23 October 2023 , 08:13
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England’s players have admitted it is time they stepped up and delivered for their skipper in the first of what they hope will be seven World Cup finals.
That is the highly unlikely target they have been left with, needing to win every match from Sri Lanka on Thursday onwards. It is a desperate state of affairs for the defending champions with Jos Buttler bearing the brunt of the fallout as captain, a position former Test skipper Joe Root knows all too well.
But there is an acceptance that even though Buttler may have got the decision to bowl first wrong against South Africa, across four matches so far in this tournament it is the players who have not been good enough.
"Jos knows what he's doing and sometimes as captain you need your players to stand up and perform," said Root. "There's only so much you can do, you can make all the right decisions but if the players aren't putting in their own performances there's only so much you can do as a leader.
"He's led very well in my opinion since I've been back involved in the white-ball stuff. I don't think there's any worry that we're not getting the most out of Jos Buttler the captain, but as players we've got to stand up and do our bit."
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Root was England’s top run scorer in the World Cup four years ago and with fifties against New Zealand and Bangladesh moved past Graham Gooch on the all time ladder. But the 32-year-old is not interested in personal milestones, especially when the team is floundering as much as they are.
And he has called for a back-to-basics approach from a squad he believes is still full of ability, but who have lost their way at the worst possible time. "Sometimes it's about not overcomplicating things," he added to Sky Sports.
Joe Root has defended England captain Jos Buttler (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)"We need to be really simple and just say we've got to outperform these guys for 100 overs; make sure we win the game, do what a lot of us have done for so long. It's not a magic bullet, no magic pill to take every night and it's perfect.
"You've just got to keep putting in the hard work and focus on the next game. We'll look at that as a World Cup final now, then do the same for the game after that and the game after that.
"All we've got to do is really focus on Sri Lanka. We've got some very simple messaging in front of us right now. we have to go out and win. In some ways that unshackles us and frees us up to do what we do."