Jos Buttler promises to provide his squad with more "clarity"

In the nine months leading up to England's second World Cup defence, Jos Buttler has promised his players more "clarity."

The first, in India in the fall, collapsed spectacularly, with the 50-over team winning only three of nine matches. There were rumours that players were confused about what to believe from Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott, which caused them to make rash decisions.

Now, Buttler has promised to steer clear of the kind of introspection that ultimately drained the one-day side of confidence ahead of Wednesday's first T20 international against Pakistan at Headingley. This is the first of a four-match series that serves as a warm-up for both teams ahead of next month's World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.

“For my own sake, as a captain, it’s about making sure you act on things,” he stated. “Sometimes you think you’re trying to give players freedom, but maybe you’re not giving enough clarity at the same time. So it’s making sure people are clear what is expected of them, and that they’re happy. The question to ask yourself is: what’s best for the team? And make sure you act on it. When results don’t go your way, it’s easy as an individual or a group to go a little bit internal, so keep putting the team first, and make decisions based around that.”

Despite constant assurances that they would bring back the aggressiveness that had helped Eoin Morgan's team win the World Cup in 2019, England consistently withdrew into their shells in India, giving the impression that theory and practice had parted ways.

However, Buttler and Mott are reportedly eager to adopt the spontaneous style that has made England's Test team, led by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, so fascinating to watch. They might require prompt results, if they lose badly in another competition, managing director Rob Key might find it difficult to maintain the current regime.

“They're no extra pressure, but that pride was dented and it was a disappointing competition,” noted Buttler. “But life moves on. We’re presented with a new opportunity, a different format. We go to the West Indies and want to give a better account of ourselves.”

Although Rain may still have the last word on Wednesday, England has already ruled out Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone from the starting lineup while they both heal from knee problems.

Buttler is also aware that the birth of his third child could cause him to miss his own World Cup. He declared, "My family comes first." "I will attend the birth." When the time comes, Moeen Ali is ready to step in and lead.

However, the England skipper maintains that he is ready to rumble with the bat following an IPL in which he struck two hundreds for the Rajasthan Royals, despite failing to pass 43 in nine innings at the 50-over competition. In the Caribbean, he affirmed that he would continue to keep wicket.

“I feel in a really good space,” he remarked. “Sometimes I feel like a bit of a victim of my expectations: I expect a lot of myself and want to play well everywhere I am. But I worked on some different ideas at the IPL. What’s important at this stage of my career is to always be trying to improve and add new things to my game.”

Buttler was all praise for Jofra Archer's comeback to international action, while Babar Azam, his Pakistani counterpart, downplayed Sam Curran's Monday remark that Archer had a "fear factor."

“We are very excited to play Archer because we have played well against him in the past,” he said. “We are facing special bowlers like Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi every day so we have no fear.”

No Fear: this is the message Buttler needs to successfully deliver to his teammates if they are to turn in a different kind of white-ball chapter in the upcoming weeks.