Matthew Mott believes England the unit is about to leave Indian Premier League You have a great chance to make an irresistible case for the World Cup selection.
England’s next white ball assignment isn’t until September, and they’ll likely have just one game before announcing a 15-man roster to defend their 50+ World Cup crown the following month.
Competition for a place on the plane to India will be intense, according to head coaches with limited overruns, urging hopefuls to push their claims in various local T20 franchise leagues.
Mott will have a special interest in the IPL, where 15 British international players have been selected by 10 franchises for a competition that starts on 31 March and runs until 28 May.
While it is certain that many players will make it to the World Cup roster, there are other players like Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Reece Topley who can further their goals by excelling in Indian conditions.
“The IPL has had a huge impact on the World Cup,” said Mott. “IPL in particular is known as one of the best competitions in the world, you have all the best players playing in these conditions.
“We’re going to be watching the progress of our men really closely. It’s a long time before our next game, there are many opportunities for players to raise their hands.
“We know it will be an incredibly difficult 15 to audition. There will be a lot of players in this group who are disappointed because once they’re all in shape, it’s going to be hard to squeeze them all in.”
England are recovering from their first T20 series as world champions ended in a whitewashed 3-0 loss to Bangladesh, one side seven places behind, ninth in the world.
After England won two of their three ODIs and India got a feel for the subcontinent conditions they could experience at the World Cup, the T20 series went under the radar and they were missing a few key players as the withdrawal of Jacks and Tom Abell left them. with only 13 people.
I don’t think we ever want to admit losing
Matthew Mott
“It will be pretty raw,” Mott said. “I don’t think we are treating ourselves fairly. Pointing this out isn’t going to make anyone any better yet.
“We’re going to make sure we have these conversations when the time comes, when we get in the middle of the cast and have some time to digest them.
“We’ve had a big break for a while, so we’ll try to freshen up and prepare them for their next adventure.”
England completed their mission this winter by going all the way at the T20 World Cup in Australia, but under Mott, who was appointed last May, they have only won four of the 11 duos series, two each in the ODIs and the T20s.
One of the reasons is that competing program demands for stars of all formats means that the UK has to regularly tap into its reserve talent pool.
But while the overall goal was to be as prepared as possible for global events, Mott insisted it was his side should not care about serial defeats.
“I don’t think we ever want to admit losing,” said Mott, who is proud that the England side gave Bangladesh their first home ODI series defeat since 2016.
“We came here to win the series. We won the ODI series, I thought it was an extraordinary effort. The history of the teams that came here and won is pretty low, so we’re proud of that.
“The T20s disappointed us and I think we have a good enough team to win here. I don’t think there was a big gap in the way both 11s played, but the truth is, we lost.”