Jos Buttler questions integrity of England's World Cup clash with Bangladesh
Jos Buttler has called into question the integrity of Tuesday’s game against Bangladesh owing to what he says is a ‘poor’ outfield that runs the risk of injury.
The idea that he and his players must be careful not to dive about like they normally would on the Dharamsala outfield is one that the England skipper is clearly not happy with because it fundamentally alters the way they play.
It will be the same for both teams of course, but for a must win World Cup clash where players should be able to strain every sinew to try and win for their team, to be told to hold back is a strange place to be.
“I think it’s poor, in my own opinion,” said Buttler. “I think any time you’re talking about being careful diving, or maybe being careful when you’re fielding, it goes against everything you want to be as a team.
“You want to dive through a row of houses to save a run. That’s obviously not ideal, the way the surface is, the outfield. But we won’t use it as an excuse. We’ll adapt to it. But certainly if you feel like you’re having to hold yourself back, it’s not a place you want to be as a team, or as a player, or in a World Cup match.”
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And to the BBC Buttler added: “The powers that be are comfortable so… the only thing I would question is, if you are telling players not to dive and stuff, does that question the integrity of the game really because of what you want to be able to do?
"You want to dive around and save every single run. You just have to be a little bit smart I think. The outfield is poor compared to most and what you expect. Worse case scenario is something bad happens but fingers crossed that doesn’t happen for both teams.”
Buttler insisted the outfield would not be an excuse for his side who are looking to get their first win of the World Cup on the board against a Bangladesh team full of confidence.
He added: "We know we didn’t play as well as we can in the last game and we’re desperate to put that right, both individually and as a team. There’s plenty of hunger in the group and we’re excited to get back on the field."
Jos Buttler is upset his players have been told not to dive around on the Dharamshala outfieldEngland may look at introducing another seam bowler to their side for the game with Reece Topley getting through a decent training session ahead of the game. But there will be no place for Ben Stokes just yet who is still not quite fit enough to take part but is improving day by day.
Stokes had a half hour net session against throwdowns on Sunday and then faced 45 minutes on Monday against bowlers and was visibly moving more freely than the day before.
England’s third match against Afghanistan is now the target for Stokes who will be hoping that his team-mates have got their first win on the board and he can add to the momentum.
“It’s good to see Ben back in the nets and building back towards full fitness,” said Buttler. “But he’s probably unlikely for tomorrow. He is progressing well. He is doing more and more each day and seems to be improving so they are good signs.”
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