NEW DELHI: England's cricket team captain, Jos Buttler, openly expressed his concerns about the form of fast bowler Chris Woakes with the new ball in a press conference held in Mumbai on Friday. These concerns come as England's title defence in the World Cup, hosted in India, faces a daunting challenge following an unexpected defeat to Afghanistan, which left them with only one win to their name.
Woakes, a 34-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder, has struggled to make an impact on the demanding Indian pitches. He has managed to secure just two wickets across England's first three games at a significantly high average of 67.5. Woakes notably went wicketless during a shocking 69-run loss to Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday.
Buttler spoke about Woakes during the pre-match press conference and commended his historical contributions to the English cricket team: "He's been a fantastic performer for an incredibly long time for England in all the formats and especially in one-day cricket."
Buttler continued, stressing the culture of honesty and high standards within the team: "We're all honest guys, right? We're all honest professionals who hold each other to high standards and individually expect a lot of ourselves. He knows he's not performing quite how he would like to at the minute, and that's frustrating."
With star all-rounder Ben Stokes declaring himself fit for the tournament after recovering from a hip problem, a difficult decision regarding team composition looms. Buttler emphasised the team's support for all their players, including Woakes, saying, "We always back all our players that are in our team — we picked them for a number of reasons, and one because they're high-class players, and he (Woakes) is certainly one of those."
Turning his attention to Test captain Ben Stokes, who was instrumental in England's 2019 World Cup triumph, Buttler said, "Ben trained really well last night. It's great to see him back. He obviously brings a lot on the field and with his presence and leadership skills as well as someone who is always good to turn to."
On the other side of the World Cup spectrum, South Africa suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Netherlands, losing by 38 runs. This setback followed the Netherlands knocking them out of last year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
Buttler, while acknowledging South Africa's strengths, including a "strong top six" and formidable fast-bowling depth, admitted his surprise at Tuesday's result in Dharamsala, saying, "I think you're always surprised when those kinds of things happen. No disrespect to the Netherlands. They played a fantastic game of cricket and deserved to win it... But that's why sport is fantastic. It throws up these upsets."
(With inputs from AFP)
