England captain Jos Buttler claims hosts and defending champions Australia are the team to beat at this year’s T20 World Cup, but pundit Mark Butcher says Buttler is diverting attention away from his talented group of players, calling it a “smokescreen”
Last Updated: 15/10/22 11:22am
Jos Buttler says Australia are the team to beat at the T20 World Cup but Mark Butcher thinks otherwise
Jos Buttler says hosts and defending champions Australia are the team to beat at the T20 World Cup, but Mark Butcher believes the England captain is intentionally diverting the attention away from his talented squad.
It was seemingly only persistent showers at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on Friday night which prevented England from clean-sweeping Australia in their three-match T20 series.
A morale-boosting 2-0 win means England go into the World Cup, which gets under way on Sunday with a preliminary first round stage, with confidence but Buttler still sees Australia as frontrunners.
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A rather awkward silence followed soon after a journalist asked eight captains a tricky question ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday
“History tells you that generally the host nations are slight favourites in big tournaments,” said Buttler at a press conference in Melbourne where the captains of all 16 nations competing were present.
“Lots of people have played in Australia, but of course no one is going to know the conditions or be as accustomed to them as the Australian team (who are) the reigning champions as well.
“You’d have to pick them out probably as the favourites for the tournament.”
Buttler marked his return from a calf injury with 150 runs in England’s three matches against Australia, with a formidable average and strike rate of 75 and 174.41 respectively.
“I spoke to Jos Buttler in Pakistan and he said this tournament is a free hit and that we’re not up there among the favourites and I kind of look at the players they have got out there and the experience they have in that line-up and I’m thinking that’s a smokescreen and a half because they look like a very, very good team to me.”
Mark Butcher on England’s chances at the T20 World Cup
While Buttler thinks Australia should be heavily fancied to retain their title, he recognises the capricious nature of the format, with England’s hopes last year ended in the semi-final by New Zealand.
“It’s fierce competition,” added Buttler, whose side begin their Super 12s campaign against Afghanistan in Perth next Saturday.
“There’s some great players here, especially in T20 cricket, one person can take the game away from you.
“T20 can be unpredictable. There’s lots of very, very good teams here, very good players who will all have a say throughout this World Cup.
“We look forward to this tournament and don’t try and read too much into past tournaments or things. We try and learn and get better and improve every day, and look forward to starting this competition.”
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The T20 World Cup is coming live to Sky Sports from October 16th
Butcher: England look like a very, very good team to me
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Former England batsman Mark Butcher believes England are in a good place heading into the T20 World Cup
Butcher told Sky Sports News he spoke to Buttler during their T20I series victory in Pakistan where the skipper said the World Cup would be a “free hit” for his squad.
However, former England and Surrey star Butcher claims Buttler’s comments are a “smokescreen” ahead of the tournament in Australia.
“In terms of the tournament overall, it’s very difficult to pick a winner in the World T20 simply because there are so many teams that on their day can win a match and can win any sort of contest from anywhere and that’s what makes it such an exciting tournament,” said Butcher.
“In the 50 over game, you can really narrow it down from the very start, but in the World T20 it draws the teams a little bit closer together so any one of five or six teams can realistically dream about winning that tournament.”
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Moeen Ali has praised the young talent coming through England’s T20 side
Edging away from the fence, he said: “I like England. At the moment, Australia don’t look particularly good but they have a record of being like that outside of the tournament and then shocking everybody and winning it.
“Shocking is the wrong word describing Australia because they just know how to win International tournaments and they’re playing at home.
“I spoke to Jos Buttler in Pakistan and he said this tournament is a free hit and that we’re not up there among the favourites and I kind of look at the players they have got out there and the experience they have in that line-up and I’m thinking that’s a smokescreen and a half because they look like a very, very good team to me.
“So why not? England can win it.”
