Following England’s T20 World Cup elimination, Rob Key will have to make the greatest decision of his managing director career. Although Matthew Mott’s team was expected to at least make it to the semi-finals, the way India crushed them by 68 runs in Guyana threatens his job as head coach for white-ball cricket during a rare gap in the World Cup cycle.
Two years into a four-year deal, Mott reaffirmed on Thursday that he is the ideal player to lead England’s forwards. Six months into his job, his team won the most recent T20 World Cup, but they badly performed in the 50-over World Cup in India the previous year. Even though they advanced to the final four in the Caribbean, they only triumphed over one Test-playing rival during the entire competition.
ICC competitions are now yearly occasions, although the men’s white-ball World Cup will not be held in 2019 for the first time in five years. The Champions Trophy is set to take place in February, but that is the least significant competition on the programme. Following their loss in the semi-final on Thursday, England will take a 10-week break before playing Australia in their next limited-overs series in September.
Key will have a number of questions to address when he evaluates this World Cup. Is Mott able to breathe new life into a side that seems to have stagnated? Is England really progressing under Mott’s direction? If not, is there a clear substitute? Would they be willing to face the scrutiny of working in a position where losing in the World Cup semifinals is grounds for firing?
During his two years in the position, Key has taken a number of bold choices: naming Ben Stokes as Test captain, taking a punt on Brendon McCullum, owning up to the disastrous World Cup last year, and, most recently, informing James Anderson that his time as an England player was finally over. The most important task of all is figuring out how to bring this white-ball setup back to life.
Similar scrutiny will be applied to Jos Buttler’s role as captain, although it might be his choice rather than Key’s. Jos Buttler accomplishments are so great that he could easily give up playing for the national team and make a good living on the franchise circuit for the next five years. England needs Jos Buttler far more than Jos Buttler needs England, as Key is no well aware.
This campaign was peculiar. England was on the verge of elimination from the first round after their first match against Scotland, which featured a lacklustre bowling effort, was wiped out due to bad weather that marred their warm-up series against Pakistan. They would have been sent home if it had rained for an additional hour in Antigua during their match versus Namibia.
After that, they put on a complete show in St. Lucia, ending the West Indies’ winning run by chasing down 181 with 15 balls remaining, only to lose a close match against South Africa. They qualified for the semi-finals by crushing the USA in Barbados, but the circumstances in Guyana were never going to be kind to them, and India proved their mettle on a ground with a lot of bounce.
In evaluating England’s performance in the tournament, Mott stated at Providence Stadium, “I think we were good without being great.” We weren’t quite at our best, if we’re being honest. We knew that, going up against India today, we had to peak and were hoping to do it at the correct moment. We weren’t quite good enough, and this test could have been the hardest one we’ve taken.”
Despite being a nervous and dejected squad in India the previous winter, England appeared to have learned from their mistakes, bringing in the well-liked psychologist David Young and appointing Kieron Pollard as a consultant for his local knowledge. Mott maintained that England was improving under his leadership both before and after their elimination from the semi-final.
“You always feel like you’ve made progress when you get to the semi-finals,” he stated. “It’s unfortunate to end like that; we would be extremely disappointed to go home, regardless of the margin of defeat we suffered… Given the circumstances we faced, [but] not many teams would have shown up today and prevented India from winning the game.”
However, there’s still a feeling that England has lost its charm. A chaotic schedule that leaves Mott without access to his players for months at a time hasn’t helped him either, and even after two years on the job, it’s still unclear what his players’ identities are. They are currently going through a transitional period, and Key needs to determine if Mott has a clear idea of what will happen next.
Mott thinks he has the full support of his backroom crew. “Jos and I as a partnership have been galvanised in the last six months,” he stated. “Adversity teaches you more about leadership. Ask around the dressing room, and many of our support staff members will give the leadership group credit for our ability to pull together under pressure.
It’s not always about the outcome. We operate in a results-driven industry, therefore it goes without saying that you writers will enjoy yourselves at our expense. However, you may go to sleep at night knowing that sometimes outcomes are beyond your control when you get up in the morning, try your hardest, and get a crack at it.”
A few veteran players must be eased out: Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood are unlikely to play in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in early 2026, while Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan have served England’s T20 team well but their time is over. Rebuilding their batting lineup around Harry Brook, who ought to bat at No. 3 or No. 4, is imperative.
This is not an old England side, unlike the group of thirtysomethings that lost badly in India: seven out of fifteen players are in their twenties, and there are hitters to base the team around in Brook and Phil Salt. Talented young players are still coming out of the English domestic system, and next month in the Hundred, there will be more prospects for selection.
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Before that event begins, Jos Buttler plans to take a brief break, during which he will conduct an assessment. “You take some time to review tournaments and try to plan ahead for the next [one],” he stated. “What we need to do better as a team, if that is the way we play, personnel, style of cricket… we will review everything and come up with a plan.”
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