Rob Key believes the hype around Bazball has “made life harder” for Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott, with the England men’s team director deciding the white-ball duo will get a crack at trying to rebuild after the World Cup debacle in India.
Announcing a refreshed set of squads for the Caribbean tour next month, Key offered a mea culpa as regards the lowly seventh‑place finish. He blamed his own prioritisation of the Test team and a belief that things would simply click into place for the defending champions, as well as his own failure to augment the coaching staff with some local knowledge.
As such, when asked in the aftermath if Buttler and Mott simply did not have the same chemistry as Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum do in the Test setup, Key said: “Something that makes life harder for them is that people talk about Bazball.
“I don’t think [a lack of chemistry] is the case. I feel this actually should be the making of those two as a partnership. If it isn’t, it isn’t and you move on. But we have to make sure some good comes out of what has been a very poor World Cup.
“It’s very hard for me to be critical of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott, when I’m the one who, every single time the decision has been made for whether or not we focus on 50-over cricket, Test cricket or T20, I’ve always chosen Test cricket.
ODI squad (15 players)
Jos Buttler (captain, Lancashire)
Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)
Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Brydon Carse (Durham)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Tom Hartley (Lancashire)
Will Jacks (Surrey)
Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Phil Salt (Lancashire)
Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)
John Turner (Hampshire)
IT20 squad (16 players)
Jos Buttler (captain, Lancashire)
Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)
Moeen Ali (Warwickshire)
Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Will Jacks (Surrey)
Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
Tymal Mills (Sussex)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Phil Salt (Lancashire)
Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)
Reece Topley (Surrey)
John Turner (Hampshire)
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
“I hold myself accountable for a lot of it. I’ve set up a coaching team that had no local experience, really.”
As it happens, the reboot of the white-ball squads for the three one‑day internationals and five Twenty20 games next month is in part influenced by the Test tour of India that starts in January, with Key stating Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood have all been rested – not dropped. Stokes, set for knee surgery this week, is also absent from both legs of the trip.
It appears England have moved on from Dawid Malan, despite the 36‑year‑old being their leading runscorer in India and receiving a new one-year contract. Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid are solely in the T20 squad to face West Indies, even if Rashid’s absence is understood to be a case of handing game time to his fellow leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone make for curious retentions given their poor World Cup returns; Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson less so. Impetus comes in the selection of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope – all Bazball Test players – plus Will Jacks, with Hampshire’s John Turner and Josh Tongue two uncapped seamers in short-form cricket.
One name missing is Jofra Archer, whose time as a reserve in India was swiftly aborted after reporting yet more elbow soreness upon arrival in Mumbai. “We take a bet with Jofra, because of the upside,” Key said, confirming the 28-year-old now will not be selected until he is 100% ready.
