Published: Feb 08, 2019, 06:50 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 08, 2019, 06:50 PM (IST)
England batsmen have copped heavy criticism for their inability to dig in and instead relying on counter-attacking to get out of trouble. West Indies batsmen of the likes of Darren Bravo has been cited as one of the examples for the tourists to emulate on how to absorb pressure by consuming deliveries and showing immense patience.
The failure of their batsmen to put up substantial total in wake of multiple collapses has seen England concede the ongoing three-match Test series to West Indies after losing the first two matches. (ALSO READ: Minus Holder, can WI achieve rare whitewash?)
England players have been accused of not being able to shed the limited-overs mentality for the longest format which has ultimately proved to be their undoing.
England batsman Jos Buttler though feels that they need to learn to be adaptable to different style and not just depend necessarily upon what has brought them success in the past.
“I think if you look at the players there is a bit of a cross-over with the ODI players and the Test team but it’s really down to playing the situation and playing accordingly. The best players in the world are the ones who do that really well,” Buttler was quoted as saying by talkSport on Friday.
He continued, “I think if we look back at some of the games since I’ve been back in the team, we’ve played on quite a lot of result wickets where the counter-attacking style have been quite prevalent. It’s a style that has worked and brought some success but you have to adapt and play the other style of cricket as well and that is how you are going to be really successful.”
England will go into the third and final Test with a mindset to win and keen to avoid a clean sweep at the hands of a team that sits at the eighth spot in Test rankings.
Buttler says that there is disappointment in the camp and with pride at stake, the batsmen will aim to not let the bowlers down in Antigua, the venue of the third Test.
“There is obviously quite a lot of disappointment. There’s disappointment in that but with one Test to play there’s a lot of pride to play for and hopefully we can do ourselves justice. We are all still friends… just about! Of course, especially in Barbados, the batters let the bowlers down big style after making them come back and bowl lots of overs. It’s disappointing but we will stick together as a group, which is a strength in the side you have to call on in tough times,” he said.
