England’s timid and nervous T20 stars must go hell for leather at Australia and hit them with total aggression if they are to keep their T20 World Cup alive.
Those are the instructions from head coach, and Aussie, Matthew Mott who reckons his team will have a visceral reaction to the sting they received in defeat to Ireland.
Stern words, albeit without raised voices, were used in the gloomy Melbourne dressing room after being outplayed by the men in green, with Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood taking the lead after making the only slip up they can possibly afford.
And Mott is confident that the five run loss in a rain shortened match will prove to be a single aberration for his side and that their confident form in the run up to the tournament will come shining through on Friday night.
“It can be a bit of a sting that you need,” he said. “We don't want to lose any games but it is probably going to galvanise the group in terms of our approach. There is no doubt yesterday was a bit of a one off. It is the first time I have seen that team timid for a while.
"Losing early, for some teams is actually quite liberating and frees them up with more of an aggressive approach and good teams bounce back quickly. We need to show a response. We need to come out with a really attacking mindset and maybe throw caution to the wind and see how we go.
“We don’t have the luxury of losing another game, we’re playing against the hosts and defending champions with a lot on the line. It’s what you play for.”
And while you wouldn’t expect anything else from the coach, there was a wholehearted defence of his mis-firing batters who found life such a grind against Ireland. Whether it was Dawid Malan’s 35 from 37 balls, Ben Stokes’ six from eight before being cleaned up, or Harry Brook’s 18 from 21 balls that kept England behind the rate, Mott was generous in his assessment of their intent.
And in the case of Stokes in particular, the most experienced international player of the lot, he makes the entirely fair point that the proven match-winner is due to fire against someone and who would bet against it being Australia in the biggest game yet.
“Stokes hasn’t come off with the bat yet,” admitted Mott. “But his career would suggest at some point somebody is going to pay the price. Hopefully that’s Australia in a day’s time. He is a World-class player, and with T20 you miss a lot, but you need match-winners and he’s one.
“T20 is a tough place to be when you can't hit the ball out of the middle, and Dawid was trying to hit the ball against Ireland, it wasn’t a lack of intent. And I’ve got real faith in Harry’s cricket brain, he’s a very mature young man and he will be a better player for the experience.”
The fact is though that England need their players to perform right now if they are to keep their destiny in their own hands. More of the same as against Ireland and it will slip away.
