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We feel like we’ve read this sentence, or one very much like it, almost daily for the last few weeks. If you hadn’t noticed, Jos Buttler hasn’t been scoring too many runs. He’s apparently tried to correct this with more and more practice. Is this the right approach?
If you’d told us that Ahmedabad would come to routinely host world cup finals when we visited the city back in 2002, we’d have done our level best to apply the tone and emotion of the Arrested Development “Her?” to its many syllables.
Ahmedabad? Her? We all know the factors that have driven this development, but it’s nevertheless peculiar that this is where the sport now finds itself. Once again, the big match this weekend will take place at The Enormodome of Rampant Egotism.
It would be very odd if India weren’t there, but it is possible. England could theoretically win today’s semi-final against them.
What chance of that?
If people were sure of one thing before this tournament, it was that England’s opening partnership would have to perform well if they were to make it to the latter stages.
So productive had Salted Buttler been, it was billed as “an unbeatable opening recipe” in one Cricinfo headline, but they have since delivered half a slice of a small fraction of bugger all. And yet England are still in a semi-final. If nothing else, there’s encouragement in how much room for improvement there is in this area.
Jos Buttler’s been the bigger liability with scores of 21, 3, 3, 7, 2 and 0. Last week Vish reported that he had been putting in extra net hours against a combination of his own bowlers, local spinners, dog sticks and wet tennis balls. Do the results speak for themselves?
Whenever we hear of an out-of-form batter working extra hard, we can’t help but think of the philosophy of David Gower. Whenever Gower was out of form, the one thing he absolutely would not do was go to the nets and practise.
‘Why groove bad habits?’ he reasoned. Gower’s approach to dealing with a rut was to go and do anything at all that wasn’t cricket and do it for long enough that his body forgot how to play badly.
This is magnificently contrary to most people’s impulses – in particular those of his captains and coaches – but it often worked. Conversely, when he was in form, he would look to practise more to better embed that way of playing.
We can’t help but admire Gower’s conviction and independence of thought, but Buttler is no young ingenu, unquestioningly doing what’s expected of him. He is the best limited overs batter England have ever had; a self-made player who has devised his own way of working. Other form correction methods are available.
This week Buttler has apparently returned to his ‘no feet’ drill, where he tries to bat while utterly rooted to the spot. This seems an unusual move from a man whose footwork has completely gone AWOL, but he reckons it helps his balance and encourages him to play the ball later.
Maybe that’ll help. Or maybe he should have avoided the nets altogether. Who knows? But you can’t do both.
Far more often than not, Buttler has known how to get the best out of himself. The question here is whether it’s one of those rare occasions where he’s got things wrong, like when he philosophised himself down the plughole in Test cricket.
Has he made a huge mistake?