Matthew Mott believes England are ready to bounce back from the “kick in the pants” of last year’s dismal World Cup display, after enlisting Manchester City’s sports psychologist to aid their T20 defence.
Having gone to India among the favourites, England crashed out of the group stage of the 50-over World Cup, but have chance to make amends this summer as they travel to the T20 equivalent in the USA and Caribbean.
The short-format side has been refreshed with the likes of in-form pair Will Jacks and Phil Salt brought into the batting lineup and Jofra Archer back in contention, and head coach Mott is confident that his side have rediscovered their mojo.
“We’re in a really good spot,” the Australian said. “When you’ve had the kick in the pants like we’ve just had, you just can’t go business as usual. You have to redefine how you go as a team and the really open and robust conversations we’ve had will hold us in good stead.
"In India, all of us were guilty of being a bit insular and trying to problem-solve ourselves. I think we’ve made a commitment to open up and be a bit more vulnerable as a group so that we’re helping each other.”
Sports psychologist David Young had worked with England’s teams before switching to football to join City’s all-conquering machine in 2020, including during the 2019 World Cup triumph on home soil.
Current captain Jos Buttler has previously cited his work with Young as crucial to overcoming his fear of failure in the run-up to the 2019 final and the 46-year-old has now rejoined the set-up on a part-time basis for the ongoing series against Pakistan and the first part of the World Cup.
“He’s already been a great ally in messages back to me, making sure my messages are clear,” said Mott, who was accused of failing to offer clarity to his players during the winter’s doomed 50-over campaign. “It’s always good to have someone who’s a little bit removed from the squad to make sure you’re landing your messages. I’ve enjoyed that part of it.”
Last night’s opening T20 in Leeds was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain, thwarting plans for Archer to make his long-awaited international comeback.
England must name their final World Cup squad on Saturday - the same day as the Second T20 at Edgbaston - and while Liam Livingstone and Mark Wood are expected to miss that game with knee issues, Mott confirmed there will be no changes to the provisional 15-man group, barring further injury.
It is hoped that both Wood and Livingstone will be fit to play some part in the series, with matches at Cardiff and Kia Oval to come next week before England fly to the Caribbean on Friday. Their opening game is against Scotland in Barbados on June 4.
Mott led England to victory at the last T20 World Cup in 2022 only six months after taking over the white-ball side, having already won three World Cups across formats while in charge of Australia’s women’s side.
He admits, then, that the scale of criticism in India last year came as something as a shock, as England lost six of their first seven matches across a miserable month-long spell.
"Whenever I’ve coached in the past, whenever you lose in a tournament or don’t meet expectations, you’re normally on a plane home pretty quickly,” Mott said. “It was more that it was like a death by a thousand cuts, we kept having to front up, and see [the media] all the time.
“But what I learnt on reflection is there’s certainly things in life that give you perspective. When you get home, your son or daughter doesn’t really care how you went in the World Cup, they just want to see dad, so it was a big thing for me.”
World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan was among Mott’s most high-profile critics, accusing the coach of “shirking responsibility” by not facing the media ahead of the penultimate game, against the Netherlands, and hinting at disharmony within the dressing room.
Mott confirmed he has not spoken to Morgan since but insisted he does not have a problem with the 37-year-old on the back of his comments.
“He was [critical] but family and friends got more upset about it than I did,” he said. “Morgs is there to give an opinion. Initially, of course you take it a bit personally but he’s there to have an opinion and his opinion is actually none of my business. If he feels strongly about something, that’s for him.
“All I’ll say is that only the people within the dressing room can fully understand what’s going on. Once you leave the dressing room, you might hear titbits of stuff but you don’t really know how the team’s operating.
“I always respect Morgs and respect his opinion. He’s quite entitled to it.”
