “I felt like I was playing really well in South Africa, in the SA20, without getting scores. One thing I’d always pride myself on in T20s is, if you get in, to be able to go on and make a good contribution. I found myself getting out in the teens and twenties quite a bit, getting starts and then finding ways to get out.
“I think [I have been] maybe almost trying a bit too hard, as opposed to just being a bit relaxed at the crease and letting it happen. The first two games, I got in, 20-odds, and not managing to go on and make those telling contributions is frustrating. And then a couple of low scores against Scotland and Italy… T20, you want to be positive and get on with it, but [I] made a couple of mistakes and got out.
“I love batting and I love playing cricket and I love scoring runs. As much as you’re frustrated with your form and you want to obviously contribute to the team, part of cricket is I love batting, and so not doing as much batting as you would like is frustrating. It’s just trying to remember the things that you do well at your best and trying to take each game as it comes.”
Nasser Hussain encouraged Buttler to “give yourself a bit of a chance” on Sky Sports’ coverage after England’s win over Italy, which sealed their progress to the Super Eight stage where they will face Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand. But Buttler said that the demands of T20 cricket are not conducive to batters playing within themselves in a bid to rediscover their form.
“T20 is one of those games that asks you to keep making plays,” he said. “At times, when you’ve been out of form in a Test match, a batting coach might say, ‘Just rein it in for a bit, and try and bat for an hour, and it will come back to you – just by hook or by crook, bat for an hour.’
“But in T20 you’ve got to keep playing the scoreboard. If you’re chasing 10 an over, you’ve got to play accordingly. I saw Nasser saying, ‘Just bat for 15 overs’ and I’d love to just bat for 15 overs, but I don’t want to bat for 15 overs just for myself and ignore the game. You’ve got to still play the game.
“I guess he’s just saying give yourself a chance, just get yourself in, and they are all the things that you want to do anyway. The game just keeps challenging you. No matter what stage of your career at, there’s always something challenging you… I pride myself on my own performance.
“I’ve been through lots of patches of poor form over 15 years in all different formats. It is always the same things that you come back to at the end, which is [to] stand still and watch the ball and trust yourself.”
England’s first Super Eight fixture is against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Sunday afternoon (local time). They whitewashed the same opponents in a three-match T20I series at the same venue earlier this month, but were unconvincing in the group stage of the World Cup and Buttler expects an afternoon game to bring different challenges.
“They’ve been playing some good cricket and [Pathum] Nissanka is obviously in fantastic form with a great hundred against the Aussies,” Buttler said. “It’s a one-off game in Kandy, where we’ve played them before, but this is a World Cup game, so all the previous form is irrelevant.
“It’s an interesting time, the 3pm start. Some of the second half is played in darkness: does that make any difference to the wicket [from the first innings]? We’ve seen them before. They’re playing well, so we’ll have to be at our best.”
