After England crashed out of the Cricket World Cup following a shambolic campaign in India, coach Matthew Mott insisted he had learned lessons.
The Australian was unwilling to share those learnings in public, shrugging off concerns that fans would maybe like to hear how he was going to turn things around with a dismissive: “Whatever.”
Rob Key, England’s managing director of cricket, then threw a protective cloak around Mott by taking sole responsibility for a World Cup defence so bad that the holders were eliminated with two weeks of the tournament still to run.
Yet after England sunk to a new low in Antigua on Sunday when they were defeated by a West Indies team who were not even good enough to qualify for the World Cup, you do wonder whether Mott was just bluffing and the reason he was so unwilling to share his wisdom in public is because he is actually horribly out of his depth.
One of the first things Mott should have noted after the shambles in India was that Jos Buttler, his captain, needed to be taken out of the firing line. There is no question Buttler should remain in his position. He deserves a chance to turn things around. But a man who looked haunted during the World Cup fiasco barely had a chance to unpack his suitcase before being tasked with leading the team on this tour of the Caribbean.
And Buttler’s performance in the opening ODI, scoring three from 13 balls and looking powerless to change things in the field as the West Indies chased down 326, told of a player who looks like he definitely needs a break.
Buttler is England’s greatest white-ball batter but his confidence is shot after a World Cup in which he averaged just 15.
The sensible option would have been to tell him to spend another 10 days or so at home and come out refreshed for the five T20s that follow against the West Indies. Ollie Pope or Zak Crawley could have captained the ODI team for these three matches.
Then Buttler, energised by the extra time at home and a change of format, could have started afresh for a series that will be a vital building block ahead of next summer’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.
Instead, England’s captain is being forced to relive his Indian nightmare.
It needed a strong coach with respect and authority to demand Buttler be rested for this ODI series. Key would have needed to be persuaded. Unfortunately, Mott is in a weak position after what happened in India. He cannot really demand anything.
So we are where we are right now – England surveying the wreckage of another humiliating defeat against opposition who are a whopping 16 points off Afghanistan in the latest ODI rankings.
This could be written off as one of those things had England not had such a poor World Cup. But during a tournament when so many bad decisions and panicked selections took place, the leadership of Mott did not stand up to scrutiny.
As the results got worse, the dissenting voices became louder. i heard reservations and concerns from multiple sources about Mott’s leadership during the tournament. A picture of a rudderless, chaotic camp emerged.
This tour of the Caribbean was meant to be a fresh start with a new group only containing six players from the World Cup.
Yet it was the same old story in game one. Of course, Shai Hope produced a wonderful match-winning century to lead his team to their record ODI chase against England.
Hope was as magnificent as Sam Curran was terrible, the left-arm seamer returning 98 for no wicket from his 9.5 overs – the most expensive bowling figures in England’s ODI history.
Like Buttler, Curran should not be playing in this series. Having been deemed unselectable three games into the World Cup, he too should have been taken out of the firing line.
Instead, a player who took two for 140 in 17.2 overs across his three matches at the World Cup has now been scarred by this latest horror show.
The brains trust – led by Mott – made that call and it risks harming England’s T20 World Cup chances next summer given Curran was player of the tournament in Australia last year. He is only human. Like Buttler, his confidence must be shot.
There was also the baffling call not to bowl Will Jacks at all on Sunday in a game where spinners – led by Rehan Ahmed’s encouraging two for 40 – prospered. Jacks bowled 54 overs during the two Tests he played in Pakistan last winter. Whose decision was it to overlook him in Antigua? You can’t think it was solely down to Buttler. Was this pre-planned by Coach Calamity?
There were some positives, noticeably the opening partnership between Jacks and Phil Salt. But given the result, England cannot take too much away from this.
They are good enough to still come back and win the series. Yet even if they do, can we trust this leadership group led by Mott not to buckle again when the pressure is cranked up at next year’s T20 World Cup?