CHENNAI: The last time Matthew Mott was in the Caribbeans for the World Cup, he was facing an enormous challenge. The year was 2018 and he was in charge of the team that was not supposed to lose - the Australian women’s cricket team.
It had been three years since he was given the responsibility of the Australian team. His side repaid the faith by winning the women’s Ashes in July-August of the same year. In the following year, West Indies surprised the Meg Lanning side in the final of the 2016 World T20.
The team rallied together to defend their ODI title but surrendered against India in the semi-final. So when Mott landed in the West Indies, the challenge was to survive. And his side did that in a spectacular fashion on slow West Indies pitches. “It was like getting the monkey off of our backs,” Mott would later say.
Mott is back in the Caribbean again, this time with the England men. The place where the team he is currently coaching has great memories of winning the marquee event in 2010. Despite having a horrid run in the ODI World Cup in 2023, where England finished seventh in the points table, England are positive to defend the title without any added pressure.
“No added pressure really. Obviously, it’s a nice title to have coming into this tournament, but it’s a new tournament and we want to play well, want to play our brand of cricket, and go as deep as we can in the tournament,” England captain Jos Buttler said. England’s journey since winning the World Cup in Australia has not been okay. They have won six matches and lost eight. They did try to find momentum in the series against Pakistan but rain certainly had other plans.
However, Buttler is not worried. “I think the team seemed in a really good space. I thought we had some really good training days around that series as well. Obviously disappointing to have a couple of washouts, but we’ve got a lot of talented boys in the team, some really good players. It’s about making sure we provide everything they need to play at their best throughout the tournament.”
They started their campaign against Scotland in Bridgetown. Like the series against Pakistan, it was interrupted by the rain. Once they returned, it became a 10-over clash. Scotland cruised to 90/0, leaving England 109 to chase in 60 balls (DLS). It all will depend on whether rain stays away. Brief scores: Scotland: 90/0 in 10 ovs (Michael Jones 45 n.o, George Munsey 41 n.o) vs England (DLS, 10-over match).