"We’ve still got areas we can improve on" – Jos Buttler
A record total against your oldest opponents, a 2-0 lead in the series secured, and an unbeaten 91 for yourself, despite only being given the captaincy moments before the toss – you might think Jos Buttler would have been pretty pleased with his and England’s efforts today.
But for a side rated No.1 in the MRF Tyres ODI rankings, and who will stop at nothing to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 on home soil, just winning isn’t good enough, and they are always looking for ways to get better.
“I think we’ve still got areas we can improve on to polish up and make us more rounded performers,” said Buttler. “As we always do we’re looking to strive to get better. We actually got into a position where we probably could have got a few more, and I thought Australia bowled pretty well at the end.”
Buttler had Jason Roy, who claimed the Player of the Match award for his 120, and the efforts of leg-spinner Adil Rashid and fast bowler Liam Plunkett, who shared seven wickets between them, to thank for England’s victory.
“[Roy] played very well from ball one today,” Buttler said. “It was fantastic to watch, I thought he paced it very well. But a fantastic innings from him and great to see. And they’ve been two great wicket-takers for us over the past two years. Adil, I thought he took the pressure of bowling at the end with batters coming after him really well, so that’s really encouraging signs for him, and Liam continues to be one of our best strike bowlers.”
Their wickets were vital, since despite setting Australia what would have been a record chase for them in one-day international cricket, the result was far from certain for much of the chase as Shaun Marsh played a blinder.
“Wickets for those guys was crucial at those times,” said Buttler. “They were playing very well. As you see in cricket all around the world, 10 an over is very achievable, especially when you have a guy playing as well as Shaun Marsh was. We had to fight hard and keep fighting but 40 runs is a good victory margin in the end.”
Australia captain Tim Paine was left rueing what could have been.
“Obviously we would have liked to restrict them to less than 340-odd, but the way Shaun Marsh played throughout our innings showed that we could have chased them,” said Paine. “If he continues to play like that he’ll continue to play a lot of cricket for Australia. We just didn’t have anyone go with him unfortunately until Ashton [Agar] came out there at the end and got us back in the game.
“It would have been nice to have been a wicket or two more in hand when Shaun started to go there but I suppose when you’re that many wickets down and getting into the tail it can be hard work. Ashton came out and I thought played superbly and gave us a chance but unfortunately we just didn’t get over the line.”
Despite the result and the fact that Australia must now win three games on the bounce, Paine doesn’t think his side’s race is run just yet.
“I think our best cricket is good enough to beat these guys, we just haven’t put the complete package together," he said. "The first game we didn’t bat well, and today we didn’t bowl or field as well as we’d have liked. If you give England a chance they are going to be all over you, they’re the best one-day side in the world.”